Sermon Tone Analysis

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Entice: May 18, 2022.

As I write this many of us are amazed at the courage displayed by the citizens and soldiers of Ukraine.

War did not make them courageous.

Combat revealed courage which they already had.

If combat made someone courageous…explain the other side.

Tonight’s topic is the courage of Paul.

If we want to consider the courage of Paul we need to agree on some kind of definition or at least a description for the attribute courage.

And that generally means asking some good questions.

Engage:

What is courage?

Can it be quantified

or is it a

quality?

Is it concrete

is it

partly,

mostly,

or

entirely

abstract?

Consider this clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEEyijiTW-I

Wow.

That is entertaining, but not informative.

Not only did Oz never give nothin’ to the Tin Man that he didn’t, didn’t already have, he similarly shafted the rest of them--Lion, scarecrow & Little girl as well.

In fact it was Dorothy Gale, from Kansas, who came to understand that the definition of courage is recognizing opportunity (bucket of water) despite opposition (witch) to meet our obligations (protect her friends) creating the right outcomes (kill witch, get broom, go home).

We will return to this line of reasoning a bit later but first let’s bring the discussion back to Paul.

In 2 Corinthians Paul describes the hardships of ministry.

It is tempting to describe what he encountered as “courage”.

More accurately this is an account of what a courageous man endured.

Enduring beatings does not make you courageous,

it makes you a victim.

Getting whupped doesn’t make you brave,

being brave gets you whupped.

This is a not uncommon logical, category mistake, confusing the result of an action for the reason or cause.

Expand: Paul was a preacher and a theologian.

He was also not a fool.

His mission involved quite a bit of Risk Analysis.

Paul was convinced of the saving power of the Christ he proclaimed.

Like Dorothy Gale, of Kansas, he came to understand the interplay of opportunity, opposition, obligation, and outcome in his analysis.

If you are convinced of the Gospel, courage comes from that conviction.

Courage that compels us to seek out opportunities to serve.

Courage to overcome opposition.

Courage to accept the burden of great obligation.

Courage to pursue great outcomes.

Excite:

Don’t be confused by Paul’s chains.

Don’t be distracted by the debates.

Don’t be sidetracked by skeptics.

Don’t be overcome by the outrages,

Don’t be discouraged by the doubters.

Don’t become unfocused because of the unfaithful,

Paul’s purpose was to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ and whether

then or now courage is always necessary in the midst of a fallen world.

Explore:

Paul was courageous because he was unashamed of the Gospel

Explain: In Romans 1.1-17 Paul established the parameters for courageous Christian living..

Body of Sermon:

The first parameter for courageous living is

1 Opportunity.

1.1 Facts of our shared Gospel.

1-6

1.2 Focus of a shared ministry.

7-12

It seems that the joyful opportunities of ministry are the circumstances in which we encounter

2 Opposition.

2.1 Desire thwarted.

2.2 Dream delayed.

Like Paul we do not concede defeat because our Gospel empowers us and we are compelled by a divine

3 Obligation.

These pregnant words establish the mandate under which the Church still functions.

The obligation of the Church to an unbelieving world has no real boundaries as the shadow of the cross falls across all human history, every human society, and the whole inhabited globe.

That means we deal in

3.1 Culture.

Jew, Greek, and barbarian is how those of Jewish descent described everyone.

Us and them.

Beyond the specifics of culture we deal with the more universal construct of class

3.2 Class.

Even though we pretend like we live in a classless society, it’s not really the case.

Class is a human category which our Gospel actively questions.

In this text he mentions Wise & Foolish.

These pairs are all over Paul’s writings.

Free & Slave.

Man & Woman.

Rich & Poor.

We are obligated to proclaim freedom in Christ to every social class.

But none of the big picture posturing about class and culture are worth a thing if we don’t keep it local meeting our obligation to our own

3.3 Community

In Rome, in Illinois.

The final parameter, the fuel that focuses our courageous faith is the

4 Outcome.

4.1 Salvation.

4.2 Integration

(Jew/Greek)

4.3 Amplification.

Shut Down:

Luke tells us the story of Paul finally making it to Rome.

Two terms jump immediately to mind.

Shipwreck, snakebite.

Yet he always kept the outcome in mind.

He