Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.69LIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.7LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.6LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.64LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.91LIKELY
Extraversion
0.28UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.98LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.74LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
How would you respond… if God paid you a visit?
I’m talking about you, sitting in your living room, your ring doorbell goes off and when you look at your screen, you see God and two angels standing with Him coming up to your door.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
“Oh pastor, such a thing would never happen!”
Maybe… but such a thing DID happen for Abraham.
Now if God came to my house and I saw Him on His way to my door, I’m not sure how I would react.
I might try to do what Abraham did… beat God to the door so He wouldn’t see the “mess” inside… the mess that ebbs and flows with a family of six sharing the same space.
I might look myself over and hope I looked “presentable” to stand before the One who literally spoke the world into motion.
What Abraham did… was remarkable.
And I hope we all take notice of how he responded when he saw God.
First, Abraham recognized God for who He was.
There was no question in Abraham's mind regarding the identity of the Lord.
We are not given details as to what Abraham saw… but Abraham knew who it was that was standing nearby.
IT WAS GOD.
GOD WAS THERE!
And God is here as well!
He is not here in a human form but church, God is on the move.
And I wonder if when He moves or when His presence is working, are we able to recognize His power at work OR are we too distracted by all that is going on to see Him?
Secondly, Abraham humbled himself before the Lord.
Scripture says Abraham bowed low to the ground in reverence to the one who stood before him.
Abraham knew this was a special visit.
He didn’t hesitate in honoring God.
He knelt before the Lord in humbleness and servanthood.
So why did God choose to pay ole’ Abraham a personal visit in this way?
Because God had some unfinished business to attend to.
This unfinished business wasn’t something God forgot about and now He was there to make it right.
This business was something God had promised… and now the time had come for this business to be completed.
Again, God’s timing is perfect.
He is never late, He is never early.
God is ALWAYS on time.
Tonight we are going to look at what happens in the this moment… the moment when God visits Abraham to complete some very important business.
We are going to continue to look at Abraham’s reaction, and then we are going to look at Sarah’s reaction.
because what is happening on the inside during this visit makes a big difference.
Abraham Serves the Lord.
Abraham offers God and the two others his very best.
He quickly gets Sarah working on some bread.
He gets the best calf and has a servant begin preparing it.
He gives this group the finest service possible.
And this response in the one I hope we would all share in… Giving God our BEST.
We often say in this place that God is worthy of our highest praise.
This simply means that of all the things and people we encounter, God is THE BEST of it all.
He deserves our VERY BEST.
In this story, we do not see Abraham complain regarding the timing of God’s visit.
We do not see the leftovers brought out on the table, we do not see the group turned away for time to prepare or get ready.
Abraham moves to do what is deserved for the Lord!
Seems like a simple and obvious thought right?
Yet too often Christians aren’t moved by much anymore.
It seems like we are looking for the big, the extravagant, the next-level miracle or the writing in the sky to appear before we give God our best.
BUT WE NEED TO NOT FORGET THAT GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN HIS BEST FOR US.
The FACT that God gave His Son for our sins should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.
The FACT that God has given us His Spirit should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.
The FACT that God has given us eternal life should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.
The FACT that God has given us direct access to His Word should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.
The FACT that God is GOD… the great I AM should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.
Abraham wasn’t sure at this point what God had come to do… BUT IT WAS GOD who had paid him a visit!!! Regardless of the why… WHO IT WAS was enough for Abraham to give his very best!!!
And then… when dinner was over… Things shift direction and the Lord gets down to business.
And in this process, we see Sarah’s response… and it might not be exactly what you would hope for.
Sarah Struggles with the Mess.
Remember what I said in the intro regarding our hypothetical responses to a visit from the Lord?
Would we be worried about the mess behind the door or if we looked presentable?
Sarah’s mind is in this mode… but the mess she is concerned with is not one of laundry and dirty dishes.
It is a different kind of “mess” that has her in the wrong mindset.
Sarah… is struggling.
She did everything Abraham asked her to do concerning caring for the visitors… but here we see her heart revealed.
Something is going on that has caused a mess… in her heart.
God gets down to business… and that business is to declare that by this time next year, they will have the child God promised them.
This sounds like news that should be celebrated!
But Sarah’s heart… goes a different direction.
Instead of celebration, we see bitterness.
When she heard the news, she laughed and began complaining.
She basically said, “Oh… sure… now that I am old NOW you decide to come through.”
And as she stood in the tent away from the conversation… she felt safe in her “mess.”
She laughed to herself.
She complained to herself.
She thought she had hidden her bitterness from God.
Bitterness was keeping her from being able to celebrate the news God had just brought them.
Things had not gone according to their timing… but God ABSOLUTELY knew what He was doing.
Yet, per her own understanding, this wasn’t news to be celebrated… it was news to be bitter against.
Sarah was bitter.
And bitterness is a “mess” that can keep us from experiencing God’s best for our lives.
Bitterness turns our eyes inward instead of upward.
Bitterness is more focused on what we deserve instead of what HE deserves.
Bitterness leads us to question and doubt when God has already delivered for us in incredible ways!
God did not have to promise Abraham and Sarah a child… God did not have to promise us a Savior!
God didn’t have to do ANYTHING after we sinned against Him yet, because of His love for us, God has moved time and time again for us.
God has a way of doing things HIS WAY.
And what I have come to learn over the years is HIS WAY is the BEST WAY.
Bitterness becomes a factor when our way tries to superceded His way.
It becomes a factor when, in our minds, we deserve more than God deserves.
Sarah failed to humble herself before the Lord upon His arrival.
Yes she assisted with Abraham’s meal, but there is no mention of Sarah’s personal response.
And in light of what she felt in her heart… GOD CALLS HER OUT.
“Why did you laugh?”
Uh oh… her “private bitterness” just got called out on the carpet by God!
That could not have been comfortable and indeed it wasn’t!
And in fear… Sarah tries to hide again by lying out of fear… and God calls her out AGAIN!
God wasn’t trying to embarrass her, He was trying to break her free of the spiritual “mess” she was in.
Her first response was combative out of fear and God did not back down.
God may be dealing with your heart on some things and the WORST thing you could do is deny what God is trying to tell you!
He knows you heart, He knows your thoughts!
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9