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
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Social Tone
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Agreeableness
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Hymns
Opening hymn: Komum, fögnum fyrir Drottni (212)
Before scripture reading: Hver fögur dyggð í fari manns (195, lag 118)
Before sermon: Vor Guð oss lýsa lát þitt orð (söngblað)
Offering: Guðs kirkja er byggð á bjargi (288)
Closing hymn: Nú héðan á burtu í friði eg fer (424)
Collect
Almighty, everlasting God! Plant us in your love, that we may love you above all things, and our neighbour as ourselves, and be made fit for the heavenly joy, which you have promised us by you eternal love.
Hear our prayer, through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Scripture reading
First reading
L: This is the Holy Word.
S: Praise be to God.
Second reading...
L: This is the Holy Word.
Gospel
P: This is the Holy Gospel.
Sermon
We have now heard two stories from the Bible, which are in many ways opposites.
In the first story, we heard about two of Adam and Eve's sons, Cain and Abel.
Both offered sacrifices to God; Cain from the fruits of the earth and Abel from the sheep of his flock.
It is especially noted that Abel sacrificed the firstlings of the flock and their fat, which would later become a provision in the law.
The letter to the Hebrews also states that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith and trust in God.
Nothing is said about Cain there, but in the account in Genesis it was revealed that he was quick to envy and to hate his brother.
It is therefore not unreasonable to assume he expected to receive something in return for his sacrifice.
It seems that Abel's faith and trust is the reason why God looked with favor on Abel's sacrifice, but not Cain's.
For Cain, however, it hardly mattered much.
Whatever God's reason was, Cain became so bitter that he decided to secretly kill his brother in the field.
When God then asks him where Abel is, Cain says he doesn't know, and then adds a question:
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Although this question was certainly a pathetic attempt to divert attention, the answer may not be entirely obvious.
Was it Cain's responsibility to guard his brother Abel?
Let us keep this question in mind for a moment.
Before answering it, let us look at the Gospel text.
The good Samaritan
Much, much later in history, a lawyer comes to Jesus and asks him how he may gain eternal life.
Jesus then asks him if God's covenant with the nation of Israel, i.e. the law of Moses, has something to say about the matter.
Yes, indeed, this lawyer well knows.
He obviously knows his Bible well, and gives this as an answer:
Luk 10:27
Good answer!
This is the essence of the whole law.
Jesus says it himself in the 22nd chapter of Matthew, when another lawyer asks him what the highest commandment is.
All the law and the prophets rest on these two commandments, that we should love God and our neighbor.
Not only that, but this is something we can understand: We should treat God and people with love.
Can't it just be that simple?
What then are all the other commandments, and all other rules.
Is there any need for it?
The modern man, who constantly repeats phrases like "love is love", likes such a simplification.
The only problem is that the statement is so universal that on its own, without further defining love, it means nothing at all.
The Scriptures command that you should love God with all your heart, soul and strength!
But how do you actually do that?
What does this consist in?
The scriptures say you are to love your neighbor as yourself!
But who exactly is this neighbor, and what exactly does it mean to love him?
Perhaps this lawyer could have answered to some extent.
He obviously knew the Scriptures, and therefore must have thought about these things before.
In fact, as Jesus' parable shows us, whoever God puts in our way is our neighbor whom we should love as ourselves.
And the circumstances dictate how we should do it.
All those, whom the beaten man got in the way of, therefore had a duty to show him love in action, by stopping, examining the man, and doing what was in their power to save him.
Here the circumstances are so obvious that there is no need to ask what the Levite and the priest should have done.
But of course it's not always that simple.
If everyone who crosses our path is our neighbor, then it is obvious that the neighbor does not always need first aid.
How are we supposed to know what to do then?
To guide us, God has given us His law, in its simplest form in the Ten Commandments.
The first three commandments tell us how to love God: You shall have no other gods.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, and you shall keep the Sabbath day holy.
The other seven commandments tell us how to love our neighbor.
Here it immediately appears that that love is shaped by who the neighbor is.
The fourth commandment, Honor your father and mother, teaches us that children of all ages should love their parents in such a way that they honor and obey them.
The sixth commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, teaches us that married couples should love each other.
A husband should furthermore love his wife in a different way than he loves e.g. the postman, even if they are both his neighbour.
A mother should love her children in a different way than she loves her neighbor's children.
It wouldn't be good if she took the whole group on a trip to the mediterranian, without asking anyone.
However, many of the commandments apply to everyone: The fifth commandment: You shall not kill a man.
Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal.
The Eighth Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
And that means not only that we should not lie against other people, but also that we should not slander and speak ill of our neighbour, or take his word in anything but the best sense.
The scriptures thus teach us, not only to love God and our neighbor, but also what love is, and how we act out of love in different situations.
Keeping God's commandments is love in action, as Jesus himself says.
Cain’s question
So, when Cain asks if he should be his brother’s keeper, it is of course a misleading question, as Cain well kew.
Of course, he wasn't supposed to be a babysitter for his brother, who was a grown man.
But, on the other hand, he was to love his brother as himself, and take care of him.
And with that: Yes!
To be his keeper, and help him when needed.
Instead, he envied Abel, and the envy then turned into hatred, and the hatred into death.
The ninth commandment teaches us: You shall not covet your neighbor's house, and the tenth commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, servant, maidservant, livestock, or anything that your neighbor has.
The ninth and tenth commandments teach us not to envy our neighbor, and not to covet what belongs to him.
For although the consequences are rarely so dire as in this case, coveting at least never leads to anything good.
That is the answer to Cain's question: You shall love your neighbor (and therefore your brother) as yourself.
Final words
Have we now received an answer to the Lawyer’s question?
Well, it was slightly different, for what he asked was this:
Jesus had the Lawyer himself quote the twofold commandment of love as a summary of the whole Law.
Then he adds:
The victory of being right was not very pleasant.
Because the consequence was that now the lawyer had to live according to these words.
And anyone who truly, and without prejudice, examines himself, must realize that it is impossible to keep such a commandment.
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