Sermon Tone Analysis

DIGGING DEEPER TO FIND PEARLS OF WISDOM

Ralph Sorter

 

! Introduction

            Whether it is for personal study or a presentation, every Bible student needs to approach the Word of God with respect and a healthy understanding of understanding what is written.

Perhaps these two stories will help instill those qualities.

Billy Graham confesses that his hands often get clammy and his knees shake before he preaches.

That may not be what you would expect from the man who has preached the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history.

He admits, “Every time I stand before a crowd I feel so unworthy to preach the Gospel.

I feel fearful that I may say something or do something that may mislead someone, because I’m talking to eternal souls who have the possibility of living in heaven forever.”

Then there’s the story of an old American Indian who attended a church service one Sunday morning.

The preacher’s message lacked real spiritual food, so he did a lot of shouting and pulpit pounding to cover up his lack of preparation.

In fact, as it is sometimes said, he “preached up quite a storm.”

After the service, someone asked the Indian who was a Christian, what he thought of the minister’s message.

Thinking for a moment, he summed up his opinion in six words.

“High wind.

Big thunder.

No rain.”

Though it’s an awesome responsibility to lead others in discovery of the Word of God, when all is said and done, we should produce “rain” and offer to our hearers a cup of Living Water from the Fountain of Truth.

When we have done our homework, our discoveries should leave others blessed and refreshed.

The process is called /exegesis/.

It means to determine what individual biblical authors intended when they wrote.

After that is done, we must work at the process of application, because we live in a world that is 2000 years removed from Jesus Christ and 4000 years removed from Abraham.

That second part of the process is called /hermeneutics/, the application of the meaning intended in the first century to our day.

Be prepared to be stretched, but also prepare yourself to practice new methods, or you will come away from your study with no new enlightenment.

! Understanding Context

            In trying to understand the context of a passage, we are answering two questions: What was the author’s point?

and What was he saying?

To do that we need an understanding of the time and culture of the writer; the political situation of that day, the cultural influences, their customs and beliefs.

Where do we go to find these answers?

Start with a Bible Dictionary or Bible Handbook.

For instance, context means everything in 1 Timothy 2:9-10.

“Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments; but rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness.”

If we did not understand context, we would have a lot of ladies disobeying Scripture in our churches.

Paul wrote this to ladies who were among the first converts, even some were former temple prostitutes to other gods.

So as to not give the wrong intention to outsiders looking at these new Christians, he asked the ladies not to confuse their image, and dress simply.

We are now long removed from towns riddled with temples to goddesses with temple prostitutes, so the application must be applied differently than a literal word for word.

Like a pebble thrown in a pond has rippling rings, the passage you choose to study has a rippling affect from the verses proceeding it and those after it.

Let’s practice understanding the context.

Listed below are some principles of context with some passage that follows.

Use the principle to interpret the context of the passage given.

Ø      *Principle #1*: */Interpret single verses in light of their immediate context./*

\\ Matt.

11:6  /(John is about to be put to death; has doubts: are You the One?  Don’t stumble over Me.)/ \\ \\

Ø      *Principle #2: /Interpret paragraphs and episodes in light of the paragraphs or events around them.  \\ /*Heb.

1:13-2:4  /(God sent the Gospel using angels; the message is unalterable; Jesus is who He says He is; he is superior; don’t neglect the purpose of His coming.)/

\\ \\

Ø      *Principle #3:* */Try to determine why your text belongs precisely where it is and nowhere else./*  \\ Rom.

9:6; 10:1  /(Just because you were born a Jew doesn’t mean you’re in the kingdom; Paul was concerned that they were not in the kingdom.)/

\\ \\

Ø      *Principle #4:* */Look for thematic statements that introduce or interpret an entire section.

/*Matt.

24  /(Theme is in verse 3.)/ \\ \\

Ø      *Principle #5:* */Look for repeated words or phrases that emphasize the subject./*

\\ Ps. 119  (/Word, law, testimonies, statutes, precepts, commandments, ordinances.)/

\\ \\

Ø      *Principle #6:* */Locate the key verse in the purpose of its section and the whole body.

/*Ja.2:1-26

/(2:17, 24)/

* *

The above principles find the /literal context/, but our work is not done.

We must balance it with the /historical context/.

To find the historical context, look for the answers to these questions and then apply it to understand the passage given as an example.

·                    Who is the author and why is he writing?

\\ Galatians  /(Paul; makes a refute against works; defends salvation by faith.)/

·                    What is the need of the hour and what does he hope to accomplish by writing?

\\ 2 Timothy  /(Near Paul’s death; wants to pass the baton; leaving last instructions.)/

·                    Who is reading and why?  \\ Ja. 1:1-2  /(Scattered Jewish Christians; inspire them to hang in there & express their faith.)/

·                    How do the readers live and think day by day?  \\ Mk. 2:1-12  /(Thought diseases & handicaps were a result of sin.)/

·                    Are there any social customs that apply?

\\ Jn. 4:5-10  /(Jews thought it defiling to have social contact with Samaritans; women don’t speak to men in public.)/

·                    Are there any religious customs that we need to know about?

\\ Jn. 4:19-24  /(Samaritans worshipped at Gerizim; Jews worshipped in Jerusalem.)/

·                    Are there any eating customs that would shed light?

\\ Matt.

20:20-28  /(Highest honored guest sat at the right of the head of the house.)/

·                    Is there any significance in the clothing mentioned in the story?

\\ 1 Ki.

19:15-19  /(A prophet’s mantle was like a clergy’s robe; to put it on his shoulders designated him as the one to be mentored and a replacement.)/

·                    Is there any animal husbandry practices that would enlighten?

\\ Lk. 15:11-20 /(To a Jew, pigs were the most defiling animal; Gentiles raised them.)/

We have already learned a wealth of principles related to context, but there’s more.

We can gain even more insight looking at relationships between the author and the reader.

Were they old friends (Hebrew to Hebrew), strangers (Paul and the Romans), antagonists (Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel and most Israelites)?

We can reconstruct the relationship by examining how the author treats his readers.

Does he expect them to share his beliefs or resist them?

Does he expect his readers to greet his message by digging in their heels or by rejoicing?

There are three broad types of relationships of readers to authors in the Bible.

¨      /Accepting./

Authors may expect their readers to accept their message without reservation.

\\ (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 1 John)

¨      /Ambivalent/.

Here the readers don’t really listen to the author or give heed to the words.

\\ (Ezek.

33:31-32)

¨      /Rejecting/.

There are a few books in which the message is so strong that the message is expected to get a negative response.

We know there is tension when a writer has to defend his authority, answer challenging questions, or rebuke his readers sharply.

\\ (Jeremiah, Amos, Galatians, 2 Corinthians)

 

! Analyzing the Story

            In a typical story you are introduced to a victim, a villain, a hero, in a setting that brings adventure followed by tension that reaches a climax and a resolution.

Sometimes there is a comment on the story that helps us interpret it.

Broadly speaking, biblical truth comes in stories, dramas, or discourses.

Discourses include letters, prophecies, proverbs, psalms, speeches, prayers, and visions.

To understand the story, ask why the speaker told the story or gave his speech.

Discover what the issues of the hour were and what did they say about them.

And finally, find out what the speaker wanted his hearers to think or do.