Sermon Tone Analysis

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Let all that you do be done in love.”

[1]

The Christian Faith is a woman’s religion; and I’m glad this is so!

Historically, women were excluded from religion.

In the pagan religions extant at the time the Master presented Himself as a sacrifice for sinful people, women might be used as religious accoutrements in what was called worship, but they really did not have a part in religious exercise.

In the various non-Christian religions in this day, women are seen as inferior and unworthy of having a voice in conduct of religious exercise.

Jesus, however, invited women to share in both the worship and the rewards of the Faith.

During the past several decades, however, the Christian Faith has been feminised.

The churches are frequently devoid of young men.

Increasingly, the churches of North America are taking on the appearance of British congregations.

A few older women are scattered throughout the pews as an aging pastor drones on about some inconsequential matter.

Men have increasingly withdrawn from active participation in the Faith—they appear leery either of promoting the Faith or of openly practising the Faith.

The transformation among the churches during the past several decades was preceded by women demanding a greater role in the conduct of worship; and as their demands were met they indelibly stamped the face of the Faith with their own signature characteristics.

Yet, when we read the accounts of the Master, He seems virile, manly, exhibiting the attributes esteemed by all.

The Master does not appear as a Casper Milquetoast character; rather, He presents Himself as strong, resolute, capable.

To be certain, Jesus could be compassionate and gentle.

You will recall that on coming ashore on one occasion, “He had compassion on [the crowds], because they were like sheep without a shepherd” [MARK 6:34].

He responded by teaching them, knowing that their great need was to hear the voice of the Living God.

When it grew late, and the people had listened all day without eating, He instructed His disciples to feed them [see MARK 6:35-44].

Yet, He could be forthright, abrupt, blunt.

He did not accept the distortion of religious people who sought to advance their own private agendas; and He never minced words when speaking to those who thought they could be casual about following Him.

Jesus cannot be said to have pandered to the expectations of the throngs crowding about Him.

Recall the exchange between the Master and several who thought they wanted to follow Him.

“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’

And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

To another he said, ‘Follow me.’

But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’

And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead.

But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’

Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” [LUKE 9:57-62].

“I’ll follow you anywhere, Jesus,” the young man said.

“Are you quite certain about that?

What will you sacrifice in order to stand with me?”

“Follow Me,” He commanded another.

“Let me arrange my life to satisfy my family; then I’ll follow you, Jesus.”

“Then, I’m not first in your life.

You cannot be My disciple.”

“Unlike others, I’ll follow you, Jesus” the man affirmed.

“Only let me arrange my life to my satisfaction.”

“You cannot be My disciple while pining for what might have been.”

The Master never attempted to make the Faith a non-threatening, non-demanding excursion into mere religious exercise.

MATTHEW 10:16-25 records the cautionary words delivered to the disciples He was about to send out into service in His Name.

His words seem strange to modern adherents; yet they echo through the ages down to this very day.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

Approached by a crowd wanting to crown Him their King, Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him God the Father has set his seal” [JOHN 6:26, 27].

To the religious and civic leaders that thought they could use religion to advance their own interests, Jesus identified them as “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind fools,” “serpents” and a “brood of vipers” [see MATTHEW 23:1-36].

Undoubtedly, the Master was strong—physically and emotionally.

He endured physical deprivation, emotional anguish and unimaginable torture without whining or whinging.

He bore up in a most envious manner.

Of His passion, Peter would say, “To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed” [1 PETER 2:21-24].

We can say without fear of contradiction that the Faith of Christ the Lord welcomes women to share in the adoption into the Family of God.

To be certain, we would be impoverished without the gentleness expected of women who restrain the savage impulses of men.

However, we have too often forgotten the exhilarating raw nature of wildness that accompanies bold men who advance this most holy Faith.

Undoubtedly, we would be better if we understood what was meant by the call to “Act like men.”

ACT LIKE MEN — “Act like men.”

Many people imagine this command to be a gender specific command directed exclusively toward males.

However, that would not at all be how the Corinthians would have understood what the Apostle was saying.

The word he used was andrízomai.

The word is a figurative extension that did indeed carry the meaning “to be manly” or “to become a man.”

This particular word occurs only here in the New Testament; however, the word appears frequently in the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Reviewing how the word is translated in that ancient translation will give a fuller understanding of what the first readers would have understood the Apostle to mean.

The first instance for consideration is in Deuteronomy.

DEUTERONOMY 31:6 commands, “Be strong and courageous.

Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you.

He will not leave you or forsake you.”

In this verse, the word in question is translated “Be strong.”

The command to “be strong” is iterated in DEUTERONOMY 31:7.

Interestingly enough, the identical verb is translated “to be courageous” in JOSHUA 1:6, 7, 9 AND 18.

In PSALM 27:14 the verb is again translated “Be strong.”

“Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!”

Thus, it would be proper to understand that the word conveyed a gender-neutral expectation that Christians are to strive “to be strong” or “to be courageous.”

To be certain, there are expectations for both males and females who follow the Master.

In several places, the writers of Scripture establish specific gender expectations.

For example, Paul instructs Titus, “As for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” [TITUS 2:1-8].

Clearly, there are expectations for the conduct of men, even expectations that are dictated by the age of adherents to the Faith.

The expectations are related to conduct and character.

Similarly, there are expectations for women, again related to the age of the women and their time as members within the Faith.

Women are to endeavour to train other women, and they are to exhibit a demeanour that builds the family and honours the Lord who has redeemed us.