Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Jesus commends the faith of the Canaanite Woman.

“Woman, you have great faith.”

At some funerals a eulogy is spoken about the deceased.

It is not a practice in our church because our focus is on the Lord and what he had done in a person’s life and how he comforts us in our sorrow and gives us hope even in the midst of death.

Nevertheless, you may at times be at a funeral in which a eulogy is given.

What is a eulogy?

The word is from the Greek which means “to speak well of”.

It is an opportunity to say good things about the person who has passed away and to remember them for what good they had done and the positive things in their lives.

Examples of famous lines from the eulogies of celebrities.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.

— Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy by his brother Edward Kennedy

Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control.

It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny.

There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth.

In any event, it is the only way we can live.This is the way he lived.

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Mickey Mantle

And more than that, he was a presence in our lives-a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic.

Mickey often said he didn’t understand it, this enduring connection and affection-the men now in their 40s and 50s, otherwise perfectly sensible, who went dry in the mouth and stammered like schoolboys in the presence of Mickey Mantle.Maybe Mick was uncomfortable with it, not just because of his basic shyness, but because he was always too honest to regard himself as some kind of deity.

But that was never really the point.

In a very different time than today, the first baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis said, “Every boy builds a shrine to some baseball hero, and before that shrine, a candle always burns.”For a huge portion of my generation, Mickey Mantle was that baseball hero.

And for reasons that no statistics, no dry recitation of the facts can possibly capture, he was the most compelling baseball hero of our lifetime.

And he was our symbol of baseball at a time when the game meant something to us that perhaps it no longer does.Mickey Mantle had those dual qualities so seldom seen-exuding dynamism and excitement, but at the same time touching your heart-flawed, wounded.

We knew there was something poignant about Mickey Mantle before we know what Poignant meant.

We didn’t just root for him, we felt for him.

— Bob Costas

As those who are humble, we may feel uncomfortable when people commend us for what we have done.

We are more prone to follow the command of St. Paul (we do not commend ourselves

2 Corinthians 10:16–18 (NIV)

16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.

For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory.

17 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

And the instruction of Jesus who says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.”

and the instruction of Jesus who says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.”

It may surprise us; therefore, to recall that at times our God would commend people for what they had done or positives in their character.

Job

David

David

The parable of the Sheep and the Goats

The parable of the Sheep and the Goats

Jesus concerning John the Baptist.

Our text today is one such example of how Jesus commended something about an unlikely person.

What does Jesus find commendable about us?

How can we live in such a way as to be commended?

This event takes place in one of the few times when Jesus left his normal sphere of influence.

Most of his ministry took place in Galilee and Judea with most of it occurring in Galilee.

On this occasion he crossed the border into Tyre and Sidon.

Although he was not from around there, news of his activity had spread.

How? (aside on the importance of going and telling about Jesus).

And so this foreigner to Jesus approached him with an important request.

(Passages and examples of how we “take it to the Lord in prayer”.)

We know how important it is to come to the Lord in prayer for ourselves and for others.

Certainly, the throne of God has been flooded with prayers for those affected by Hurricane Harvey this past week.

How did Jesus respond?

Uncharacteristically.

He normally responded quickly and effectively.

But here “Jesus did not answer a word.”

(It may seem to us that at times our God is not listening.)

She seems to have not given up and was beginning to annoy Jesus’ disciples so they pleaded with him to send her away.

How does Jesus respond?

What does he mean?

Undaunted, the woman repeated her request.

Again.

How does Jesus respond and what does he mean?

She understands but still believes that Jesus can and will help her.

It is here that Jesus commends her faith (define).

We may also recall how Jesus commended the faith of the centurion who asked for his servant to be healed at a distance.

(others?)

Application At a eulogy the eulogist may point to any number of accomplishments that the deceased had made or certain exemplary character strengths they had.

Or these may be listed in a person’s obituary.

Application At a eulogy the eulogist may point to any number of accomplishments that the deceased had made or certain exemplary character strengths they had.

Or these may be listed in a person’s obituary.

He was an active participant of the Special Olympics, and a member ARC of Dodge County.

Steven was a friend to everyone, he was a very kind, loving, and caring person who put others needs before his own.

Iona was a member of First Ev.

Lutheran Church in Beaver Dam, where she also served in the Ladies Aid group.

She was great at cooking, gardening, canning food, and sewing clothes.

She touched the hearts of the staff at the Charleston House with her sense of humor.

Iona didn't let age hold her back, she learned how to swim at the age of 63, and then loved to swim laps.

Her favorite meal was McDonald's coffee and a hamburger.

Iona was a member of First Ev.

Lutheran Church in Beaver Dam, where she also served in the Ladies Aid group.

She was great at cooking, gardening, canning food, and sewing clothes.

She touched the hearts of the staff at the Charleston House with her sense of humor.

Iona didn't let age hold her back, she learned how to swim at the age of 63, and then loved to swim laps.

Her favorite meal was McDonald's coffee and a hamburger.

Nathan liked to go camping and skateboarding.

He was on the Mother Ship, of the Deadliest Catch TV show in the Bering Sea.

He had great attention to detail, such as white shoes with black socks.

Nathan enjoyed playing Xbox with his son.

But the thing Nathan loved the most was being a great dad to his son, Adrian.

She was an active member of the Alto Reformed Church for most of her life, singing with the Choir, teaching Sunday school, Bible class and, for many years making sure there were fresh flowers in the Sanctuary for Sunday services.

She was a longtime and active member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Waupun, Wisconsin, where she was a member of the Rebecca Circle.

Among her special interests she enjoyed spending time with her family, cooking, sewing and quilt-making, playing cards, watching Packer and Badger games, reading and doing arts and crafts.

I read one in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that we one of the most eloquent I have ever read.

But honestly, what are we like by nature?

We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against God in our thoughts, words, and actions.

We certainly don’t want someone to stand up at our funeral and publicly reveal our private sins.