Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Have you ever read something in the Scripture and thought, “Ouch, I wish that were not in there” or “Yeah, I don’t like that”?

Me too.

Sometimes as I read the Bible I see things I wish just were not there.

Over the next several weeks we are going to tackle some of the things Jesus said that were very hard.

Sometimes I wish Jesus had never said them.

The first one we will look at is found in .

Jesus often said things that had shock value because much of what Jesus said contradicted the ideas of society at large.

The fact that the majority does not adhere to it does not diminish its truth.

Often what Jesus says stands in contradiction to the society norm.

That is what makes them hard sayings and as we study them and realize the truth of these sayings it may leave us wishing Jesus had never said them.

Upon reading our text, we may not identify this as a hard saying, but when we study it and realize what Jesus is asking us to do we may understand the difficulty that it brings for our own humanity.

Worldview

When it comes to what we think of ourselves what does the world tell us?

They tell us to see the potential in ourselves, to discover the beauty inside of us all, to look for the positive energy we all have bottled up, and to think highly of ourselves.

Many would call this “a healthy self-esteem.”

We have a society that is obsessed with strengthening every person’s self-esteem.

We have convinced ourselves that if we can simply think positively, believe in ourselves, and embrace who “we are” (whatever that means) then we can accomplish great things and live a successful, happy life.

We start the process of building the self-esteem of children at a very young age.

The lengths we will go to keep from causing a child to think negative of themselves is astounding; there are little leagues that refuse to keep score because the losing team might have their self-esteem injured and those same sports leagues don’t give out championship trophies.

Everyone gets a trophy just for playing.

Most-Valuable-Player awards are being discontinued in these same leagues to prevent even one child from thinking less of themselves.

Oh, and there are no longer try-outs.

Instead we now have A teams and B teams and C teams and D teams and in high school, where we once had 1 basketball team we now have freshmen team, sophomore team, junior varsity, and varsity all in the hopes of not shattering one kids self-esteem by telling him, “You are not good enough to play this year, keep practicing.”

I heard of a school that banned red ink on school papers because they believed it created a negative impression in the mind of the students and damaged their self-esteem so they now use purple ink for correcting papers.

We are constantly doing stuff like this in our society all in the hopes of helping our children maintain a positive self-image of themselves believing that this is the key to their success in this life.

We continue this into adulthood to the point now we have such a political correct society that almost anything a person says or does disparages one group or another in some way and is seen as an all out assault on that group’s self-esteem and overall image.

We are taught that before we can love other people we must first learn to love ourselves and realize how great we are inside.

This is the worldview.

This is what we have been programmed to believe.

This is what have been taught is the key to raising well-balanced kids prepared for a successful and happy life.

This is why Jesus’s saying in is so hard.

It is completely foreign to what we have been told to believe.

Jesus does not agree with the worldview on self-esteem and self-image.

What does Jesus mean by “Poor in Spirit”?

Christ’s View

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

One person referred to it like this, “Happy are the Unhappy.”

When it is said that way it really sounds contrary to everything we have been programmed to believe.

But he is not too far off.

Christ did basically say that the happiest people are the most unhappy people.

It sounds so strange, so foreign, so wrong.

But we know everything Jesus said was true.

So what did Christ mean?

How do I apply this idea that to be happy I must be unhappy?

We must realize that Christ was giving us spiritual truths.

SO there is a spiritual application for us.

Basically, it comes down to this; everything society has taught me to think about myself is wrong.

Maintaining a high self-esteem and a positive self-image in order to be happy and successful is contrary to the teachings of Christ.

Sometimes I wish Jesus had never said, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.”

BUT he did.

So the world tell us to do things and be around people that will improve our self-esteem.

AND this is why we often do not like the preacher that has a narrow “outdated” view of the Scripture and tells us like it is.

We want a preacher that is going to give us exciting truths about peace and tranquility, about heaven and eternal life, and about love and happiness.

What we are really saying is that we want someone that is going to say things that agree with my programming.

In other words, I want a preacher and a church that is going to go along with the worldview concerning my self-esteem and self-image.

“Make me feel better about myself so that I can be happy and successful.”

What Jesus said was hard because it is contrary to our programming.

So, again preacher, what does poor in spirit mean?

To Be Poor in Spirit You Must Be Honest

The world wants to help you see the best inside of you.

They want you to see a positive self-image when you look in the mirror.

They want you to think highly of yourself.

Christ wants you to instead, be honest.

Who are you really?

Are you this wonderful person?

Are you really that great?

When we look at ourselves from a spiritual perspective, which is what Christ was asking us to do, we should not try to build our selves up.

We should not try to dress up our image and make ourselves look amazing.

We are not great.

We are not good.

We are sinful.

We are broken.

We are condemned.

We are failures.

We are bankrupt.

John 3:

Matthew

Being honest about ourselves allows us to be poor in spirit.

Paul is honest about his worth before he came to Christ.

Philippians 3:7-

Paul said his life before Christ was worthless (dung) and that he desired to know more of Christ.

This is why many times I wish Christ would not have said it.

I want to think highly of myself.

I want to think I have something to offer.

I want to show people I am worth something.

Until I get honest though and admit that I am sinful, I am a failure, and I am worthless I can never obtain the happiness that Christ offers.

Paul said his life before Christ was worthless (dung) and that he desired to know more of Christ.Iave said it.

I want to think highly of myself.

I want to think I have something to offer.

I want to show people I am worth something.

Until I get honest though I

To Be Poor In Spirit You Must Mourn

You should not feel good about yourself.

You should not have a positive self image.

You should realize that you are not good, you are not great, you are a sinner, a failure, and a person condemned before God.

You should realize that you are not good, you are not great, you are a sinner, a failure, and a person condemned before God. he sought to help us understand spiritual truth and truth is often contrary to the worldview and to societal norms.

When you look at yourself you should grieve over what you see.

“A holy realization of our sinfulness is the prerequisite for a healthy relationship with God, but it does not simply exist at our moment of conversion and end there.”

- Victor Kuligin