Sermon Tone Analysis

*Aug 31, 2008 Bothwell & Clachan*

Jesus Wants Me to Do What? - No. 01.

“Sometimes it’s Pretty Hard to Follow Jesus”

*Matthew 16:21-28*

* *

*INTRODUCTION*

*Taboo Topics at Work*

Sometimes it’s pretty hard to follow Jesus, especially if you would like to be able to share your faith while at work.

In a 2008 Addeco survey, 1,807 U.S. workers were asked to identify issues they felt were off-limits for discussion at work.

Here are the top five responses:

* Religion: 29 percent

* Office gossip: 27 percent

* Personal life: 16 percent

* Politics: 14 percent

* Money: 14 percent[1]

Doesn’t leave too much, does it?

Sports?

Even grandchildren may be off limits if they are included in the personal life category?

We don’t want to admit too much.

We don’t want to get too far into the discipleship business.

It could be very costly.

It reminds me a little of a classic cartoon in Leadership magazine: two couples are seated in a living room engaged in Bible study.

One of the women is speaking.

"Well," she says, "I haven't actually /died/ to sin, but I did feel kind of faint once."[2]

*Scandalon* \\ Some years ago Michael Card, a contemporary Christian artist, wrote a song called Scandalon.

It is about the scandalous nature of the cross.

The chorus goes: \\ \\ He will be the Truth \\ that will offend them one and all.

\\ A stone that makes men stumble \\ and a rock that makes them fall.

\\ And many will be broken so that He can make them whole.

\\ And many will be crushed and lose their very soul.[3]

\\  

*HARD TO FOLLOW JESUS*

In our Bible reading earlier, Peter found out how hard it was to follow Jesus.

Why just before this he had gone right to the head of the class by giving the correct answer to Jesus’ latest quiz: “Who do people think I am?” Peter scored a 100% for his perceptive answer that said basically “You are God, Boss.”

But look how quickly the situation deteriorates and turns around for the worst.

Peter understood the scandalous nature of the cross.

It repulsed him.

There was no way Jesus was going to go to Jerusalem and be killed.

Peter could see Jesus being king and killing others but being king and being killed was not, in his mind, the Messiah's fate.

By questioning Jesus’ determination to go to a ghastly death on the cross, Peter is now the class dunce and accused of being on Satan’s Team, of being a part of the Dark Side.

You see, Jesus is very serious about this discipleship business.

After all it will cost him his life.

*Board Game Softens Discipleship** *

There are some in every generation who try to water down the cost of following Jesus.

I don’t know if you ever came across the old Christian board game put out by the same company that makes Monopoly.

Lee Eclov relates his experience with the game:

 

When I was a kid in the mid-50s, Parker Brothers came out with a game for church families like ours.

It was called "Going to Jerusalem."

Your playing piece wasn't a top hat or Scottie dog, like in the "worldly" game of Monopoly.

In "Going to Jerusalem," you got to be a real disciple.

You were represented by a little plastic man with a robe, a beard, some sandals, and a staff.

In order to move across the board, you looked up answers to questions in the little black New Testament provided with the game.

I remember that you always started in Bethlehem, and you made stops at the Mount of Olives, Bethsaida, Capernaum, the stormy sea, Nazareth, and Bethany.

If you rolled the dice well, you went all the way to a triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

But you never got to the Crucifixion or Resurrection.

There were no demons or angry Pharisees.

You only made your way through the nice stories.

It was a safe adventure, perfectly suited for a Christian family on a Sunday afternoon walk with Jesus.

It never occurred to me, while leaning over the card table jiggling the dice in my hand, that traveling with Jesus wasn't meant for plastic disciples who looked up verses in a little black Bible.

If you're gong to walk with Jesus as his disciple in this world, you may need to change your expectations.

After all, Jesus said, "Take up your cross, and follow me."[4]

* *

Recently we were a part of the SonWorld Adventure Theme Park Vacation Bible School.

In saying, "Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me," it is as if Jesus said.

"Get on this new thrill ride with me.

There will be many dangerous twists and turns in the tracks, but I promise you it will never be dull.

It will mean putting someone other than yourself first, being concerned not so much with what YOU want, but what God wants for you.

It won't be easy and sometimes it won't be much fun, but it will never be boring."[5]

* *

*Are We Any Better?*

Instead of that Biblically based approach, pastor and author Max Lucado describes some of the weak views people have today about Christ:

For some, Jesus is a good luck charm.

The "Rabbit's Foot Redeemer."

Pocket-sized.

Handy.

Easily packaged.

Easily understood.

Easily diagrammed.

You can put his picture on your wall or you can stick it in your wallet as insurance.

You can frame him.

Dangle him from your rear view mirror or glue him to your dashboard.

His specialty?

Getting you out of a jam.

Need a parking place?

Rub the redeemer.

Need help on a quiz?

Pull out the rabbit's foot.

No need to have a relationship with him.

No need to love him.

Just keep him in your pocket next to your four-leaf clover.

Many or us want Jesus to be an "Aladdin's Lamp Redeemer."

New jobs.

Pink Cadillacs.

New and improved spouses.

Your wish is his command.

And what's more, he conveniently reenters the lamp when you don't want him around.

For others, Jesus is a "Monty Hall Redeemer."

"All right, Jesus, let's make a deal.

For 52 Sundays a year, I'll put on a costume—coat and tie, hat and hose—and I'll endure any sermon you throw at me.

In exchange, you give me the grace behind pearly gate number three."

The Rabbit's Food Redeemer.

The Aladdin's Lamp Redeemer.

The Monty Hall Redeemer.

Few demands, no challenges.