Sermon Tone Analysis

Father’s Day is in 3 weeks.

Unfortunately for Fathers, they are going to have an extended Father’s Day because this week and next week, which are not Father’s Day sermons, will discuss fatherhood.

If you were to describe a father, how would you describe him and his role?

Some of us might have hard time with that question, because the dad in our life is not good.

He is sinner and you don’t want to have anything to do with him because of how much he has hurt you.

Perhaps he was a sinner, but now he is dead.

You think about to when he died and a huge weight lifted because the pain that he brought you is now in the past.

We can talk in idealized language about a father.

But, that language is speaking of what a father is called to be, rather than what a father often actually is.

Even though so many fathers do not meet the standard set by God, the standard is still there.

The standard should still be pursued by fathers, across the board.

Paul refers to himself as a father to the Corinthians.

He can say this, because he planted the church.

Which brings an additional level to this fatherhood discussion.

Not only are biological fathers held to a standard.

But, spiritual fathers are as well.

Today and next week, as we explore this subject of fatherhood, I am going to specifically apply this discussion to spiritual leaders, though everyone can benefit from a close look at our own lives in relation to this standard.

A spiritual leader could be a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, a mentor.

These week will discuss how a father is an example.

Next week, we will discuss how a father brings correction.

A Father is an example

Paul writes to the Corinthians:

At first glance, this is a rather proud statement.

Normally, we would think that a spiritual leader is to urge his people to imitate Christ.

Paul himself urged the Ephesians of this:

But, in Corinthians, Paul says: imitate me.

Why in the world would he say that?

As humans, we naturally imitate other humans.

We can say that we are imitating Christ, but in reality, we are merely imitating what we believe Christ is like through watching other Christians.

Which is very dangerous.

If we are not careful, we will imitate someone who is not a picture of Christ, but is a picture of sinful humanity.

We will begin to do things which are against God.

Unfortunately, someone else is imitating us, and they begin to follow down this sinful path.

All because we chose to imitate the wrong person.

When we do not consciously pick someone to model our lives after, we will subconsciously pick someone to imitate.

More often than not, it will be our parents.

Even if we do not want to imitate them.

Think about people in the Bible.

Abraham moved to Egypt and was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him and take Sarah.

So, he convinced Sarah to lie and say that she was his sister.

Which technically, she was his half-sister.

But, we won’t get into that.

Later on, he does the same thing again when he moves to Gerar.

God protects Sarah and stands up for her integrity.

Abraham is shown grace, but ultimately realizes that it is God who protects him.

Something important to remember.

Both of these incidents happened before Abraham’s second son, Isaac, is born.

Isaac is born and he grows up.

Famine comes into the land.

He moves to Gerar because there is a possibility of food.

God specifically appears to Isaac and promises to bless him and protect him.

Isaac doesn’t believe him.

Guess what he does… Yup.

Isaac imitated his dad.

If we think about David’s family.

David married a lot of women.

He committed adultery with Bethseba.

If we think about his sons, one son raped his sister.

Another son, after he took the kingdom from David briefly, slept with all of David’s concubines.

We tend to imitate our parents in some way.

I have a good friend who has lived forty years longer than I have.

He gave me a lot of marriage advice before Maggie and I were married.

He and his wife started noticing that he would act like his dad, who we will call Bill, in certain marriage situations while she would act like her mom, who we will call Bertha.

When that started to happen, she would call him Bill and he would call her Bertha, to snap the other person back to who they were supposed to be, instead of who they naturally were imitating.

Paul says that he is a father to the Corinthians and that the Corinthians should imitate him.

In the same way, a spiritual leader should live their lives in a way that others can imitate.

There are three main areas that Paul is urging the Corinthians to imitate him, and consequently three areas that spiritual leaders should be concerned about being a good example.

Be an example in worldview

First, Paul urged the Corinthians to imitate him in worldview.

In writing to the Corinthians, Paul is not trying to change their behavior.

He is trying to change the foundation of their behavior: the way they view the world and their place in it.

Two weeks ago, we discussed briefly how a believer in Christ identifies with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Next week, we are going to baptize some people who are publically identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

When we identify with Christ’s sacrifice, we are saying that his death was our death.

Yes, the penalty of sin was taken care of by him and applied to our account.

But, his death was literally our death.

We have died to the things of this world.

We have died to the sin of this world.

We have died to the priorities of this world.

We have died to the desires of this world.

We have died to the reasoning and logic of this world.

We have died with Christ.

Literally.

Not only is his death our death, but his life is our life.

He sits at the right hand of God, waiting for the fulness of time when he will come again and conquer everything, ushering in his eternal kingdom.

His life is our life.

Which means, we live our lives for the next life, instead of for this one.

We live according to eternal values, eternal desires, eternal truths, eternal relationships.

Having died with Christ, and being raised to a new life, the way we view the world and our place in it should substantially change.

My mother has what she calls her “happy sunglasses.”

They are yellow, which makes everything look happier to her.

Her perspective on the world changes when she puts on those glasses.

When we are followers of Christ, our perspective of the world and our place in it changes, just as if we are putting on a set of sunglasses.

A spiritual leader should model this changed perspective.

What does this changed perspective practically look like?

Jesus said:

The cross is not a burden like a physical illness or a strained relationship.

The cross is a mentality, an understanding that to follow Jesus means to follow him in suffering and death.

That death could be a death of our own plans, desires, priorities, ideas, and accepting his completely.

That death could be a death of relationships, as our choice to follow Jesus no matter where he brings us could cause relationships with friends and family to be broken.