Sermon Tone Analysis

Lord, May the words of my mouth and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, our strength and our redeemer – Amen

 

 

It has been said that the mark of a good leader is ‘their ability to lead from experience’

            And when I say experience, I mean - direct, in the field, in the trenches experience

                        In essence – “credibility”

                                    Someone that has worked their way up through the ranks

                                                Done all the jobs - Experienced all the roles

And has the credibility to ‘know’… what they are asking, those under their charge, ‘to do’

           

There is a movie  “We were soldiers” which to me is one of the clearest examples of leadership in this way

It is a story about the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

It stars Mel Gibson as the military leader

And is a clear example of how a respected credible leader – who has done everything that he asks his fellow soldiers to do – and therefore has earned their respect and loyalty

 

It is this model of leadership in credibility that St. Paul writes about in our New Testament lesson for today

            Paul states “/I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.”/

All things – to All people…

This passage is often seen as a key piece of scripture for evangelism….

and in fact a key piece of scripture for the mission and purpose of the church

Today as we consider and tend to some of the business of the church in our Annual General Meeting, it is important to consider what we are all about

St. Paul models for everyone in Corinth….

and for all of us – then as now – just how important the gospel is:

 

/20//To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.

To those under the law I became as one under the law … so that I might win those under the law.

21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law … so that I might win those outside the law.

22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak.

I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.

23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

(1 Cor.

9:20-23)/

/ /

He is not limited to the Jewish people of his heritage

Nor ‘the well-educated’ of his training

 

St.

Paul breaks down all the barriers … and meets them where they are

He looks …& finds… and then ‘serves’ in a place of common ground

 

And notice the motivation ... “That I MIGHT, by ALL means, save SOME”….

This is not a story of St. Peter at Pentecost – where about 3000 men (not to mention women and children) came to believe –        … but /some/

All of Paul’s ministry to date – all of his missionary travels are for “some”

When we consider our own evangelism efforts, when we consider our efforts and purpose as a church – we need to be mindful of this humble claim

By St. Paul the great church builder, the most significant writer of the New Testament

The one that went beyond the comforts of the ‘chosen people’ and was the Apostle to the gentiles

St. Paul hoped that he MIGHT reach “some”

 

John Bunyan was a common man with talent, and he believed that all talent is a gift from God to be used for godly purposes.

So 300 years ago he published /Pilgrim’s Progress./

No book since the Bible has had a circulation compared to Bunyan’s novel about /“Christian’s”/ adventures.

Bunyan was in English prisons off and on for 12 years, and wrote /Pilgrim’s Progress/ while serving a sentence for unlicensed preaching.

The book was a continuation of his offense by other means.

There was no mass market or distribution system for books then, but incredibly 100,000 copies were sold by the time Bunyan died in 1688.

It has since been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects, often for missionaries.

It has followed the Bible ‘from land to land as the singing bird follows the dawn.’

It is simple historical example that there is more than one way to preach.[1]

In his day, Daniel Webster was one of the most renowned public speakers

He had just finished one of his great pieces of oratory when Davey Crockett, the famous frontiersman who had been in the audience, came to the podium and said:

“I was told that you were a great orator but now I doubt it.

Heck!

I understood every word you had to say.”[2]

Daniel Webster, understood the principle that St. Paul modeled and declared – he was a great speaker because he was able to find common ground to share his message

 

What does this mean for us?

What are we to do – as we consider this passage of God’s Holy Word?

 

Like all scripture - we are to learn from it – we are to appreciate the challenges that face us as we go into a world that is hostile to the Gospel message

            Remember that it was also hostile in St. Paul’s times

Remember that he persevered through it all - to preach the gospel

            In fact our reading today starts out with an alarming statement

                                                “/Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!”/

To Paul – and to his readers in Corinth - and to us – it is dire if we don’t proclaim the gospel – the free gift of grace that is given to us

            It is vital that that gospel is proclaimed fully

 

Paul Tillich, a famous theologian, once wrote – “Being religious means asking passionately the question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive answers, even if the answers hurt.”

William Ashley Sunday barely survived his poverty-stricken childhood, but by the time he was 21, he’d won the right to play major league baseball, eventually taking the field for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Athletics.

He got off to a rough start, but in 1886, he was batting .261

and had stolen 84 bases.

Then ‘Sunday’ met the Lord of the Sabbath.

The YMCA didn’t have to try very hard to convince him to leave baseball and begin preaching at their services (even though it was a considerable cut in pay).

But Sunday didn’t have any formal training or education…and his preaching usually showed it.

His language was “colorful” to say the least.

Sunday remained a “blue collar preacher” and took aim at the common man.

He prided himself on his simple, down-to-earth preaching.

Here are a few examples of his style:  

/“I want to preach the gospel so plainly that men can come from the factories and not have to bring a dictionary.”/

/“I’m against sin.

I’ll kick it as long as I have a foot.

I’ll fight it as long as I have a fist.

I’ll butt it as long as I have a head.

I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth.

And when I’m old and fistless and footless and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to Glory and *it* goes home to perdition.”

*[3]* /

 

The gospel message that we have to proclaim is counter-cultural

It is not political correct – it will not appease everyone’s sensibilities

                        But it is the truth

                                    And the truth upsets our worldly comfortable ways

 

One professor of preaching is quoted for saying that “The sermon which starts in the Bible and stays in the Bible is not biblical”

His point, although rhetorical in nature, is while God does continue to speak through His book, the book itself reveals that He also speaks elsewhere…

In painting, music, literature, science and philosophy … wherever truth articulates itself in relation to what is important in human life on earth.

[4]

 

The Good News of Jesus Christ, calls us to a greater commitment and relationship with God, and our neighbours

It calls us out of comfortable pews - and calls into the world

St. Paul and countless other faithful disciples since have modeled for us - a pattern for evangelism and a pattern for the mission and purpose of the church

Be flexible – adjust yourself to the people that you meet

If you are with one group – learn their ways and be as they are to make yourself available to them

Develop credibility – they will hear you… if they can relate to you

 

When I was thinking about this strategy – what kept coming into my mind was that of an undercover cop or a spy - /Maybe it was because of the book that I am reading – Tinker, Taylor, Soldier…Spy/

            A Spy or undercover cop has to appear to be like the group they want to penetrate

They have to dress like them and look like them – they need to talk like them – they likely need to have someone inside to introduce them in – they might have to take some time to build credibility to do their job

Then and only then can they really do their job – once they are in and credible

We need to be credible if we want to be like St. Paul and share the gospel and have any hope that it will be heard

 

Now one way to think of St. Paul’s instruction is that he is a ‘chameleon of compromise’

            That he is being ‘all things to all people’ and changing the message that he has