Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Baptism, the Balcony and the Basement*

*Luke 3:21-38*

 

v    *RQ: How do you handle change?*

Ø     Do you like it?

Do you avoid it?

§        I am the kind of person that does not like change

 

v    About a 2 years ago I was talking to a friend of mine

Ø     At that time I was fresh out of seminary, I was candidating for a pastoral position and Carrie was pregnant

§        My friend informed me that there are 4 major changing points in the adult life that lead to stress

·        Marriage

·        A new baby

·        A job change

·        A major move

Ø     Then he pointed out that I was about to go through 3 out of the 4 within the same year!

§        And that I did

·        Carrie gave birth in May

¨     In July we moved up here and I began a new job as pastor!

v    We have all had points in our lives where large scale change occurs

Ø     When we Graduate from high school or College

§        Perhaps it was a job change, getting Married, etc

·        In business they are called paradigm shifts

v    Here we meet the adult Jesus for the first time in Luke’s Gospel

Ø     And He is at a paradigm shift point in His life…

* *

*READ 3:21-23a*

* *

v    Through His baptism, Jesus is laying aside His woodworking tools and becoming a tool in God’s hand

Ø     From this point on, Jesus is no longer a carpenter of wood, but a carpenter of souls

§        It is at this moment that he puts behind Him being Joseph and Mary’s son and takes His actives role as the Son of God

 

And this all happens at…

*Jesus’ Baptism*

v    And Luke very simply and kind of “matter-of-factly” states

Ø     …Jesus was baptized too

 

v    But Jesus’ baptism also brings up some questions…

Ø     “Why did Jesus have to be baptized since he was sinless?”

§        It doesn’t make sense!

·        When we get baptized, it is for the remission of sin

¨     Going down into the water signifies a washing of the old sin nature

¨     Coming up out of the water symbolizes the new man emerging saved through Christ’s blood

v    But Jesus was sinless

Ø     He had no need for baptism

§         As *Hebrews 4:15* states

·        /we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin/

v    You see…

Ø     Jesus’ baptism was more than breaking from His previous way of life…

§        He was identifying Himself with the people He came to save

 

Today the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai is the sight of a small secluded village.

It is nice, clean and safe place to live.

There is a popular tour that takes vacationers by mule along a mountain path to get to the peninsula.

Kalaupapa village contains an administration building, post office, book store, fire station, never-used jail and of course the hospital which, considering the size of the population, is one of the best staffed and equipped in Hawaii.

In the center of the village stands the large town meeting hall, with a big blackboard nailed on its front and some chalk hanging nearby, just in case a message for someone needs to be written.

This is a cozy and tranquil Hawaiian town

However, this town has not always been a scenic and happy place, for Kalaupapa up until the 1940’s was a leper colony.

Lepers from around the pacific were shipped to this remote village in Hawaii.

There are horror stories about how the leprosy victims, arriving by ship, were sometimes told to jump overboard and swim for their lives.

Occasionally a rope was run from the anchored ship to the shore, and they pulled themselves painfully through the high, salty waves, with legs and feet dangling below like bait on a fishing line.

\\ The ship's crew would then throw overboard whatever supplies had been sent, relying on currents to carry them ashore or the exiles swimming to retrieve them.

On 10 May, 1873, Father Damien, at his own request, arrived at the settlement as its resident priest.

He dressed their ulcers, helped them erect their cottages, and went so far as to dig their graves and make their coffins.

For twelve years he ministered to the outcasts of society.

In May of 1885, Father Damien came before the village to give his weekly sermon.

He approached the pulpit, paused and then ripped His sleeves showed the people the leprous ulcers his arms and said, “I am now one of you”

4 years later, Father Damien became helpless and died.

v    In the same way through His baptism, Jesus was stating, “I am one of you”

Ø     *READ Isa 53:10-12 ~~ The Suffering Servant*

§        because he poured out his life unto death, */and was numbered with the transgressors/*.

For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

·        Jesus was numbering Himself among the transgressors when He was Baptized

¨     He was willing to take on Himself our leprous disease of sin

 

v    And because He was willing to do that

Ø      He hears a voice from the balcony and His Father in Heaven is heard declaring

§        *V.

22 *~~ /You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased/

 

v    They say who a person is is influenced by two basic factors

Ø     Who we look up to and who is in our past

§        Who is in our balcony and who is in our basement

 

*The Balcony*

v    And we see clearly in our text who is in Jesus’ balcony

Ø     His heavenly father

§        But look at the small detail that Luke gives us in *v.

21*

·        Luke tells us what no other Gospel account tells us

¨     *That as Jesus was praying*

Ø     He was seeking His heavenly father’s guidance at a critical moment in His ministry

§        And we find out in 4:1 that he was to be lead into the desert for 40 days

v    Jesus was listening to the voice in His balcony

Ø     And the voice called back

§        “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”

 

v    Our Balcony is filled with people that we respect, people we admire, people we trust

Ø     *RQ: Who is it that inhabits your balcony?*

For Robert Kuferschmid there were two on the morning of June 17, 1998.

Robert, an 81-year-old with no flying experience, was to have taken a short flight from Indianapolis  to Muncie, Indiana in a little single engine Cessna with Wesley Sickle, a pilot friend of his.

During the flight, his friend slumped over and died at the controls.

The plane began to nose-dive and Robert grabbed the controls.

He got on the radio and pleaded for help.

Nearby were two pilots who heard the call.

Mount Comfort was the closest airport, and the two pilots gave Robert a steady stream of instructions of climbing, steering, and, the most dangerous part, landing.

Emergency vehicles were called out and ready for what seemed like an approaching disaster.

Witnesses said the plane's nose bumped the runway and bounced a few times before the tail hit the ground.

The Cessna ended up in a patch of soggy grass next to the runway.

Amazingly, Robert Kuferschmid was not injured.

The reason being is that he listened and followed the instructions of the two other pilots as if his life depended on it…and it did!

v    Whoever it is that sits in your balcony