Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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*A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words*
*Luke 5:12-16*
In 1985, two men sent out 100’s of letters to photographers all over the world inviting them to participate in a unique challenge.
They would be allowed to fan out all over the U.S. and take pictures that they think describes America.
However, they would be given only one 24 hour period of time to do so.
Their photos would then be submitted and the best 250 eventually became book “/A Day in the Life of America/.”
This book would tell the story of America shown only through pictures.
v The idea behind this monumental work is the truth of the idiom…
Ø *A picture is worth a thousand words*
§ And if you have ever seen this book, it is true!
· Beautiful pictures that truly describe America as never before.
v Before us today, Luke tells the simple story of a leper being healed by Jesus
Ø He tells it in a mere 128 words
§ But the picture that develops is much more vivid
· And tells a much richer story
*READ 5:12-16*
v The first picture that develops is…
*A Picture of Sinfulness (v.
12a)*
v Luke tells us that while Jesus was in one of the towns…
Ø A man covered with leprosy approached him
§ GK = full of leprosy
· Luke a physician = technical term
¨ This man was covered, head to foot in leprosy
v Leprosy is a terrible disease
Ø Usually starts at the extremities
§ Fingers, toes, nose, eyes
· It slowly eats away until its victim is crippled and disfigured
Ø And in Scripture it many times is representative of sin
§ Probably because of the stories of…
· Miriam ~~ Num 12:6-10
· Gehazi ~~2 Kings 5:25-27
· Uzziah ~~ 2 Chron 26:19
¨ All of which contracted leprosy as a punishment from Yahweh
Ø It does not mean that all people who had leprosy as a result of some sin
§ But if we look at leprosy, the effects mimic that of sin
Ø First of all…
§ It is deceptive ~~ It is white
Ø Leprosy starts as innocent little white specs
A workman on a road construction crew was working on a project deep in the mountain area of Pennsylvania.
Every morning as he drove to work in his pickup, he would see a young boy at a fishing hole near the road.
He would wave and speak to the boy each day.
One day, however, as he drove slowly past the fishing spot and asked how the boy was doing, he got a strange reply: "The fish aren't bitin' today, but the worms sure are."
When he pulled into the local gas station down the road a few minutes later, he jokingly related the boy's comment to the attendant.
For a moment the attendant laughed, but then a look of horror crossed his face, and without another word he ran to his truck, jumped in, and drove away.
Later that day, the man on the construction crew found out what had happened.
The gas station attendant had arrived on the scene too late to save the boy, who had somehow mistaken a nest of baby rattlesnakes for earthworms and had been bitten to death.
Baby rattlesnakes, you see, are born with their full venom.
And so it is with the sins that tempt us.
They may appear harmless, even colorful, yet they contain the full venom of Satan's poison and will destroy us if we handle them.
v So many times we think that these little sins that we commit have no effect
Ø They are small, minor infractions
§ “What harm could they do”, we say
· We must realize that they all have the full venom of Satan’s poison
Ø Sin is like leprosy in that…
§ Sin is numbing
· Numbs our consciences
¨ Scripture tells us that the more we sin, the less sensitive we are to it
Ø *1 Tim 4:2*
§ Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron
¨ The more we sin, the easier it is to sin again
Ø Sin is like leprosy in that…
§ Sin slowly and progressively kills
The consuming, self-destructive nature of sin is like the technique used by Eskimos to kill wolves.
First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze.
Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed in a block of frozen blood.
Next the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up.
When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood.
He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare.
Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.
So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he realize that his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own blood.
The wolf continues to lick the blade through the night and as it does grows weaker and weaker.
But his craving for the blood grows more and more until he drops dead from blood loss in the snow.
v Romans 5:12 tells us that the results of sin is death
Ø As with leprosy, if unchecked, sin slowly and progressively kills you
The second picture that comes into view in our text is…
*A Picture of Humility (v.
12b)*
v Our texts tells us that when the leper saw Jesus he fell at his feet with his face to the ground
Ø The Leper knew who Jesus was…God incarnate
§ And he realized how to approach God
· With humility on his knees, with his face in the ground
¨ Not even able to look at Jesus
Ø Hiding his face
Ø Just as *Peter* did in the boat
Ø Just like *Moses* did
Ø Just as *Daniel* did
Ø Just as *Ezekiel* did
Ø Just as *John* did
Ø Just as the *seraphs* did in Isaiah’s vision
v The leper came before Jesus in a humility that demonstrated a knowledge of not only where he was…
Ø In the presence of God Himself
v …But also the hope of what Christ could do for him
Ø Possibly the last hope that this leper had
v *Ken Hughes* (Pastor of church in Wheaton Ill)
Ø “Christ’s healing touch does not come in response to a casual, irreverent acknowledgement, it comes as we bow before Him in the realization that he is our only hope”
§ And that is what we must realize as well
· Too often we approach Christ too casually
¨ We come before him in supplication as our friend our buddy, our pal Jesus
Ø In other words…
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