Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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Anger
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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*/Going Home After a Long Time Away/*
*By Noel Kelley*
* *
\\ *Many of our Chinese are making trips back home to China now after being away for a long time*
*The first thing we all do after a trip back home is to make our initial greetings and expressions of happiness and perhaps tears of gladness*
*After our initial greetings we begin to tell about our experiences since we were last together*
*Those who stayed behind want to hear about the trip and what happened*
*And those who stayed behind also want to tell about what is was going on while we were gone*
*In most cases the Chinese are going back home with knowledge, and sometimes a commitment, to Christianity they did not have when they left home*
*The folks back home may know nothing of God and not even believe in such a thing as Jesus Christ*
*So when the Traveler sees their family and friends, they will certainly tell them all about their experiences and what they learned when they were far away*
*And many of these experiences will be a surprise, and maybe a shock to those they visit.*
*And when they hear of the new spiritual beliefs it may not be received in a positive way *
*After the telling there may be an adjustment and adaptation for all*
*The Traveler must adapt to his home folks and circumstances which may have changed while he was gone*
*Those who stayed behind must adapt to the Traveler who is a different person now that he has been on a long trip and had many new experiences*
*And spiritual orientation could become a major subject for conflict*
*In the story we are about to study these are the same things that occurred 2,000 years ago in the Bible*
*/READ Acts 21:17-25/*
*/When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly.
18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.
19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they praised God.
Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.
22 What shall we do?
They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you.
There are four men with us who have made a vow.
24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.
Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
/*
*In this story they were /received warmly/ /and reported in detail what God had done /*
*/When they heard this, they praised God/*
*Those in Jerusalem were excited to hear Paul’s story of what had happened on his trip*
*Then they began to tell what had happened at home in Jerusalem while Paul was gone*
*/They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs./*
*While the traveler was gone he may have communicated home, and these communications may have been distorted and false impressions and fears created*
*The folks back home may have jumped to conclusions that are not correct because they cannot get the complete picture from where they are*
*Moreover when the Traveler is excited by the new things he has learned, this can be seen as an attack on the old ways back home*
*So the folks back home may tell the Traveler to do something that everyone can see that will show his support for home and the old ways *
*In this story they said, /so do what we tell you… Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you,/*
*All this happened in this Bible story*
*/READ Acts 21:26-32/*
*/The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them.
Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple.
They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel, help us!
This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place.
And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.”
29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)
30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions.
Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.
31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.
32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd.
When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
/*
*While Paul tried to demonstrate his support for the Jewish law by fulfilling a vow, the whole thing backfired*
*When conflicts develop over issues as serious as religion, people often believe what they want to believe*
*People see things as the think they are, not as they really are*
*And attempts at trying to bring harmony to conflicting spiritual values sometimes only make the conflict worse*
*In the Bible case as in cases today, explanations and attempts at telling about a new way of seeing and doing things are rejected without serious consideration because most people are just not open minded*
*Moreover unless you have shared experiences it is hard to see things the same way*
*The things a Traveler has learned are hard to bring back home to those who have not traveled themselves*
*Even the telling can only be vaguely understood*
*They said/, this is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place.
And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.”/*
*They drew the conclusion that Paul had breeched the holiness of their spiritual values based on distorted information*
*/(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)/*
*Someone had seen a Greek and assumed he was in the temple area*
*How often today do people make false assumptions about spiritual values because it suits their purpose and supports their preconceived notions?*
*Fortunately rarely do encounters of the traveler coming home and telling about it lead to a riot, but it can certainly lead to harsh words and family splits*
*After Paul’s arrest he tries to speak to the crowd in their own language*
*/READ Acts 21:40-22:2/*
*/Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd.
When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic: 1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
/*
*When they heard their own language they became willing to listen*
*Finding people willing to listen is the hardest part a Traveler has in trying to bring new experiences*
*And getting people to listen only happens if you speak to them in their own language*
*People can only learn something new if they go from what is familiar to what is unfamiliar*
*People cannot start with the unfamiliar, or they reject what is said*
*But while speaking in familiar ways is a start, at some point you must get to the unfamiliar*
*The unfamiliar is the crossover point where people will continue to be with you, or there is a parting*
*In Paul’s case there was a parting*
*Then Paul told them about his own personal experience of spiritual conversion and he finished his story with these words*
*/READ Acts 22:21-22/*
*/“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this.
Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!
He’s not fit to live!” /*
*In his story Paul told them something that was a complete mismatch with their fundamental values*
*The Jews were racists and did not accept other races such as the Gentiles *
*/The crowd listened to Paul until he said this/*
*How often today do we have this experience of someone listening until …..?*
*We are talking to someone about spiritual values, and they listen until we say something that doesn’t fit their preconceived ideas*
*Well this story ends badly*
*/READ Acts 22-23/*
*/As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.
/*
\\ *In this story the people really loose their composure and do crazy things*
*I hope this doesn’t happen to you but it could*
*So what is the point of this lesson?*
*Be Prepared*
*Be Determined*
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