Sermon Tone Analysis

Prayer

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning.

Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.

… through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Suffering Love

Dr. Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later King George IV,[1][2] while he was acting as regent for his father, King George III.

It is named in honour of two military saints, St Michael and St George.

The Order of St Michael and St George was originally awarded to those holding commands or high position in the Mediterranean territories acquired in the Napoleonic Wars, and was subsequently extended to holders of similar office or position in other territories of the British Empire.[2] It is at present awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country, and can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs.[2]

Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, KCMG (28 February 1865 – 9 October 1940) was a medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador.[1]

Wilfred Grenfell was once asked what influenced him to give himself unreservedly to Christian missions.

Slowly he told this story: “Into a hospital where I was a resident physician, a woman was brought one night terribly burned.

Immediately it was evident there was no hope for her.

Her husband had come home drunk and had thrown a paraffin lamp over her.

The police were summoned and at last they brought in the half-sobered husband.

The magistrate leaned over the bed and insisted that the patient tell the police exactly what happened.

He impressed upon her the importance of telling the whole truth as she only had a little while to live.

“The poor soul turned her face from side to side, avoiding facing her husband, who stood at the foot of the bed.

Finally her eyes rested on his strong hands, following them up his arms and shoulders and then across to his face.

Their eyes met.

Her expression of suffering momentarily disappeared, as tenderness and love colored her countenance.

She looked at the magistrate and calmly said, ‘Sir, it was just an accident,’ and fell back on her pillow, dead.”

Grenfell added: “This was like God, and God is like that.

His love sees through our sins.”

Jones, G. C. (1986).

1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p.

55).

Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Today’s Word from the Lord: 6th Sunday of Easter

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.

And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

become irritated, angry

παροξύνομαι - pass.

become irritated, angry.

From παροξύνω (ὀξύνω ‘sharpen’, then ‘provoke’)

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000).

A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 780).

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Our sermon text begins with God asking a rhetorical question:

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000).

A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 780).

Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

In general, people say that they desire the good; they support those who are working for the good.

We pray for and look for political officials who will seek ‘the good’ of the community.

We want teachers who have a passion for ‘the good’ of our children.

We want police officers who work, not out of a sadistic desire to control others, but out of a holy desire to defend justice in our community.

We try to elect mayors, governors, and Presidents who are motivated, not by the opportunity for personal gain, but to serve the public trust.

We seek for pastors who will not seek to “fleece the flock,” only to flee at the first sign of difficulty.

Instead, they will be constrained by the love of Christ to preach the pure Gospel, serve the flock, build up the broken down, chastise the complacent, and be examples of faith, hope, and love in Christ.

In general, people say that they desire the good; they support those who are working for the good.

We pray for and look for political officials who will seek ‘the good’ of the community.

We want teachers who have a passion for ‘the good’ of our children.

We want police officers who work, not out of a sadistic desire to control others, but out of a holy desire to defend justice in our community.

We try to elect mayors, governors, and Presidents who are motivated, not by the opportunity for personal gain, but to serve the public trust.

We seek for pastors who will not seek to “fleece the flock,” only to flee at the first sign of difficulty.

Instead, they will be constrained by the love of Christ to preach the pure Gospel, serve the flock, build up the broken down, chastise the complacent, and be examples of faith, hope, and love in Christ.

Our sermon text begins with God asking the rhetorical question through Peter, “And who is going to harm you if you should become zealous concerning ‘the good’?”

In general, people say that they desire the good; they support those who are working for the good.

We pray for and look for political officials who will seek ‘the good’ of the community.

We want teachers who have a passion for ‘the good’ of our children.

We want police officers who work, not out of a sadistic desire to control others, but out of a holy desire to defend justice in our community.

We try to elect mayors, governors, and Presidents who are motivated, not by the opportunity for personal gain, but to serve the public trust.

We seek for pastors who will not seek to “fleece the flock,” only to flee at the first sign of difficulty.

Instead, they will be constrained by the love of Christ to preach the pure Gospel, serve the flock, build up the broken down, chastise the complacent, and be examples of faith, hope, and love in Christ.

There is an even greater blessing in this passage, however, than this assertion about human behavior.

The fact is, there are times when your efforts for the good will be perceived as a threat to someone, leading them to respond with hostility.

Dr. Luther wrote about this, commenting on v 15-16 of our epistle text:

If we are zealous for what is right, that is, do not repay evil with evil but are sincere and friendly, etc., then no one could harm us.

For even if we are deprived of honor, life, and goods, yet we are unharmed, since we have a possession that cannot be compared to what can be taken away from us.

But those who persecute us have nothing but their possessions on earth.

Afterwards they have eternal damnation.

We, on the other hand, have an eternal, imperishable possession, even if we lose a small temporal possession.

Luther, M. (1999).

Luther’s works, vol.

30: The Catholic Epistles.

(J.

J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol.

30, p. 102).

Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

Paul had that kind of passion, and it was stirred up when he came to Athens and saw the spiritual darkness in which the Athenians were bound.

When he lived the life of an observant Pharisee, he would have likely either ignored them or sneered at them in contempt, but now, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, he was motivated to preach rather than to criticize, seeking transformation rather than condemnation.

While it is true that there are times when we see massive results from ministry, there are also times when the seeds don’t immediately spring up unto harvest.

The same Lord who watched over His Word to perform it in Jerusalem was watching over it in Athens, and earlier in Philippi, when Paul and Silas ended up in jail ().

Paul gave consistency in ministry, even though there was inconsistency in response, because he wasn[t motivated by the earthly response, but by the heavenly promise.

So much to unpack here - we really should do a Bible study on it!

In fact, if you stopped by the office this week with questions about this passage, especially about vv 18-22.

I wouldn’t be mad at you.

Even Dr. Luther said that this passage was deep:

This is a strange text and certainly a more obscure passage than any other passage in the New Testament.

I still do not know for sure what the apostle means.

On this Sunday morning, though, I just want to focus on three things:

We have a good conscience (v 16)

Christ “suffered once for sins…that He might bring us to God.” (v 18)

“Baptism…now saves you… as the appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ...” (V 21)

In this letter, Peter moves upward.

For your comfort today, I want to move downward, starting with #3.

Alone among Christians, we believe that baptism actually saves you, but not as a work of obedience.

Instead, it saves because God has connected His promise of salvation to this.

Baptism is a means by which the grace of God is delivered to you - that’s why we call it a “means of grace.”