Sermon Tone Analysis

Passing the Test

Intro - [after thanks] segue from last week…sorta part 2....

…maybe allude to the Princess Bride?

When things go wrong you have to go back to the beginning[talk about that in our lives, our faith, our relationships…it is important to start again sometimes]…that is why it is so important that we talk about love…setup text with relaxed walk through of the text…Before the walk through talk about Star Wars----It’s a Trap!!

Matt 22:34-

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pray

[test pic]

Tests.

We hate them, don’t we?

I remember when I was teaching, albeit very briefly, that when I gave out a test, I was sure to remind everyone that it wasn’t a big deal - it wasn’t live or die; it wasn’t life changing.

But they can feel that way, can’t they?

Whether it is a driving test, a math test, a history test, an English test (my personal least favorite), or even our parents or spouses testing us; we hate tests.

And then there is God.

The God that tests our faith.

The God that seems to put us in positions in order to somehow quantify our faith, or to measure our ability.

What about those tests?

Well to understand those tests, and any other test really, we need to understand our

You see them throughout the Bible, right?

People who are put in a position to do the Godly, or the right, thing.

And usually they fail, don’t they?

They fail these tests that seem to us, and probably to them, to be this epic and massive and overwhelming task!

Something that takes a superhuman amount of wisdom and will power to overcome.

And it is almost as if the story of us going through those trials will resound throughout history sometimes!

To be honest, when I think of tests like that, I think of The Lord of the Rings - it’s a 3 movie day now…I have been holding back, so watch out - there is this scene where this great queen is tempted to take this ring of power.

Now if she took it she would be great!

She would be all powerful!

And since she is on the good side, it would be a great thing right?

Well, probably not.

So in this great speech she talks about all the good she could do and then starts becoming sort of drunk with power, like we all would get, and realizes that she has to turn it down.

And as she whimpers away, she mumbles, “I passed the test...”

That is how I view God’s tests, sometimes.

I think that is how we all view them!

These seemingly impossible situations that would take every ounce of our self control and strength to be able to pass!

And even when we feel like we pass those tests, it always seems like it comes at great personal cost.

[what if I told you pic]

What if I told you I, you, we, were wrong?

[4 movie day!…and explain that is what a meme looks like]

You see, tests COULD be that, but they are not necessarily that!

In fact, those tests are likely the least important tests we could be presented!

Think about it this way.

What if I had a 1000 pound hammer up here and told you that only someone strong could pick it up?

It is a true TEST of strength!

Only the strong could do it!

Well of course I might be right, but the test isn’t important.

I say that because the world is full of strong people that could never even budge it!

So failure of that test is, in many ways, meaningless!

I would even go as far to say that the task itself offered nothing for us to even learn from!

So it isn’t a test as much as a task - and a pointless one at that.

And that isn’t the way God works, church!

He doesn’t hand out meaningless tasks!

No, if He were going to test us, there would be some purpose for that test!

It wouldn’t just be pick up that heavy thing, or do that difficult thing.

It would always teach us more than test us.

Matthew 22:

[pic of pharisees testing Jesus]

Our text really drives that home.

You see these questions given to Jesus are just like questions on our tests, or in our lives.

They are moments when it isn’t our actions that are being gauged, but rather, our hearts.

Our text really drives that home.

You see these questions given to Jesus are just like questions on our tests, or in our lives.

They are moments when it isn’t our actions that are being gauged, but rather, our hearts.

These men were trying to test Jesus, trying to trap Him with words, but Jesus responds by addressing the condition of their heart!

“Who do you give your money to?

Caesar or God?” “Who’s wife is this woman in this Resurrection that we don’t even believe in?” “Which of God’s words or commands is the best?”

Their questions, their tests, were rife with malicious intentions.

And if we are honest, ours are too sometimes.

And because theirs, and ours, are, we tend to project that onto our opinion of God’s tests.

And when we do that, we lose sight of the real way that we pass the test, because we know for a fact that we can’t pick up that hammer!

We can’t do what we need to do.

[tests]

Well let me be clear, church.

Tests have nothing to do with what you know or how well you do, and everything to do with how much you are willing to do and how hard you are willing to try.

God doesn’t work on pass/fail.

God works with effort.

If you want to pass the test, then you have to put in the effort.

You see, effort leads to results!

But results don’t lead to effort!

And church, God wants our effort and our energy, not just the results!

We are tested not to see how good we are, but to see how much we love God.

We are tested to see how much we are willing to give up to live for Him.

And those tests, they shouldn’t remind us of our failures, but rather, they should help us rejoice in our little victories!

[kids]

talk about tests....reframe tests correctly…not about seeing what you know or how well you do, but rather how much you care, and how hard you are willing to try....effort leads to results, whereas results hardly ever lead to effort…So we are tested not to see how good we are, or how much we know, or how well we can live out the Christian life, but to see how much we are willing to give, and how hard we are willing to try to do what God says…even more than that, perhaps, how much we are willing to give up to live like Him.

[picof children]

Remember when you, or your kids, did something right?

Maybe you were better than me and got used to it, but when I did something right I would parade around the house acting like I was king of the world!

And when my kids do something right, even if there is something wrong in there, I praise them!

I praise them, because if I keep on praising them for doing the right thing, even if they did it with the wrong attitude, or the wrong way, I am helping put the right building blocks in place so that they can pass the real test in this life!

The test of living like Jesus.

And we all need to do that for each other too.

In fact, this world would be amazing if we would only focus on the little victories, those moments when we get the basics right.

Because those basics are truly what matters church.

[shema]

That is what Jesus is getting at in this moment.

Sure those guys were trying to trap Him, but there was something to be learned here.

There was a lesson in all the badness of this situation.

And in this moment, Jesus gives them, and us, all that we need to pass the test.

You know I love paraphrasing - and I think it is really helpful here.

These men, essentially, went up to Jesus and said, “What is the one thing, the ONE thing, we should do to show God our obedience?”

[point to screen]