Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

ROM15

We all set goals.

Whether we’ve thought them out in great detail, or they’re just kind of hanging out there loosely, we’ve all got them.

Before I became a pastor I worked as a systems engineer with Motorola for 11 years.

And after becoming a pastor, I worked another four years part-time.

Towards the end of my engineering career at Motorola, the new buzz word became having S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Everybody had to meet with their manager and set smart goals.

That is, goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.

You had to be going somewhere with your work plan, and had to know how you were going to get there.

2017 was the 500 year anniversary of the event that launched the Protestant Reformation.

The German monk, Martin Luther, pinned his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Luther had an epiphany, a revelation when he was studying the book of Romans.

His eyes were opened when he heard the apostle Paul say in vv.

16-17 of the first chapter of this letter, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

His world was turned upside down when he realized that being a Christian wasn’t about trying to keep yourself justified before God.

It wasn’t about trying to measure up to the righteousness that God required.

Being a Christian was about receiving justification from God by faith in Jesus Christ.

He became a free man.

His conscience was free.

Countless people have come to rejoice in the fact that God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus ().

But can I tell you something?

Our justification isn’t the goal.

As wonderful as justification is, it isn’t the goal of God’s gospel.

Paul didn’t stop writing the letter ch. 1, 3, 4 or 8 because he was going somewhere.

He had a goal in mind that he was taking them to.

What we find in this letter that the goal he’s taking them toward is worship.

What we see in our text is that God’s goal for us is worship.

God’s goal for everyone in here is worship.

That worship described is not what we usually think of when we hear the word worship.

But it is, I think, the worship that’s necessary as we continue to live in this world; the worship that’s necessary as we watch protests and deal with issues of race and justice, not just as a nation, but as a community; a worship that allows us to reject the polarizing press of political parties and move towards one another, not past one another.

We’re going to explore this worship in our text under three w’s, Weakness, Writings, and Worship.

The Weakness

Let’s find our place in .

Why is the apostle Paul saying what he’s saying here?

If we step back from these seven verses to survey the landscape of Romans, what we’ll see is that in ch.

12-15 of this book Paul is giving instructions to the church for what life in this community is supposed to look like.

He took 11 chapters to lay out the good news of Jesus Christ in great detail.

He said that this good news, this gospel was the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, Jew and Greek.

He said that our ability to stand in a good position in the presence of God, our justification, is not based on what we do with our lives.

It is based on faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and it’s not based on our good works.

He has explained that this is because everyone is in the same boat.

It doesn’t matter what your ethnic or religious background is, everyone has sinned, everyone has thought wrong thoughts and done wrong things.

We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

No one does good, Paul said, not even one person.

Therefore, Jesus Christ is, and has to be, the hope of glory.

When you consider all of these things, Paul says at the beginning of ch. 12,

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

And he’s still talking about worship here in ch.

15 as a way of life.

The first aspect of this worship that I want to hone in on is the weakness.

He says in vv.

1-2,

And he’s still talking about worship here in ch.

15 as a way of life.

The first aspect of this worship that I want to hone in on is the weakness.

He says in vv.

1-2,

“But we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

Let each of us please his neighbor for good, to build up.”

“But we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

Let each of us please his neighbor for good, to build up.”

Had we been reading ch.

14 we would’ve found out that the weak he’s talking about here are those who are weak in faith.

Their weakness is demonstrated by the fact that they eat only vegetables.

They regard one day in the Jewish year better than another.

They don’t drink wine.

The strong, on the other hand, understand their freedom in Jesus Christ.

They understand that Jesus has declared all foods clean.

Nothing is off limits.

I can drink wine as long as I’m not making myself drunk.

I’m no longer bound to recognize and celebrate the special days of the Jewish year.

And Paul counts himself among the strong.

He says, “we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of the weak.”

Notice that I didn’t say to “bear with” the failings of the weak.

The word “with” has to actually be supplied in our English translations.

It’s Ok to do so, but if you think of “bearing with” somebody the way we usually think about a phrase like that, you’re missing the gravity of Paul’s point.

To bear the weaknesses, the failings, of the weak doesn’t simply mean to tolerate somebody.

Had we been reading ch.

14 we would’ve found out that the weak he’s talking about here are those who are weak in faith.

Their weakness is demonstrated by the fact that they eat only vegetables.

They regard one day in the Jewish year better than another.

They don’t drink wine.

The strong, on the other hand, understand their freedom in Jesus Christ.

They understand that Jesus has declared all foods clean.

Nothing is off limits.

I can drink wine as long as I’m not making myself drunk.

I’m no longer bound to recognize and celebrate the special days of the Jewish year.

And Paul counts himself among the strong.

He says, “we who are strong have are obligate to bear the weaknesses of the weak.”

Notice that I didn’t say to “bear with” the failings of the weak.

The word “with” has to actually be supplied in our English translations.

It’s Ok to do so, but if you think of “bearing with” somebody the way we usually think about a phrase like that, you’re missing the gravity of Paul’s point.

To bear the weaknesses, the failings, of those who are not strong doesn’t simply mean to tolerate somebody.

He’s talking about this community of faith that is created by Jesus Christ.