Sermon Tone Analysis

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Emotion
Anger
Disgust
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Joy
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Openness
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Anger
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A late friend of mine, Dr. Robert Washington, was a blind man.
Even though he couldn’t see, he could hear better than anyone I know.
I didn’t see him so often since I moved here, but each time I saw him and greeted him, "Hi, Bob," he replied without hesitation, "Hi, Sam."
I was always astounded at his ability to recognize everybody’s voice no matter how long he had not see them.
Some blind men are very good with music.
I’m sure we all love Stevie Wonder.
I grew up listening and singing some of his popular songs, such as, "I just call to say I love you."
I am sure many of you also heard of Fanny Jane Crosby, who had written over 9000 hymns.
She was blind since she was six weeks old, due to an incompetent physician.
You can say she was born blind, since a six-week old baby hardly gets to see much of the world.
There were great reasons for Fanny Crosby to be bitter, especially against the incompetent doctor, but she wasn’t.
In fact, we all have some reasons to be bitter.
Some people are bitter against the disadvantaged situation they grew up in, some against their parents, the government, the environment, or certain injustice they encountered, and still some people are bitter against God for not blessing them enough or answering their prayers, or you name it.
I’ve noticed that whenever we become bitter, we lost creativity, we lost our good sense of humor, we lost our vision and insight, we lost our ability to see the opportunities and the bright side of life.
Bitterness is worse than blindness.
Fanny Crosby would rather be blind than bitter.
She overcame her bitterness with faith.
She said that she rather be blind on earth, so that when she gets to heaven, the first face she sees with her eyes would be the Lord’s face.
What an attitude!
Her amazing faith did not restore her sight but allowed her to write 9,000 hymns and became known as the Queen of Hymns.
Living in this fallen world, we all have encountered infelicity and injustice.
This is the reality of life.
The Buddhists call this world “a sea of suffering.”
The Chinese call it “Kuhai 苦海”.
In fact, the Chinese word for suffering 苦 resemble a human face, indicating life itself is a suffering and we are born to suffer.
We all came into this world with a loud cry.
I am not being negative here but being realistic because we cannot overcome suffering by denying it.
Christians call it a “fallen world” because God’s will is not done on earth and we have fallen from grace.
That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
If God’s will were done here, it would have been like heaven already.
We live in a fallen world and we must face it.
Jesus taught us to overcome this fallen world, or sea of suffering, by faith.
What is faith?
Faith is not a wishful thinking.
The Bible says,
Remember Leonard Cohen’s song, Hallelujah? “I've heard there was a secret chord, That David played, and it pleased the Lord.”
What is that secret chord?
Obviously, it’s his faith.
We know that King David had his ups and downs in life, “the minor fall and the major lift,” but one thing he never gave up is his faith.
When he was up, hallelujah!
When he was down, hallelujah!
Known as the best song of all time, Hallelujah not only depicted David’s attitude but also pretty much summarized the entire Judeo-Christian theology.
Folks, unlike other people’s misinterpretation, faith is not a wishful thinking.
Faith is the attitude of persistence.
We see this in all faith fathers and faith mothers in our faith history.
The attitude of persistence.
The attitude that refuses to give up.
The attitude that believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel even though it may be pitch-dark at this moment.
It’s the winning attitude!
Today’s scripture lesson is about the last miracle Jesus performed in the Gospel according to Mark, which is about a blind man's faith.
It teaches us some important attitudes of a person of faith.
Cultivate Your Spiritual Vision
The first attitude of a person of faith is they constantly cultivate their spiritual vision.
What is a spiritual vision?
Simply put, it is hope!
We must accept the suffering of life because it’s the reality, but we must refuse to let the suffering kill our hope.
Even when the tunnel is pitch dark, these people of faith believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
They get themselves educated about that light so that they will be the first to see it when it shows up.
It did show up for Bartimaeus, the blind beggar.
The story begins like this:
For those of us who can see, we would say blindness is a great tragedy.
However, Jesus said spiritual blind is worse than physical blindness.
(John 9:39-41).
Bartimaeus had no physical vision, but he had a clear spiritual vision.
The moment he heard Jesus name, he knew immediately the light has come.
Even though he couldn’t see, he kept his ears open.
He was able to educate himself from what he heard about Jesus the spiritual truths that gave him hope.
He is also biblically literate.
How do we know?
He called Jesus, “Son of David,” which is a nick name for the Messiah.
That means he knew the Bible because the Bible says when the Messiah comes, this will happen.
So, this blind man is spiritually literate, which allows him to recognize the significance of Jesus’ presence.
How do you cultivate a spiritual vision so that you will be able to read the signs of the time?
Mediate on God's Word regularly and become biblically literate.
The more you meditate on God’s Word, the more you become intimate with Him so that when you hear his voice, you immediately notice it.
When Jesus asked this blind man what he wants, he replied by calling Jesus, “Rabboni” meaning “My Master.”
It’s a very intimate term.
This blind man has never met Jesus, how could he have developed such intimacy with him?
Obviously, it’s through his biblical literacy.
Your biblical literacy will bring you closer to Christ and recognize his presence.
Do you know who else used this term to call Jesus?
The only other person that called Jesus “Rabboni” was Mary Magdalene.
She used this term to call Jesus on the day of resurrection.
We know Mary Madalene had an intimate relationship with Christ through personal knowledge and being a disciple of him, but this blind man developed an equal intimacy with Christ by his biblical knowledge.
You and I need to cultivate our spiritual vision to keep your hope alive in this sea of suffering.
The second attitude is a strong conviction that overcomes obstacles and adversity.
Overcome Obstacles with Conviction
The moment you decide to call on God, you will encounter resistance.
This is what this blind man is encountering.
The Bible says, he shouted to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me,” but many people told him to shut up.
When you try to reach out to God, people will try to discourage you, silence you, cast doubt on you, and to make you feel stupid.
Sometimes, that doubt could come from inside you.
That is your own inner voice of doubt telling you, “Don’t bother!
God is too busy to care for my needs.
I am nobody.
God has better things to do.
I am not worthy.
Who am I to bother him?”
This blind man is full of conviction.
He doesn’t allow the people around him to define him.
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