An Alternative Community Part 10
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro
Intro
Review: We are still in our series on the sermon on the mount. We’ve talked about how the sermon begins with the beatitudes and Jesus tells us what type of people we are to be. He then challenges his listeners and us to be Salt and light in the world. That we are to be kingdom people and we are to permeate and saturate the world. He then shocks his listeners by telling them that they must not only be the right people but they must do the right things. Not just sorta do the right things, but he tells them they must be better than the Pharisees - the people who keep things to the letter. This leaves us with a few problem.
Opening Illustration/Question: It leaves us with some questions.
What does it look like to really act like and follow Jesus? Not just in theory, but in day to day living.
How are we supposed to pull this off? How are we supposed to follow everything that Jesus wants us to follow?
Opening Illustration/Question:
What does that even look like in the Real world?
Transition to Text: Lucky for us, Jesus answers our questions. He uses some real world examples that we all struggle with. We all will find ourselves in at least one of these examples. He talks about:
Anger
Lust
Integrity/honesty
Relationships
Text:
Transition to the Points: Let’s see what Jesus has to say about this.
Points
Points
Jesus gets to the point of the matter.
New Testament Scholar Scott McKnight lays out what Jesus does like this:
Jesus starts by laying out the conventional wisdom regarding these issues.
Jesus quotes from the Bible
Question: What are some of the things “You’ve heard said...” in our culture regarding anger, lust, honesty, and relationships? What are some popular truths people like to quote as the Bible, but aren’t really in the Bible? What are some lies people believe?
Jesus interprets, extends, or counters that quotation.
Jesus begins laying out his points by first tackling anger.
His opposition is against how scripture has been interpreted.
Jesus probes behind the original Scripture into God’s mind.
Jesus reveals what that intent is and how his followers are to live.
Jesus reveals a fuller expression of God’s will for God’s people.
What is Jesus saying here about Anger?
OT tells us not to murder
Jesus is taking us back to the OT
He was talking about the intentional taking of a life.
Jesus gets to the root cause - Anger
Jesus makes a direct connection between anger and murder.
He makes a direct connection between calling someone a name with contempt and murder.
Jesus’ point here - Get rid of the root.
Illustration: If you’ve ever been in your flower beds and tried to kill off weeds, you can go pick them out, but if you miss the root, they will grow right back on you. You have to get rid of the root if you want to kill them.
Unrighteous anger will grow in your life and will cause you all sorts of problems!
Jesus’ message - You won’t just be judged for your actions, you’ll be judged by your motives. To put it another way - You’re not just judged by your fruit, your judged by your roots.
What is Jesus’ Alternative to Anger?
Reconciliation!
Jesus goes on to say how important it is to be reconciled with people instead of letting anger fester.
Reconciliation here for Jesus trumps even the sacredness of offering a sacrificial gift in the temple.
Jesus moves the discussion beyond the temple into the legal system. He urges his listeners to “settle matters quickly.”
Remember the context here - Jesus isn’t talking about petty disputes. He’s talking about when we are angry over something - so angry that we would murder if given the opportunity. Jesus’ command - Don’t sit on unrighteous anger. Deal with it. When someone is angry with you, go deal with it. When you have a dispute, deal with it. Work it out.
Do you see the echoes of the beatitudes here?
Blessed are the peacemakers
Blessed are the Merciful
Blessed are the meek
Discussion:
Tells us about a time that you became really angry about something and it cause you to do or say something you shouldn’t have said or done.
How many of you have issues with your temper? What have you done over the years to learn to control your anger?
What’s the difference between righteous anger and unrighteous anger? (Hint: Root and fruit - Unrighteous anger produces death and destruction, righteous anger produces life - But sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.)
Conclusion
Conclusion