Sermon Tone Analysis

The book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, has been enjoyed by children for years.

It tells the story of a little boy named Alexander, who struggles though “one of those days.”

He experiences one trial after another.

For instance, when he awakes in the morning:

“I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

After an awful day at school, a painful trip to the dentist, and a terrible experience at the shoe store, Alexander sits down at the supper tables as his trial continue:

“There was lima beans for dinner and I hate limas.

There was kissing on TV and I hate kissing.

My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes, my marble went down the drain, and I had to wear my railroad-train pajamas.

I hate my railroad-train pajamas.

When I went to bed Nick took back the pillow he said I could keep and the Mickey Mouse night-light burned out and I bit my tongue.

The cat wants to sleep with Anthony, not with me.

It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

We all have Alexander days don’t we.

Sometimes Alexander weeks or even Alexander years.

Even for Christians life is not exactly what we desire all the time.

Along the way there are difficulties, pains, and sorrows.

Life is just full of trouble isn’t it.

James refers to them as “trials.”

That word can have one of two meanings.

It can have a negative meaning in which it means temptation, as in .

There James will remind us that God does not tempt us to sin.

But here “trials” has a positive meaning.

It is talking about those hard times that God allows you to go through to strengthen our faith.

The Devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us, but God tests us to bring out the best in us.

James was writing a letter to Jewish Christians showing them how to mature as Christians.

Here he tells them that their attitude toward trials was all wrong.

CIT: Instead of reacting to trials negatively they should recognize trials as an opportunity for joy since trials lead to spiritual growth.

We are really no different.

The first thing that we learn when we become Christians is that Christians aren’t exempt from trouble.

As a matter of fact becoming a Christian is a guarantee that we experience trouble in this sin filled world.

Yet, we should approach trouble with the attitude that trials develop spiritual maturity.

So James starts by discussing:

I. Trouble is coming; get ready for it!

(v.2b)

When you live in the real world, troubles are a reality.

That why in verse 2 he says, “When you meet trials of various kinds,” not, “If you meet trials of various kinds.”

- “24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We are never more like Christ than when we have a cross to bear.

- “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation.

But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Life itself really could just be considered a series of trials.

Think about it.

If you are not one now, then you are just coming out of one, or about to go into one.

James goes on to describe the trails that we face.

He says, “When you meet trials of various kinds.”

That word really means multi-colored trials.

James says that not only do trials have different shapes and sizes, but trials come in different shades and colors.

There is a rainbow of trouble out there waiting on us.

There are the reds of anger and resentment, the yellows of sickness and disease, the greens of envy, the blacks of death and sorrow, the blues of depression and sadness.

We all have troubles, but they all have a little different color to them.

He then shows us how trouble comes.

He says, “When you meet trials of various kinds.”

Some translations use the word, “encounter.”

That word, encounter, is an interesting little word.

It means literally, “to fall around or to fall into.”

This same word is used in in the parable of the good Samaritan.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.”

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The man was going down the road minding his own business when out of nowhere comes trouble.

He didn’t expect it he wasn’t look for it, but trouble found him.

James says that is the way trouble comes to us.

We are going along minding our own business, not expecting trouble, not looking for it, but somehow it just finds us anyway.

That is the reality of trouble.

II.

When trouble comes, rejoice in it!

(v.2a)

Based on what James has said about trouble and what we know about trouble from our every day lives, this is not the response we are looking for.

We think may our response should be, like the Boy Scouts, “Be prepared for trouble.”

Or like my dad use to tell me when I got hit with a baseball, “Suck it up and tough it out.

Shake it off, that didn’t hurt.”

I always thought, “Yeah it didn’t hurt you, I’m the one with the black eye.”

But James says, “Consider it pure joy.”

That is not a natural response.

To be honest with you, to me it really sounds kind of flippant.

I mean don’t you just hate it when you are talking to someone about troubles that are really real and painful to you and the person responds, “Well praise the Lord your having troubles.”

You say, “My dog of 10 years just got hit by a car and died.”

And they respond, “We’ll glory to God, God took that dog, but He can give you another one.”

You want to say, “I’ll knock you out.

That was my dog, old Spot.

So we begin to look other places to see what the Bible says about reacting to trouble.

Maybe James just missed it.

So we ask Peter how we should respond to trouble.

So we go over and knock on Peter’s door.

After all Peter was probably like the co-pastor of the church in Jerusalem with James.

“Peter how do you think we should respond to trials?”

- “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,”

He said the same thing that James said.

Well maybe we’ll go ask Jesus and see what he has to say.

- “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So now we are trying to make since out of how we can respond with joy in the midst of trials.

The key is in the two little words that come before it, “Count it.”

This is a banking term.

If you have change in your pocket and you want a Coke you would take it out of your pocket and count it.