Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
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The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with the company’s main computer.
He dialed the employee’s home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whisper, "Hello?"
Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster, the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?" "Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?" the man asked.
To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No."
Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" "Yes," came the answer.
"May I talk with her?" Again, the small voice whispered, "No."
Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child.
"Is there anyone there besides you?" the boss asked the child.
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked,
"May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he is busy," whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?" asked the boss.
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!"
Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated, the boss asked,
"Why are they there?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied (along with a muffled giggle), "They are looking for me!"
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This kid is playing hide-and-seek to the extreme.
He seemed to be having fun with abusing his parents love.
Maybe he is testing the love of his parents and see how much he matters to him.
In fact, two of the most frequently asked questions of human beings are “Is there is God?” and “If there’s a God, do I matter to Him?”
King David wrote in his psalm, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”
(Psalm 17:8).
Our eyes are the most venerable part of our body.
We tried everything to protect it.
We blink and turn away when we encounter anything that could harm our eyes.
King David wants God to value him as much as we value our eyes.
The moment you realize that you are the apple of God’s eyes, your perspective of life changes.
It becomes much more meaningful and joyful when you know that you matter to God.
If you go hiding, God will send the police to look for you, the fire fighters to rescue you, and the helicopters to hunt for you.
King David said in another Psalm:
“Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.”
(Ps 139:7-10).
King David was a happy man.
He was an artist, a poet, a musician, a shepherd, and a warrior.
Even in his darkest moments, he was able to keep a positive attitude because he knows that he mattered to God.
We can discover this by the Psalms he wrote.
Even though some of his Psalms are laments about the pains of life, he always ended with hope and gratitude.
The entire Psalm 139 is worth reading over and over again and meditating on it over and over again.
In fact, the entire Bible indicates that you matter to God unconditionally.
If you get this, you will be a totally different person and you will live a much fruitful and joyful life.
This is a very important level of spiritual maturity to attain because, without it, you will encounter a whiny, angry, and grumpy life.
This was the case with the Pharisees of Jesus time.
In today’s scripture lesson, it starts, “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.
And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
(Luke 15:1-2).
Notice it says that the Pharisees and the scribes were “grumbling.”
In fact, throughout the Bible they were often portraited as a bunch of whiny, angry, and grumpy old men.
Some of them might not be that old, but the point being, despite their knowledge of the scripture and their godly living, they did not find joy and happiness.
They had power and prestige, but they had a miserable spirit.
They prided themselves as law-keepers, but they despised the lawbreakers that they called sinners, which includes the tax collectors, the disadvantaged, the sick, and the lost.
Now, they despised Jesus for treating the sinners with grace.
They hated Jesus for breaking the rabbinic dignity by associating with the sinners.
Their tone is shown in the language they used, “This fellow.”
It seems that Jesus’ name is not even worthy of mentioning.
“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
What a despicable rabbi?
The negative attitude blinds them from seeing Jesus’ divinity.
The Pharisees knew the Bible from cover to cover, but they failed to know the heart of God; far from the way their ancestor, King David, did.
As a result, they failed to recognize Jesus as the Son of God.
Jesus said, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.”
(John 5:39).
What it means is that the Bible is a testimony for Jesus, not an alchemy for salvation.
If they read the Bible the right way, they would have recognized Jesus immediately.
Instead, they despised him.
A happy person will end up entertain angles, but a grumpy person will miss the opportunity to see God.
In fact, the Pharisees were God’s own people.
They were supposed to be God’s inner circle.
Jesus came to work with them to save the world, but they treated him as their enemy.
The Bible said, “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.”
(Jn 1:11).
Jesus heart was broken for that.
Under the leadership of these grumpy old Pharisees, Jerusalem became a spiritual killing field.
Jesus said,
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!
How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
See, your house is left to you, desolate.”
(Mat 23:37-38).
Jesus wanted them to learn to be joyful.
First, they must learn to expand their love to love the unlovable.
Jesus told three parables to emphasize that.
Today’s passage covers the first two parables—the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin.
The third one is the Parable of the Lost Son, or better known as the Prodigal Son deserves an exclusive treatment because it’s the best.
Jesus said, “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.”
(Luke 15:4-5).
You might have noticed that leaving the ninety-nine in the wilderness to find only one sounds like a crazy mathematic.
What if the ninety-nine disappeared when he was looking for the one?
However, the point here is not about the mathematic but that everyone counts.
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