Sermon Tone Analysis

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

Page #

"Who's In the Driver's Seat?"

(Mark 8:31-38)

*INTRODUCTION:*

            Joan trembled as she put on her lipstick.

She never dreamed she would be caught in this predicament.

Forty years old, active in her church, with a fifteen year old daughter and a loving husband and she was considering having an affair; with her boss, Jim.

/"Jim's such an attractive man,"/ she thought to herself as she checked her lipstick in the mirror.

/"He's everything Bob is not.

He takes care of himself, wears great clothes, and he's fun.

And he's a visionary.

The company's broken every record since he took over.

And it's not like he's happily married.

His wife is a witch, from the way he describes her.

Always suspicious about what he's up to.

I would never be like that."/

The irony never occurs to her that perhaps Jim's wife has a reason to be suspicious.

She puts the finishing touches on her hair.

/"Oh, I know Bob will be crushed if he finds out.

But it's not like he's the perfect husband or anything.

He's always so pre-occupied with his work, he scarcely has time for me anymore.

And he's always so tired.

I see him frowning so much lately.

Something bothering him but I can't imagine what it is."/

She fumbles through her jewelry box for a bracelet.

/"God, I hope Kristy never finds out,"/ Joan thinks grimly.

/"She's such a straight arrow.

It's amazing that she could be my daughter.

Everything's black or white to her.

Why can't she see some gray sometimes?

She's too much like Bob.

She stays down at the church, too much.

Sure I'm glad she goes on Sunday morning.

So do I most of the time.

But what 15 year-old gets up and goes to Sunday School every Sunday without somebody dragging them.

It's weird.

Then there's Sunday evening youth meeting and all those committees she's on.

Oh, I know, any other mother would be thankful for a daughter like Kristy.

She's never any trouble.

She makes good grades in school.

If she would just lighten up a little, especially where church is concerned.

/

            /"Not that I have anything against church.

I used to be REAL active.

That was before Rev. Smith came.

Sometimes he gives me the creeps.

He's a nice man and all that.

He's just a little rigid.

Just last Sunday he seemed to be looking right at me when he quoted those words from the Bible,/ `For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?' /Good grief,"/ Joan thought.

/"It isn't like I'm on the verge of losing my soul or anything."

/

            Bob sat on the edge of the bed staring at the floor while Joan finished getting ready in the bathroom./

"Lord, I don't want to go to work this morning,"/ he thought.

He had been like that a lot lately.

/"What do you do when you discover your boss has been falsifying records./

`No big deal,' /he says.

But it *IS* a big deal, to me.

Some of our customers are even starting to notice.

The home office has started asking why *our* expenses are so much higher than the other offices compared to sales.

Besides, it's starting to affect morale.

Some of the salesmen are starting to cheat on their expense accounts./

`After all,' /they say,/ `the boss does it, so why not me too?'" 

            Bob thought of a "Frank and Ernest," comic strip he had seen one time.

A client is sitting across the desk from a lawyer.

The client says to his lawyer,/ "The question of right and wrong is very clear.

I want you to cloud it up for me./"

For Bob everything was crystal clear, and in spite of what his boss said, it was a big deal for him.

He tried to explain it to Joan one night./

"This isn't the way I was brought up," /he said.

But she sided with the salesmen.

,/"Look, you've got a good job.

We've got a nice home.

Don't rock the boat."

/

            He watched her putting on the last bit of makeup in the bathroom./

"She was beautiful,"/ he admitted.

/"Particularly lately.

But sometimes he wished she weren't quite so shallow.

Of course, he knew that about her when they married.

Flashy clothes.

Nice car.

House in the right neighborhood.

Membership in the right clubs.

Those were the things that were important to Joan.

God knows he had tried to provide them for her.

That was part of the reason he hesitated about making any changes in his job.

Oh, he shouldn't complain.

Joan had been a good wife and mother.

Kristy had turned out super.

They must have done something right."

/

            He turned his head to look at the clock beside the bed./ "I better get a move on.

Don't want the boss to get upset.

It's not like I've got another job waiting.

I'm 45 now.

With a big mortgage.

Just as long as the boss doesn't ask me to do anything illegal, I guess I can hang in there.

It's not so bad.

Maybe Joan is right.

I've got a good deal.

Why rock the boat?

It doesn't seem to bother anyone else; why should it bother me?"/ Still he felt like Rev. Smith was looking right at him Sunday morning when he read those words from the Bible,  "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?"/ "I don't think I'll lose my soul over all of this,"/ Bob thought./