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.
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TITLE:     Food that Endures \\ \\
SCRIPTURE:    John 6:24-35    \\ \\
STORY: By Mary Orr
 Jimmy and Joey, normal boys
   Like fishing in the brook.
Of course they dug in garden soil
   For worms to bait their hook.
I'd wryly glance into their can
   Then quickly look away
   To give each one a hasty hug
   And send them on their way.
One day young Jim came grumbling home
   "To get more bait," he sighed.
"You didn't have enough?"
I asked.
"Joe ate it!" he replied.
My stomach churned
   My color turned
   Grey purple, green, and red--
   Till Jimmy, still disgusted, spoke--
   "This morning we took bread!"
SERMON:     \\ \\ After Jesus fed the five thousand, he went off by himself.
The crowd, however, was not about to let him go so easily.
They knew that he was living in Capernaum (Matt.
4:13), so they got into their boats and set out across the Sea of Galilee to find him.
\\ \\ When they found him, they asked, *"Rabbi, when did you come here?"*
He ignored their question, and accused them of looking for him only because he had fed them.
They weren't looking for a spiritual leader -- they just wanted free food.
They didn't care about Jesus -- they just cared about filling their bellies.
Jesus said: \\ \\ *"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life."*
\\ \\ That is good advice, isn't it!
At least it sounds good!
We know that it is all too easy to get caught up in making a living without ever beginning to live.
We know in our hearts that Jesus is right -- that his words are exactly what we need to hear: \\ \\ *"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life."*
\\ \\ But those are hard words to hear.
The reason is that the food that perishes -- the food that we put on the table every day -- is important, and we know it.
Not many of us have missed a meal lately, but that is, in part, because we work hard and plan well.
We know that it wouldn't take much to disrupt our delicate world.
We live from paycheck to paycheck.
\\ Most of us are only a couple of paychecks from poverty.
\\ \\ *Jesus says, "Do not work for the food that perishes,"* and we reply, "Wait a minute, Jesus!
That makes a great slogan, but it doesn't compute in real life -- where the rubber hits the road.
I MUST work for the food that perishes.
As a matter of fact, I must work several months every year just to pay my taxes.
Only then can I buy the food that perishes -- and \\ clothing -- and shelter -- and school for my kids -- and a car – and medical care -- and a whole lot of other things."
\\ * \\ Jesus says, "Do not work for the food that perishes,"* and we reply, "Wait a minute, Jesus!
I have responsibilities.
For one thing, I have a family to support -- I want to do right by them.
For another thing, I have a responsibility to my employer.
I get a paycheck every month, and I need to feel like I am earning it.
People depend on me.
My family depends on me.
My boss depends on me.
My co-workers depend on me.
My customers depend on me." \\ \\ *Jesus says, "Do not work for the food that perishes,"* and we reply, "Wait a minute, Jesus!
You say that, but I hardly have time for anything else.
I go to work at oh-dark-thirty in the morning, and I keep at it all day.
By the time I get home at night, I'm tired, but I can't just put on my slippers and read the funny papers.
When I walk in the door, it starts all over again.
There is dinner -- and dishes -- and helping kids with homework -- and laundry.
It never ends."
\\ \\ *Jesus says, "Do not work for the food that perishes,"* and we say, "Just a minute, Jesus!
If I don't work for the food that perishes, I will perish -- and I'll take my family and a bunch of other people with me.
I have to work for the food that perishes."
\\ \\ Jesus knows that we have to work for the food that perishes.
He isn't advocating that we quit our jobs and go on welfare.
As someone put it, "God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest."
Working for bread is important.
If we are to understand Jesus, we need to look at the broader context.
Jesus said more than, "Do not work for the food that perishes."
He said: \\ * \\ "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life."*
\\ \\ Jesus is calling us to recognize that life can be more than just keeping the wolf from the door.
His is a hopeful message -- a message God has created us for something better than drudgery.
His is a call to lift our eyes from the pathway at our feet so that we might see the flowers and the trees -- the sun and the stars.
\\ \\ Jesus knows full well that we must labor for the food that perishes, but he also knows full well that we are created in the image of God – capable of great spirituality -- and in need of spiritual food.
When he says, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life," he is calling us not to settle too cheaply -- not to allow the necessities of life to define who we are and what we hold dear.
\\ \\ Indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, he acknowledges the importance of life's necessities.
He tells us not to worry about food and clothing, and says: \\ \\ "Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt.
6:33).
\\ \\ I think that those verses from the Sermon on the Mount probably give us the clearest insight into what Jesus means when he tells us not to get overly focused on the food that perishes.
He knows that we need the food that perishes.
God knows it, too.
God created us to need the food that perishes.
God created us to need three meals a day, in part so that we might be reminded daily of our need for God's help -- so that we might be inclined to give thanks daily for God's gift of food.
\\ \\ God knows that we need the food that perishes, but he knows that we need something more as well.
God created us to need the food that perishes, but he also created us to need the food that endures for eternal life.
God created us as physical beings, but he also created us as spiritual beings.
God created us for this world, but he also created us for eternity.
\\ \\ There is a classic prayer from the Book of Common Prayer that captures in a few words the full scope of our God-given potential.
It says: \\ \\ O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done.
Then in Thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last.
\\ \\ I love that old prayer, because it places the emphasis exactly in the right place.
It asks God to support us throughout the day -- when we need the food that perishes -- when we must be concerned about the mundane things of life.
But it deals with those things quickly, in eight short words: \\ \\ *"O Lord, support us all the day long."*
\\ \\ Then it moves to eternity -- *when the busy world is hushed* -- *and the fever of life is over* -- *and the busyness of our business is over and done with*.
Listen once again to the ending: \\ \\ *Then in Thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last*.
\\ \\ That could be a sad prayer, because it acknowledges that this life comes to an end -- but I have always heard it as a comforting, encouraging prayer, because it anticipates a safe lodging -- and a holy rest – and peace -- eternal life in the presence of God.
It summarizes our faith so nicely -- God with us now, and God with us always.
\\ \\ I was interested, as I prepared this sermon, to find a quotation by B.C. Forbes that fits nicely.
B.C.
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