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
0.15UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.12UNLIKELY
Fear
0.18UNLIKELY
Joy
0.2UNLIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.63LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.18UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.75LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.77LIKELY
Extraversion
0.35UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.63LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.73LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Eternal Investments
Matthew 6:19-24 | Shaun LePage | September 3, 2006
I.
Introduction
A. Beth and I moved twice last year.
Many of you helped us, so you know we have too much stuff.
In fact, I was thinking about that term, “moved.”
What does that mean?
It means we moved all of our stuff from Residence A to Residence B. We humans are always “moving” around here and there.
We “move” every day.
But when we say we’re “moving,” we really mean we’re moving our stuff.
And there’s nothing like “moving” to make you realize how easy it is to accumulate too much stuff.
And to make you start thinking about how well you’re investing your money.
Thinking about how well I’m investing my money causes me to think about well I’m investing my life.
B. This morning, I want to ask you to step back and take a good look at what you value.
In our culture, we are inundated by constant advertising telling us what we need.
What we must have in order to have a full and abundant life.
A typical supermarket in the United States in 1976 stocked 9,000 products; today it carries more than 30,000.
(/Our Daily Bread/, May 26, 1994)
C.
An anonymous writer once wrote, “The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments.”
(Source Unknown)
D. But, I like what comedian Steven Wright once said, “You can’t have everything.
Where would you put it?”
Of course, the American answer to that question is “Storage units.”
I’ve often wondered if any other country in the world has more options for the storage of stuff than the United States of America.
I’m sure no one else even comes close.
E. The sad thing is, you and I—if we’re really honest with ourselves—often get caught up in it.
We walk through the mall and see a high-definition plasma television with a 50” screen and we can’t look away.
We begin to think of where that monstrosity would fit in our living room.
We begin figuring in our heads how we might be able to pay for one.
We see a car drive by—maybe a Lexus, maybe a bright yellow HumVee, maybe a lime green Volkswagon Beetle—and suddenly we have a dream car.
Maybe you have a dream house or a dream vacation.
The American Dream is to be independently wealthy—to have all the stuff we dream about.
F. But step back.
Re-evaluate everything this morning.
What do you really value?
What is truly valuable?
How are you investing yourself?
Your money?
Your time?
Your self?
G. CPS: In the passage we will look at this morning, Jesus makes it clear that all of us are investing ourselves and our wealth in something.
The real question is Will you invest in what is truly valuable?
H. Review: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us what is truly important and what is truly right.
1.
In the first 20 verses of the Sermon on the Mount taught a new—a different understanding of righteousness.
In the Beatitudes, He spoke of how different kingdom-minded disciples would be in their character (1-12).
Then, He spoke about His disciples should have influence over the world around them because they should be so different (13-16).
Next, He spoke of the authority of kingdom disciples (17-20).
That authority was the perfect, errorless Word of God.
He said true righteousness is derived from understanding Scripture correctly, and applying it completely.
2. Then, in vs.21-48 of chapter 5, Jesus began to explain a new and different practice of righteousness.
He gave four examples of how the hypocritical religious leaders of His day were trying to get by with as little righteousness as possible.
Instead, Jesus said, “You must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
In other words, our Father—God Himself—is the standard.
He is the one we are to model.
We are to strive for His kind of righteousness.
3. In the first 18 verses of chapter 6, Jesus addressed our religious life—our giving, our praying and our fasting.
He told us to do these kinds of things “not to be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in heaven.”
The very same actions.
The very same religious activity could be done by two individuals and one could be a huge failure while the other could actually please God and be rewarded by Him.
What was the difference?
Their motivation.
Their perspective.
The religious failure is the one who practices religion with very short-sighted goals—the admiration of other people.
The religious hero is the one who practices religion with heaven-sighted goals.
With an eternal perspective.
4. In the next section, Jesus steps away from religious life and begins to address secular life.
The common, ordinary subject of money.
II.
Body—Matthew 6:19-24
A. *19 **“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and wealth*.”
B. I want to share with you Six Principles for Eternal Investing.
The obvious conclusion of this passage is that Jesus is telling us to invest wisely.
1. Avoid low-profit investments.
(v.19) “*Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.*”
a) Notice the negative command here: “*Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth*…” Why not?
Not because it’s wrong to “store up treasures” but because that particular type of investment results in low profit.
Jesus tells us to avoid low-profit investments.
This is a no-brainer in the investment world.
Millions of dollars are spent every year analyzing the history of various investments.
Only shysters or the confused convince people to invest in low-profit investments.
b) But why are “*treasures on earth*” guaranteed to be “*low-profit investments*”?
Because of death.
Everyone dies—the rich and the poor—and as King Solomon—the wealthiest man who ever lived—wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:15 (NIV): “*Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand*.”
(i) Dustin Hoffman, the Academy award-winning actor, once revealed his plans for the epitaph on his tombstone.
He says it will simply read, “I knew this was going to happen.”
(/Houston Chronicle/, Jan. 4, 1998, p. 2A)
(ii) After numerous visits to his office, a doctor asked a hypochondriac patient why he was always so concerned about his health.
The patient curtly replied, “Because, death runs in my family!” (/Houston Chronicle/, Nov. 1, 1995, p. 13D).
c) Death runs in my family, too.
It runs in your family.
In fact, the death rate among humans is 100%.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9