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
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.15UNLIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.68LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.71LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.84LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.65LIKELY
Extraversion
0.18UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.82LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.65LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
There is a story of a Christian doctor who was one day called to see an old man who he had visited many times before.
The old man was suffering from bronchitis.
The doctor came and did what was necessary to check the man over and promised to get some medicine when called for.
As he is preparing to say goodbye the mans wife asks, “When must he begin to take the medicine?”
The doctor looked to the old man and said, well you are not very ill.
Suppose you begin to take it in a month.
A month both the old man and his wife cried in confusion and astonishment.
The doctor responds, why not, is this too soon?
The old man replied, “Too soon, I may be dead by then!”
The Christian doctor looked calmly and replied.
“That is true, but you must remember you are really not that bad yet, but perhaps you ought to take it in a week.
The old man pleads again, “but doctor, I mgiht not even live a week!”
Fifty-Two Invitation Illustrations (20.
God’s Offer Is for Today)
“Of course, you may not, John, but very likely you will, and the medicine will be in the house.
It will keep, and if you find yourself getting worse, you could take some.
I won’t charge anything for it.
If you should feel worse tomorrow evening, you might begin then.”
“Sir, I may be dead tomorrow!”
“When would you propose to begin then, John?”
“Well, sir, I thought you would tell me to begin today.”
“Begin today by all means,” said Dr. S——, kindly.
“I only wanted to show you how false your own reasoning is, when you put off taking the medicine which the Great Physician has provided for your sin-sick soul.
Just think how long you have neglected the remedy He has provided.
For years you have turned away from the Lord Jesus.
You have said to yourself, ‘next week’ or ‘next year’ or ‘when I am on my deathbed, I will seek the Lord’; anytime rather than the present.
Yet the present is the only time that you are sure of.
God’s offer is only for ‘today.’
”
“… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor.
6:2).
You may be dead tomorrow.
Jesus has been at working calling people to follow him.
He is building the kingdom.
He began by calling Simon - Peter, James, and John.
Ordinary working men.
He showed his power and authority through healing a leper and a paralyzed man.
Our text now returns to calling another person to follow Jesus.
Another that especially the Jews would not consider to be a part of the kingdom.
Jesus is showing once again that His kingdom will be unlike any other.
Jesus call of this man goes on to reveal though questions and misconceptions of the religious leaders of the day.
Calling a tax collector.
As we read this morning of the story of Levi, we see Jesus coming once again to a person that is outside of what we would expect.
A person that was considered to be one of the most heinous sinners living during those days.
Jesus had been performing miracles and forgiving peoples sin, and after some time, we don’t know exactly how much,
he went out as saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth.
This statement alone gives us a lot of information about the man Jesus was about to interact with and what kind of man Levi was.
To understand this though, we must know some cultural information.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 (How a Sinner Gets Saved)
He was a tax collector; in other words, he was a thieving sinner.
In those days the Romans subcontracted the collection of their imperial revenue.
Anyone who wanted to collect taxes would place a bid for his region,
with the Romans awarding the contract to the highest bidder.
The winner paid off the government, then tried to levy as many taxes as he could.
Anything he collected over and above the amount he bid was his to keep.
Obviously, this system was open to corruption.
There were multiple types of taxes collected, polls, land, income, roads, ports.
most tax collectors were filthy rich.
Filthy is just the word for it, because taxmen were among the most despised men in Israel.
Because they collaborated with the Romans, they were considered traitors.
Because they collected more than they had any right to take, they were considered robbers.
And because they had so much contact with Gentiles, they were considered unclean.
In fact, some rabbis said that if a tax collector set foot in someone’s house, everything and everyone inside became impure.
So Levi was among the lowest of the low.
In essence, Luke is now combining the previous two miracles into one individual now with Levi.
A little background on Levi,
The parallel accounts of this calling happen in
and
There are a number of ideas floating around as to why the different names are used between the three.
Levi may have signified that he was a Levite.
Perhaps Matthew was a given name, like Simons being changed, or Saul being changed.
It is a curious question when we compare the gospels but of little consequence to the message.
What is important is that it is Jesus that saw Levi.
The word means to look intently as someone or something.
You know like when you are looking across the room to try and get someones attention.
Picture wit me in your mind, Levi sitting at his tax booth, Jesus walking by.
Levi looks up to catch Jesus gaze.
He probably had that feeling, you know when you get caught doing something you probably shouldn’t.
That hand in the cookie jar moment.
Throat getting tight,
Heart rate increasing.
Is he looking at me?
And Jesus says
Follow Me.
We have in Levi a picture of a man who had fallen into a deep, dark pit and lay in its miry bottom, groaning and utterly unable to move.
Many passed by closely enough to see his plight, but walked on with stately tread, without giving any help.
Others looked down at him perhaps thinking you will get what you deserve in the end, it’s your fate.
If ever you get out, don't get in there again.'
The religious leaders of the day may have looked at him and said, 'Poor man!
I am very much pained to see you in that plight.
If you could but scramble up half way, I could reach you and help you up the rest of the way.'
But the man was entirely helpless.
But them came Jesus, hearing the man's groans, had pity on him,
and climbing down into the pit himself, boosts the man back out saying, 'Go and sin no more.'
The doctrine of salvation.
When we see Levi’s call here in scripture we see the basics of the doctrine of salvation.
What did Levi do to deserve this call?
When people saw Levi, they saw a man at his tollbooth counting his money.
They hated him.
When Jesus looked at Levi, he saw a man in need of a savior.
Levi did absolutely nothing.
We ought to look at Levi and see our own sinful selves, because until we come to Jesus, we are like him in many ways.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9