Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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I was having a conversation with a pastor not too long ago and he brought up a point to me.
That people often interpret positive things that happen in their life as God’s blessings.
But often these things are achievable through human effort and sometimes the result of society being set up the way it is, more than divine activity.
And that it’s a problem that people look for these things as the way God blesses them.
Well my mind started racing through to think of the Christians I know and how they have talked about being blessed over the years.
I recalled people talking about being blessed by the church family helping them out in times of need.
I recalled testimonies of people saying they were feeling so down and lost and God came and lifted their spirits and renewed them.
Now they felt so blessed to know the joy of the Lord in the midst of trials and struggles.
I also remembered people sharing how they had been physically ill and God restored their health and they felt truly blessed by God with healing in their bodies.
I would say this is the majority of people I have known.
So the other pastor said: well you must hang out with better Christians than I do!
I laughed and said, yes, well maybe I do!
But things are rarely this simple.
I kept thinking about it more.
And it did come to mind that some people have given God the glory for their material success or that their family was loving, or they’ve gotten a better job.
I thought to myself, is this what he was talking about?
But then I thought, surely it’s not wrong to suggest God had a role in the good things that come into our lives.
Then I come to preparing for this week’s message.
Then suddenly there it was directly in front of me.
The word blessed or Bless-ed.
Over and over.
And that word is next to things we don’t really think of when we think of blessings.
And then there’s another word, woe.
And it’s not really a positive word.
But there it is right next to words that we almost always think of as positive.
And these are words directly from Jesus as recorded by a very careful writer, Luke.
So this is getting a little complicated.
Can you help me out?
Let’s try to figure this out.
So maybe it will help if we go to that bastion of information that must be true because it’s out there: the internet.
You’re not laughing.
You’re supposed to be laughing that this point.
If I go to social media there are a number of famous people who use the phrase #blessed
#Blessed
#Blessed is a hashtag widely used on social media to express gratitude for fortunate circumstances in everyday life.
It has been also used ironically by those who perceive the hashtag as being too self-gratuitous or humblebragging.
Here is the ultimate hilarious example.
Kid has cool bike and can pop a wheelie.
He’s blessed.
He’s really just bragging that he can do it, right?
But if he puts #blessed over it, then we go awwww… isn’t that sweet?
He’s giving God the glory for his wheelie.
But every kid who ever tried to pop a wheelie and ended up flat on their back or flipped over the handlebars knows: this kid is arrogant, lol.
I won a gold medal #blessed.
I opened a new business #blessed.
I got married #blessed.
I was starting to see the pastor’s point.
It does seem like the only thing that ever gets #blessed are worldly blessings.
Our little piece of the pie because God loves us.
If you start breaking this down it is kind of shallow.
If you think about it a little more in light of those who would like to be married or like to open a business or who got injured trying to win a gold medal, it can seem like a humblebrag.
And it’s a little insensitive.
God blessed you but not me?
Now all of these things seem like good things.
Am I saying God had no hand in them?
No, i’m not saying that.
But maybe we should take a look at the big picture of what we think being blessed really is most days.
So stay with me here, let’s jump back into the text:
Here’s how Luke set the scene:
These people who were coming to Jesus were not really living the instagram lifestyle.
Not many influencers here.
They weren’t welcome at the country club and probably didn’t have anything like health insurance.
Jesus helped hurting people at their point of need without a doubt.
Instagram has a bunch of colorful filters so you can make your life look oh, so beautiful… But the gospel doesn’t put those kind of filters on human need.
But it does tell Jesus followers when we are truly #blessed: are you ready for the list?
#blessed— when you’re poor
#blessed— when you’re hungry
#blessed— when you weep
#blessed— when people hate you
Now on a human level we do sort of experience this.
When money runs short we may appreciate it more...
Who doesn’t enjoy a meal a bit more if you are hungry before you begin...
You probably value and appreciate love more when others have rejected you...
But it seems like Jesus is aiming much deeper than this.
I think he’s talking about divine blessings that come at the point of deep need.
True poverty.
True hunger as a daily reality.
A period of sadness or loss in life.
Truly being reviled by people you used to count on...
Jesus says it will be different in the future.
A picture of God’s preferred future begins to take shape.
A world where the hungry are fed.
A world where the poor are restored.
A world where those who weep find joy.
Because let’s face it this world does have a lot of suffering and pain.
If you think about what some people outside yourself have to live with every day it’s enough to make you cry.
If you look at the pain of the world and decide to mock it and laugh, what does that say about you?
When you see needs around you do you want to try to meet them?
Food and shelter for the hungry and poor.
And it’s interesting that Luke puts all this in the context of the kingdom of heaven.
Heaven coming to earth through the ministry of Jesus, the church, and Jesus’ return one day.
God is going to work on these problems: poverty, hunger, sadness, hatred.
God is working and therefore God’s people will be working on these issues: so if you find yourself dealing with any of this you are blessed because help is on the way… The church should be part of that picture.
But look at what he says about all those #blessed things we find on instagram:
So should all those be changed to #woe ?
Think about it!
Is Jesus saying that anything good that happens is like a curse and anything bad that happens is like a blessing?
That doesn’t seem to pan out if you look at all he says and does.
Why feed someone if it would only make their life worse.
But I think it does grab hold of these every day circumstances and thrust them into the light of eternity.
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