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
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.51LIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.67LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.35UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.86LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.88LIKELY
Extraversion
0.29UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.85LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.48UNLIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
I Peter 1:22-2:3
!
Introduction
When I was attending seminary, we spent one summer with a mission trying to discern God’s future direction in our life.
As a result, I knew that when school would start, we wouldn’t have enough money.
One day after we got back from our summer ministry, we were opening the mail and were pleasantly surprised with a tellers cheque from a brother or sister in Christ, we still don’t know who, for the amount of our tuition.
That act of love was one of many which we have experienced because we are members of the body of Christ.
We have known you little more than three months.
You have shown us love by dropping in, by encouraging us, by saying that you are praying for us and by bringing flowers and food.
How can it be that complete strangers can enter into such a caring relationship so quickly?
Two weeks ago, we were reminded that we have been born again into a living hope and that we have an inheritance which is kept in heaven for us.
Last week, we were challenged to remember that the consequence of having received such a gift is that we are to live in holiness before the Father.
Francis Schaeffer has written a book entitled, “The Mark of the Christian.”
In the first paragraph he writes, “Through the centuries men have displayed many different symbols to show that they are Christians.
They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, even had special haircuts.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of this, if one feels it is his calling.
But there is a much better sign – a mark that has not been thought up just as a matter of expediency for use on some special occasion or in some specific era.
It is a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back.”
Besides holiness, another consequence of what we have received through Christ is that we are to be a people marked by love.
Let us read I Peter 1:22-2:3.
The challenge to us today, is to be a people who love one another.
!
I.
The Command To Love
!! A. Command
For most of my life, I have heard about Protestant and Catholic Christians fighting each other in Ireland.
This cartoon expresses what we have seen in some churches.
To an empty church, broken by hatred, the pastor announces that they have achieved doctrinal purity.
I have had people come to me and tell me that other members of the church refuse to come up to them and speak to them.
When they see them in the foyer, they make an effort to walk around another way.
I have been involved in churches that were formed because they split off from another church and the feelings toward that other church were still strongly negative.
I know about people who don’t come to church because of an experience they have had in business or in public relationships with church members that have not been carried out in love.
Archbishop Usher was once wrecked on the coast of Ireland, and almost destitute of clothing he wandered to the house of a clergyman.
The ecclesiastic was quite wary and somewhat cold and incredulous.
“How many commandments are there?” he suddenly asked, thinking to detect an impostor.
“I can at once satisfy you that I am not the ignorant imposter you take me for,” replied the archbishop, “there are eleven commandments.”
“No,” was the sneering comment, “there are but ten commandments in my Bible.
Tell me the eleventh and I will give you all the help you need.”
“There it is,” said the archbishop, pointing to this verse: “ ’A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.
’ “
Jesus repeatedly spoke about the new commandment to love one another and church history and our own experience tells us that too often love is missing.
Because of this, it is necessary for Peter to not only designate love as the mark of a Christian, but also to command love.
The imperative in this passage is “love one another deeply from the heart.”
The love he speaks of here is agape love.
It is not a love of feeling as much as it is a love that is given because of choice.
Love that arises because we have warm feelings for one another is easy.
Everyone even the most unloving person can love when they want to because it is to their advantage.
The love commanded here is a love that is to be present in all circumstances to all people.
It is love like that expressed by Jesus.
It is commanded here specifically for one another.
Although we are to love all people including our enemies, it is particularly important for those who are members of the family of God to have love for one another.
It is also commanded as something held deeply.
We cannot just say we love.
We cannot just pretend we love.
We cannot even love merely on the surface.
The love which is between us must be deep.
Normal human love easily goes to the point of reciprocal benevolence.
I will love you if you love me.
Love between brothers and sisters goes much deeper than that.
It extends to all situations.
I have seen people who embrace newcomers to church so warmly and so quickly that it was evident that a deep love was extended to them.
Furthermore, this love must be from the heart.
It must be a love that is not superficial but from the core of reflection and will.
I read about a woman who was an actress.
In one movie, she portrayed a missionary who was pure and holy and in another movie she played a prostitute.
Neither role was who she really was.
The sincere love we have must be love without the actors mask.
Not pretending, but genuine, from the heart.
!! B. Possibility
As we hear about such love, we may agree with the idea, but when we think about doing it, we know that such love is near to impossible.
How can we love with such depth and sincerity for all our brothers and sisters?
!!! 1.
Purified to Love
Let me ask you, Can a pail hold oil when it is holding water?
No matter how much oil you pour into the pail, it will never hold the oil.
The oil will always rise to the top and spill out.
Neither does our heart have the capacity to hold love for others because another love is resident in it.
That is the love we have for ourselves.
As long as our hearts are filled with self love, we will not have the capacity to love others.
When our heart is filled with self love, our actions will always be motivated for what we can get out of it, how we will be impacted.
As much as we might want to love purely, our hearts are deceptive and confusing, often filled with mixed motives.
All we do, our relationships and our work and all our actions are impacted by this overriding motive to do the best for ourselves.
The capacity to love comes when we are changed by the work which Jesus has done in us when we become Christians.
I Peter 1:22 says that we “have purified ourselves by obeying the truth.”
By accepting the forgiveness of Christ, we attach our affections to a new master.
He purifies our hearts by His Holy Spirit and our first love is no longer ourselves.
In Christ, a new thing has occurred.
We have had our motives purified.
No longer is our first priority, our highest goal pleasing ourselves, rather, it is pleasing Christ.
We have been purified so that in having our highest goal pleasing Christ, we are able to have pure motives in our love for others as well.
So because of such a change in our hearts, it now becomes possible for us to have sincere love for our brothers.
!!! 2. Reborn to Love
Verse 23 adds more power to this command.
It is attached to the command because of the use of the word “for.”
How is it connected?
The only reason that we can love one another deeply from the heart is because we have been born again.
God has not only filled us with a new affection, he has changed our heart so that a new love is possible from the depth of our being.
Our rebirth is described here as being through the imperishable, living and enduring word of God.
Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8 to demonstrate the power of the word of God which has changed us.
The word of God refers to the gospel message.
It is a powerful message which does not change and has the ability to change lives because it is living and enduring.
The background of this verse is the dry winds called scirocco which were hot dry south winds which when they blew withered all plants.
The Word of God is seen to be a living word in that it does not fade like flowers.
Unlike people who are very temporal, and easily change their mind, God’s word does not.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9