BLESSING
Bless, Blessed, Blessing • Sermon • Submitted
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This morning I want us to conclude our series -
We opened with discussion on BLESS - what it means to Bless God!
Then we talked about what it meant for us to be truly BLESSED.
This morning I want us to explore what is to pronounce BLESSING!
One is what flows to God, the other God towards us, but in order for the cycle to be complete, we must let God’s blessedness in our lives flow out to others.
The word Blessing is rooted in a dual manner of pronouncement of favor, and bestowing material favor.
Unlike today, WORDS TRULY HAD MEANING!
If you named someone a specific name it had purpose to how they came into the world, or what might be fulfilled in their lives. To bestow a blessing on someone also meant to not just kind words over someone, but to invoke the involvement of God for favor, grace and mercy upon the person receiving blessing.
Like the word Bless, the Hebrew root word is Baraku for blessing, and the Greeks had two different words...
eulogia - which is indicative of effective blessing, or the blessing we just described - pronouncement of favor upon another, or demonstration of favor upon another — the opposite of this would be cursing ---
Think if you will
10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
We can bless or curse another - the two are opposite of each other. Do we want God’s favor, or trouble to come upon another. This is why the Bible speaks of not cursing someone.
Today in our anger we often curse toward others - which is pronouncing harm. Our society seems enthralled with the “F” Word which is really telling someone we hope they get raped. Not exactly something that should flow from the mouth of a Christian to anyone.
The other Greek word is Makarios - which is the same word we saw last week when we talked about being blessed by God, its opposite would be woe, and this is evaluative blessing - or blessed based on the evaluation of performance/action - Blessed are those who do … or woe to those who don’t.
1. The Power of Blessing
1. The Power of Blessing
Perhaps one of the easiest lessons we can learn to understand effective blessing is when we look at the story of Jacob receiving his father’s blessing.
Leading up to this point in time, we know the story of how Jacob and Esau were twins, and Esau was the oldest by mere seconds in life, Jacob holding his foot while being born.
By birthright, the oldest son received the greater share of any inheritance and the blessing of the father, and promises of God given upon ancestry flowed down through the eldest. In regard to the Abrahamic promise of being made a great nation, the increase, and future prophetic word which was fulfilled by the Messiah bringing salvation to the world --- this is a pretty big deal.
Well, Esau was a hunter and came in famished from hunting and Jacob had made a pot of beans basically — think of red beans and rice, effectively - which is poor man’s wash day food in Louisiana!
Jacob got his brother to sell his birthright for a pot of beans. In Esau’s mind however, this meant nothing if the blessing that accompanied the birthright did not follow. It was the pronouncement of blessing that in God’s eyes sealed the contractual pouring out of the inheritance.
1 One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied.
2 “I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die.
3 Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me.
4 Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.”
5 But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game,
6 she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau,
7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’
8 Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you.
9 Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish.
10 Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.”
11 “But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.
12 What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”
13 But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!”
14 So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it.
15 Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob.
16 She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats.
17 Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread.
18 So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”
19 Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.”
22 So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said.
23 But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.
24 “But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.
25 Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him.
26 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.”
27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has blessed!
28 “From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.
29 May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.”
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt.
31 Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.”
32 But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.
35 But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.”
This is a powerful example of the pronouncement of blessing on the life of another.
If we look at the letters of the New Testament, they always open with a blessing and close with the same.
2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.
14 Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.
This is just an example from one epistle...
It was expected for spiritual authority or leaders to bless the congregation they were greeting as they came and as they left.
Likewise, it is within the ability of any Child of God to under the authority of God - as we are all priests unto the Lord - bless the lives of others.
My question is do we believe that the pronounced blessing carries the authority of God to be effective in the lives of those we bless.
The Lord has freely blessed our lives, and we are called to freely bless others… thus the motivation behind Jesus words...
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
When we take the blessings of our salvation, healing, delverance we have received in Christ to others - we are giving out of what we have received.
We also know that as we are willing to bless others, those blessings return back to us — meaning when we not only bestow verbal pronouncement -but from the resources, whether great or small - to help another...
38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
In the Church we know we share in the inheritance when we store up treasures in heaven through our blessing other Christians and ministries.
in the church we have learned to give to ministries and other Christians is part of our blessing the Kingdom and work of the Lord.
Paul thanks the Philippian and Corinthian church for their gifts, blessings, given for the work...
14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.
16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.
17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.
18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.
19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
1 I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.
2 For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.
3 But I am sending these brothers to be sure you really are ready, as I have been telling them, and that your money is all collected. I don’t want to be wrong in my boasting about you.
4 We would be embarrassed—not to mention your own embarrassment—if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren’t ready after all I had told them!
5 So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me to make sure the gift you promised is ready. But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.
6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
9 As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
13 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ.
14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.
15 Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!
2. Blessing the Least is Blessing Christ
2. Blessing the Least is Blessing Christ
In many ways as we bless others, we bless Jesus...
Both verbally and of meeting the need of another person - we show favor into their lives...
Consider this teaching of Jesus...
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.
43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Christian, the Lord has called us to bless HIM, by blessing others.
The least of these.
Can I say that sometimes I see Republican values lack the compassion of Christ!
They may make patriotic sense, but they do not make Kingdom sense!
However, it is not what we vote for as much as what we individually do to serve the needs of others.
To bless others in need with blessings is to bless God!
Do you see that full cycle brought about.
We also see the opposite of not being effective in blessing, and when we refuse to bless others, we actually bring forth cursing.
Now before we talk about how we bless one another in the family of God, our friends and those we know well… there is one more principle we see from Christ in blessing others...
3. Blessing Your Enemies
3. Blessing Your Enemies
Jesus taught us in that Sermon on the Mount the importance of blessing those who wrong us.
Oh how we have lost sight of this in the American church! Our politics have overcome our Kingdom Theology!
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also.
30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back.
31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!
33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!
34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.
It is not easy to bless someone who has spoken harmfully of you, who seeks your destruction, or who has been cruel — but in doing so it brings the blessings of God back into our own lives.
We demonstrate the unconditional love of the Father when we behave in such a manner. This may be over a spouse we are struggling in relationship with, a neighbor who mistreats us, a people group we feel attacked by, etc.
20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
This verse in Romans is quoting Proverbs 25:21-22
21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.
It is easy to bless your children and your family and friends, but the real test Jesus says is to bless your enemies!
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
So, as we conclude this series of Bless, Blessed and Blessing, may we realize the importance of EFFECTIVE BLESSING that flows from our lives to others.
Pronouncement and giving! We have freely received, let us freely demonstrate.
May we also realize that it is not just those we love we give to, but the least of these and our enemies! For there we truly demonstrate whose Kingdom we are a part of.