B.L.E.S.S – Listen with Care (Luke 18: 35-42)

English Sermon (03/28/21) - B.L.E.S.S - Begin with Prayer (Luke 18:35-42) The next letter in our B.L.E.S.S series is ‘L’, which stands for “Listen with Care”. In Luke 18, a blind man hears the news that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. When he hears this, he cries out to Jesus to have mercy on him and when those around him try to silence him, he cries out even more! Although this happened during the Passover season and the area was very crowded and very busy, Jesus hears the man and commands that he be brought to him. From there, Jesus asks a somewhat strange question, given the man’s seemingly obvious needs. He asks the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?”. Even though Jesus knows all that we need before we ask, Jesus asks because he listens to people. How well do we listen to others - or rather, genuinely listen to others? How often do we assume others' needs or think about how we will respond to someone before they even finish speaking? We can bless others just like Jesus did by learning to listen better to others so that we know what they are going through because when people are HEARD, then they feel KNOWN and ultimately they will feel LOVED.