A New Understanding of Blessing // Blessed to be a Blessing

When we hear someone talking about God’s blessing, it’s easy to think “You beauty” – and we unroll our shopping list for God. But if we want to experience God’s blessing, we need to understand how He works.

We're talking this week on the program about God’s blessing. And I've called this week’s series, “Blessed to be a Blessing”. We can get a crazy mixed up view of what blessing actually is. You have a look around at the advertising on television, the billboards; everything is screaming at us, “If you buy me you'll be happy. If you buy me that emptiness you feel inside will be gone.” Sure it can be fun to buy things and to have things but they never, never fill that inner void do they? They never satisfy.

The advertising industry just keeps on chanting it's mantra, “Buy me and you'll be happy,” knowing that if that thing ever made us contented and happy, if it ever filled the void, we wouldn't buy anymore and they'd go broke. God doesn't bless the way the world does, God’s blessing is something entirely different, it fills, it lasts and most importantly it overflows. Let’s get together for a few minutes and check it out.

We have a natural tendency when we think about God’s blessing, “Wow, things are going to get better for me. After all, blessing is divine favour, now, what do I want? New job, a promotion and that would be good, a husband or a wife or a better husband or wife. I know that shiny new car I saw in the glossy weekend magazine last Saturday, that's what I want. I want a holiday; wow I'd like to go business class for once. I'd like to pay my credit card off.” We have our shopping lists don't we?

Here’s the danger, as we think about God blessing us, we believe the advertising industry and we reduce God’s blessing down to some narrow, materialistic, sugar daddy level. It's so easy to do, the me, me, me thing. Let's put that right into perspective, I'd like to read you something that Jesus said, you can find it later in the Bible in Luke, chapter 6, verse 20. Looking at his disciples He said this:

Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of me. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy because great is your reward in heaven for that is how their fathers treated the Prophets.

But woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you for that is how their fathers treated the false Prophets.

But I tell you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek give him the other also. If someone takes your cloak don't stop him from taking your tunic as well. Give to everyone who asks you and if anyone takes what belongs to you don't demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Wow, I think Jesus would have failed Marketing 101 here. Does this sound like some sugar daddy version of God’s blessing to you, some new car or a bigger house? God has a heart for little people, this stuff that Jesus is talking about here is edgy, it is bad marketing, if you were trying to make a pitch for disciples the marketing machinery would have this sugar coated wouldn't it? They'd sit him down and say, “Look here Jesus …” But Jesus said, "If you want to be a follower of me, it's a tough gig. There's suffering and there's pain and there's rejection and that’s a promise of God, hallelujah."

So Berni, what’s this got to do with blessing huh? Come on, tell me about the