Bless

What’s the best surprise you’ve ever had? I can remember particular gifts. I also remember a time when my mother surprised my brother and me. We had spent most of the summer in Nashville with an aunt and uncle. She surprised us and came to get us early. It was a good summer, but I still remember the peace I felt when she showed up that evening unannounced. There are a few who say they don’t like being surprised, but most do. There are some surprises we don’t like. No one likes a surprise flat tire or a surprise bill, but we like surprise visits, surprise gifts, and surprise parties.

We are continuing a series we started last week I’ve titled, “Surprise the World: Fulfilling the Mission of God.” This is a series about encouraging us to share our faith.

A point I made last week and I will continue to make throughout the series is that while we are not all called to be evangelists we have all been called to evangelize. We have all been called to tell others about our faith in Jesus.

The series centers around the idea that we should live such good and loving lives, that people ask us why? Why are you so helpful? Why are you so friendly? Why are you so loving?

There’s an old communication theory that says when predictability is high the impact is low. In other words, when the audience thinks they know what you’re going to say, and you go ahead and say it, your words makes very little impact. On the other hand, when an audience is surprised or intrigued, they will think long and hard about what they’ve heard.

The same goes for Christian outreach. As I mentioned last week, we are to live questionable lives. In other words, we are to live in such a way that people ask us questions about our faith.

In this series I want to illustrate five practices we can use to be witnesses for Jesus. They form the acronym BELLS. I’m not sure who originally came up with the acronym, but it stands for: Bless, Eat, Listen, Learn, and Sent. This morning we’ll look at the first word: Bless.

One more note before we get started, each week I am going to give you some homework. As I mentioned last week I doubt I’m going to say anything in this series that’s revolutionary or that you’ve never heard before. So there’s not any power in what I’m saying. The power will be when you put it into practice. Each week I’ll give you a practical way to do something with the message. This week the message is on blessing others and I’ll explain what I mean by that. What I want you to do this week is find three people to bless. One of them can be in the church, one person needs to be outside of the church (someone that doesn’t go to church anywhere, and then one more. The third person can be a Christian or non-Christian. Ask God to show you three people you can bless this week.

Turn with me to Genesis 12 and let’s talk about being a blessing. This passage tells us about God calling Abraham. Abraham had left the place of his birth, the Chaldeans, and traveled with his family to Harran. After the death of his father God spoke to him again. It is this calling that we read about in Genesis 12.

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

There are two point I want to make from this passage that can be summed up in the words “Go” and “Bless.” These are the two commands God gives to Abraham: go and bless.

First, God calls Abraham to go. Abraham is to leave his home and go to a distant country. What’s puzzling is God doesn’t even tell him where that country is. God just says, “Go and I’ll let you know when you get there.”

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our world is changing. It’s changing drastically and it’s changing fast. What was unthinkable just a few years ago is quickly becoming the cultural norm. Whether we like it or not, change is here in a big way.

So what do we do about it? The temptation is to hunker down. We hide in our church buildings and hope the change won’t affect us. But is there a better way to handle the change? What does God want us to do when our world is changing so much? God told Abraham to go. “Go from your country and your people.” God called Abraham to leave the known; leave the familiar, and go towards the unknown and the unfamiliar.

Even though he was seventy-five years old at the time, Abraham left the familiar for the unfamiliar, and that’s what God calls us to do. Matthew Henry wrote:

Our country is dear to us, our kindred dearer, and our father’s house dearest of all, and yet they all must be hated.

Jesus himself put it this way:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)

Does that mean we have to show animosity toward our families? No, it just means that when Jesus says “GO!” we must be willing to get up and go even if it means leaving our families and those that are near and dear to us.

Joy Johnson ran in twenty-five New York City marathons, her last when she was 86 years old. She fell at the twenty mile marker (you can see the bandage on her head), but got up and finished. After being interviewed by Al Roker she returned to her hotel room, lay down with her shoes on, and never woke up.

Amazingly, Johnson didn’t run her first marathon until she was 61 years old. For most of her life Johnson didn’t exercise much even though she had been a gym teacher. Then, in 1986, she took a three-mile walk. That led to jogging and eventually competing in 10-K races. By 1988 she had competed in her first New York City Marathon. Three years later, in 1991, she recorded her best time at age 64 with a time of 3 hours and 55 minutes. As a committed follower of Christ, she ran every day but Sunday so she could attend church. She would sing hymns to herself to pass the time while running. Joy Johnson was willing to try something new at age 61, and she enjoyed it right up until the day she died with her shoes on!

Abraham was 75 when he left his country for a land that God would show him, and Moses was 80 when he obeyed the call of God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. It’s never too late and you’re never too old to start a new journey with the Lord.

Jesus calls us to go.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

An old farmer was fishing in a tub of water in his back yard. His neighbor saw it and chided him. “Man, there ain’t no fish in that tub. Why are you wasting your time like that?” “Yeah,” came the reply. “I know there ain’t no fish in here, but it’s just so powerful convenient.”

Sometimes God calls us out of our comfortable, convenient spots, so we can be more productive. And when the call comes, we must go! Whether that’s around the world or across the street we must go.

Second, God calls Abraham to be a blessing.

God promises to make Abraham a great nation. God will bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse him. The purpose for the blessing is then revealed at the end of verse 2 and again at the end of verse 3. God will bless Abraham that he might be a blessing. In the Hebrew verse 2 is an imperative. Therefore, it’s a command: Be a blessing.

God isn’t blessing Abraham so that his life will be one of ease and comfort; God is blessing him that he might in turn bless others. And the same is true with us. God has blessed us that we might be a blessing. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

In Christ Jesus God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing possible.

The word blessing has two distinct meanings. Today it means “to speak well” of but originally it meant “to add strength to.” Therefore, to bless another is to build them up or to fill them with encouragement. What does that mean practically? To bless is to do anything that relieves someone’s burden in life. It is anything that lifts their spirit or alleviates their distress. It can be a small thing or large. Here are three different forms a blessing might take.

1. Words of Affirmation

This is the simplest way to bless someone. Send them a note, write them an email, text them. Send them some words of affirmation and encouragement. Let them know you’ve noticed something worthwhile about them. Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” It’s been said that a word of encouragement is like oxygen to the soul. A word of affirmation helps our souls to breathe more easily.

2. Acts of Kindness

Who doesn’t feel blessed when someone does them a favor or provides some kind of practical help? Cutting someone’s grass or rake their leaves. Babysit an exhausted couple’s kids. Helping a neighbor move. These acts of kindness literally add strength to someone who receives it. These acts help to lighten their load. Look for ways to perform an act of kindness in someone’s life. It will not only bless the person you help but your soul as well.

3. Gifts

I know I was blessed last week by your cards and gifts last week. We can bless others by giving them something they need. Gifts come in all sizes, colors and shapes. Some are expensive, and others are free. Some gifts are given for obvious reasons – an unmistakable need – and others are given just to show that the recipient has been thought of.

Several years ago researchers looked at two teams of short-term missionaries that visited Thailand. The two teams had very different strategies. One team, referred to as the “blessers,” went with the intention of simply blessing people. They saw their mission as being to bless whoever came their way in whatever practical ways they could. The second team, referred to as “converters,” went with the sole intention of converting people and evangelizing everyone they encountered. What did they learn from these two teams? First, they discovered that the blessers had a greater impact on the society than the converters. Second, and here is what was so surprising, they discovered that the blessers also had almost 50 times as many conversions than the converters. The converters talked about God’s love and grace, but the blessers demonstrated it and the people wanted to know why. We are to live in such a way that people want to know about our faith in God.

Once again here’s your homework. Each week during this series I want you pray asking God to show you three people you can bless: a member of West Side, someone that doesn’t go to church anywhere, and then a third person. Ask God to show you someone you can help strengthen because of your words of affirmation, acts of kindness, or gift.

You need to know that God is not asking you to bless someone with something you don’t have. God is asking you to be a blessing to someone else with something he’s already given to you. Remember what God told Abraham. God told Abraham that he would bless him that Abraham might in turn be a blessing to others. How has God blessed you? Bless others in that way. Maybe that’s with money, but maybe it’s with time or with some ability. However God has blessed you use that to be a blessing to someone else. Try this for five weeks and become a demonstration of God’s grace to those around you.

God didn’t bless Abraham so he could keep it all to himself. God blessed Abraham so that Abraham could in turn be a blessing to others. God never blesses his people so they can hoard it all for themselves. God wants us to be channels of his blessing to others. Just like Abraham, God calls us to share his blessings, to bless others with the blessings he has given us.

When God told Abraham, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you,” God was referring to Jesus Christ, who would come nearly 2,000 years later. God was planning to bless the world through a descendant of Abraham and that descendant was Christ.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as well as the Son of Abraham, came into this world to die on a cross for our sins. Three days later he rose again, and now he offers eternal life to anyone who believes in him. Jesus Christ is the source of every blessing, and it is only in him that people find life. It’s not in you or me. It’s not in our charm, our personality, or in our gifts and abilities. It’s only in Jesus that people find the answer to their need. So if we’re going to be a blessing to others, more than anything, we must share Jesus with them.

In his book Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft, Thor Heyerdahl tells how he and a crew of five crossed the Pacific Ocean from South America to the South Pacific Islands on a crude raft of balsa logs bound together with hemp rope. During the three-month journey in 1947, they had little control of the direction of the raft and no way to stop its forward progress. They learned early in the voyage that anything dropped overboard was almost impossible to recover once it passed behind the raft.

Two months into the voyage and thousands of miles from land, Herman Watzinger lost his footing and went overboard. The raft, driven by a strong wind in heavy seas, moved ahead faster than he could swim. The five remaining men were horrified for their friend. They tried to throw him a life belt on a rope, but the wind blew it back at them. In seconds, Herman was all but lost to their sight in the tumble of waves.

Suddenly Knute Haugland grabbed the life belt and dove into the water. He swam back to Herman and wrapped his arm around him, holding his exhausted friend and the rope while the men on the boat drew them back to the boat.

That’s a picture of what God calls us to do today. God calls us to jump in the water and take the life-belt of Jesus to those who are perishing. In other words, go and be a blessing taking with you the good news of Jesus Christ.