2 Samuel 6:17-19; Mark 6:30-44
October 11, 2009
“The Power of the Blessing, Part 5”
To Live a Life of Blessing
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
That was a blessing! Have you ever said those words about something? Let’s say you had the chance to go see the Grand Canyon. “What a blessing to be able to see such a wondrous place!” Maybe you were surprised by a visit from a friend. “Wow! What a blessing that was!” Have you ever said these words – “That was a blessing?” I know I have.
Well, what are we saying, really? If you saw the magnificence of the Grand Canyon, or the ocean at sunrise or sunset, or the trees on the top of the mountain when all the branches have a covering of ice and the sun is hitting them just so – what are we saying when we say, “That was a blessing?” Aren’t we saying, “That was awesome! I loved that! That gave me a great feeling inside. That made me want to tell others about it…” Right? “I loved hanging out with my friend – that was a blessing!” A blessing gives us joy and a sense of well-being - that’s what a blessing does. That’s part of what we mean when we say those words, “What a blessing…”
But I think we are also saying something more important than what something means to us, or does for us. I think when we say, “That was a blessing,” we’re acknowledging God’s work in our lives. Maybe we don’t think about it that way. Maybe we’ve never thought about it that way. But I believe that the word “blessing” is a word that most people connect with God, even though they might not know much about God or think much about their relationship with Him.
In Genesis, we learned that God blessed humanity saying, “Be fruitful and multiply.” God has blessed us by speaking these words over us – envisioning a special future for us in which we would pass on the richness of life we’ve been given as His children to others, who then would pass it on to others, who then would pass it on to others.
Today we’re going to look at two wonderful stories in the Bible that show us what a life of blessing looks like. First, turn with me to 2 Samuel 6:17-19. Now, let me set the stage: King David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The ark was a holy object (a big, elaborate box) on which the presence of the Lord was enthroned between the golden cherubim in Old Testament days. There is a long history about why the ark wasn’t in Jerusalem to begin with, but suffice it to say that David was very, very excited to finally be getting the ark to the city. Not that this is a great comparison, but just think if the Statue of Liberty had been stolen, how exciting it would be when it was finally recovered and put back in its rightful place! That’s just a little bit of the big deal it was to get the ark to Jerusalem.
We read in verses 11 & 12 that the Ark sat in a guy named Obed-edom’s house for three months, and during that time the Lord had blessed Obed-edom’s whole household. King David was anxious, he was nervous, and he was filled with expectation and joy as they brought the Ark of the Lord up into the city of Jerusalem. He wanted his people to be blessed by the presence of the Lord in their midst. Here’s where we pick up the story:
17They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. 18When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, 19and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
David was out of his mind with joy. If he had died in that moment, he would have been perfectly at peace. He was able to get the Ark of the Covenant into its rightful place! “What a blessing!” That was awesome! How great is this? He was probably high-fiving everyone! But now listen. This is the part I want us to get today: In response to being blessed in being able to accomplish this great feat, David gave. In response to what God enabled him to do, we read that David blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed food among all the people – the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women. That’s a lot of people! In response to the blessing of being able to bring the ark home, David acknowledged that it was all God’s doing by sharing his fullness with others. Then, he went home and blessed his household (next verse). That’s the way it is supposed to work. That’s the “be fruitful and multiply” principal in action. That’s it, folks. Blessed to be a blessing for others in word and deed.
Now, let’s read a familiar story about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark 6:30-44 (NLT): “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.” There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. They left by boat for a quieter spot. But many people saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and met them as they landed. A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things. Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy themselves some food.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!” “How much food do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” Then Jesus told the crowd to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. Five thousand men had eaten from those five loaves!
Okay, notice with me that the disciples, first of all, were excited about the ministry they had been able to provide to people. They came back to Jesus bursting with stories! We can identify with this, can’t we? Surely there have been times we went away from our parents on a trip – perhaps to an away game, or maybe a band trip, or concert tour, or mission trip – and when we got home, we had so much we wanted to tell them (or somebody) about. The disciples were excited to tell Jesus about their experiences. But after a short while, they realized how tired they were. All of a sudden the adrenaline stopped flowing so freely and they were ready to drop. Jesus recognized this and took the lead: “Let’s take a breather from the crowds and rest.” But it didn’t happen that way. They set out for a quieter spot, but the crowds beat them there. Happens to celebrities every day. Okay, two choices here: Stand up, get the megaphone, and tell the crowd to come back tomorrow because you must get some rest, or get out of the boat and start caring for the people. Given these two choices – be honest with yourself – which would you choose after a long day of work? Which do you choose at the end of most long days? Solitude or service? We can learn from Jesus’ example, can’t we? But there’s more.
Jesus recognized the hunger in the people. Jesus always recognized people’s hunger and thirst – both physically and spiritually – and he met their need beyond their wildest expectations. There were over 5000 men present that day – most likely at least that many women and children as well. Using what was already present, Jesus took the loaves and fish – and he looked up to heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food (This is exactly what Jesus did as part of sharing the last supper with his disciples.)
Apart from the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, this miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recorded in all four of the gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. In each one, except John, the word blessed is used. John simply records that after giving thanks, Jesus distributed the food. But in the others, Jesus blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fish and, like David, he fed a multitude of people. Capacity and result. Be fruitful and multiply.
The blessing has to do with giving. It always has to do with giving: God giving to us to fill us, and us giving to others, to fill them, in the name of the Lord. When we say, “That was a blessing,” we are saying, “God gave me that,” raising our own awareness of the responsibility we have to pass it on.
This is why we spent over $70,000 to dig in a very precarious place right under these beautiful stained glass windows – because we have been blessed. God has given to us, and we have been compelled to give to others. When we had church suppers of any sort until the fall of 2008, if a person couldn’t get down the long stairway by the back door, or the steps in the old airlocks, they just couldn’t come to the supper. It wasn’t that we didn’t care, it was just the way it was.
There were many in the church who talked about how to get people to the dining room. Could we install an elevator? Could we put in a ramp? Many people chewed the fat about this for many more years than anyone here even knows. Then finally, the need overwhelmed the fear, and the blessing overwhelmed the barriers – and God gave the faith. Many people were given the faith to believe new entrances could emerge from the dirt. Real plans began to be made.
Way before excavation started, Jim Smith’s health was deteriorating. Jim was one of the most consistent faith-filled voices for the project since the conversation began in earnest around the trustee table in 2006. He was deeply bothered by the lack of accessibility for fellowship meals here. Even before he knew of the extent of his cancer, even before he couldn’t walk the stairs himself, God blessed Jim with a deep concern for others who might feel left out, or left behind.
As renderings were given to us, we would post them here, and I would take them over to Jim. He was thrilled that it was actually going to happen - maybe nearly as thrilled as David was when the ark made it to Jerusalem. David knew that the ark was a real, tangible expression of God’s presence with God’s people. Jim saw these accessible entrances in the same way. God provided the faith, God provided the money, God provided the faith, God provided the right workers, God provided the faith, God provided soft rock (for most of the way), God provided the faith, God provided the vision, God provided the faith, and last winter, God provided cooks, servers, and a multitude of people to share in free, hot meals for the community. No one was left out. Everyone who wanted to come, was able to come in. Even those who needed a meal but couldn’t come, were blessed with our version of “meals on wheels.” I can’t say enough about the blessing it was in this past year to be able to share in meals after funerals, knowing that everyone who wanted to come and continue to grieve and heal together around a fellowship meal was able to get to the table without hindrance.
The key to living a life of blessing is found in these simple stories from the Scriptures. Acknowledge your blessings as gifts from God and be intentional about passing them on in word and deed. It is true that sometimes we’re tired. Jesus was tired. The disciples were tired. Often your elders, your trustees, your deacons, your committee members, your Sunday school teachers, your choir, and your staff is tired. But hopefully we are all learning that the more you give of yourself, the more you pour yourself into meeting the basic physical and spiritual needs of others, the more energized you become because of the fullness of your own blessings.
In his last months, Jim said over and over how blessed he was – blessed to have a wonderful family – blessed to have a loving church family – blessed to have a very special family at work. He spoke words of blessing over this church, and he spoke words of blessing over me that encourage me even to this day. I don’t remember Jim saying how blessed he was to have a nice house, a car, good clothes, a TV set, etc. Jim’s blessings all centered around people – because he understood that it is through developing our relationships with others, grounded in Christ, that the real blessings grow and flow, even beyond the grave.
We can learn from the way Jim lived, and we can learn from the way he died. But if he were here, Jim Smith would not encourage us to look at his life for inspiration. He would point us to the Lord, from whom all blessings flow. Amen? Amen.
October 11, 2009
“The Power of the Blessing, Part 5”
To Live a Life of Blessing
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
That was a blessing! Have you ever said those words about something? Let’s say you had the chance to go see the Grand Canyon. “What a blessing to be able to see such a wondrous place!” Maybe you were surprised by a visit from a friend. “Wow! What a blessing that was!” Have you ever said these words – “That was a blessing?” I know I have.
Well, what are we saying, really? If you saw the magnificence of the Grand Canyon, or the ocean at sunrise or sunset, or the trees on the top of the mountain when all the branches have a covering of ice and the sun is hitting them just so – what are we saying when we say, “That was a blessing?” Aren’t we saying, “That was awesome! I loved that! That gave me a great feeling inside. That made me want to tell others about it…” Right? “I loved hanging out with my friend – that was a blessing!” A blessing gives us joy and a sense of well-being - that’s what a blessing does. That’s part of what we mean when we say those words, “What a blessing…”
But I think we are also saying something more important than what something means to us, or does for us. I think when we say, “That was a blessing,” we’re acknowledging God’s work in our lives. Maybe we don’t think about it that way. Maybe we’ve never thought about it that way. But I believe that the word “blessing” is a word that most people connect with God, even though they might not know much about God or think much about their relationship with Him.
In Genesis, we learned that God blessed humanity saying, “Be fruitful and multiply.” God has blessed us by speaking these words over us – envisioning a special future for us in which we would pass on the richness of life we’ve been given as His children to others, who then would pass it on to others, who then would pass it on to others.
Today we’re going to look at two wonderful stories in the Bible that show us what a life of blessing looks like. First, turn with me to 2 Samuel 6:17-19. Now, let me set the stage: King David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The ark was a holy object (a big, elaborate box) on which the presence of the Lord was enthroned between the golden cherubim in Old Testament days. There is a long history about why the ark wasn’t in Jerusalem to begin with, but suffice it to say that David was very, very excited to finally be getting the ark to the city. Not that this is a great comparison, but just think if the Statue of Liberty had been stolen, how exciting it would be when it was finally recovered and put back in its rightful place! That’s just a little bit of the big deal it was to get the ark to Jerusalem.
We read in verses 11 & 12 that the Ark sat in a guy named Obed-edom’s house for three months, and during that time the Lord had blessed Obed-edom’s whole household. King David was anxious, he was nervous, and he was filled with expectation and joy as they brought the Ark of the Lord up into the city of Jerusalem. He wanted his people to be blessed by the presence of the Lord in their midst. Here’s where we pick up the story:
17They brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the LORD. 18When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, 19and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
David was out of his mind with joy. If he had died in that moment, he would have been perfectly at peace. He was able to get the Ark of the Covenant into its rightful place! “What a blessing!” That was awesome! How great is this? He was probably high-fiving everyone! But now listen. This is the part I want us to get today: In response to being blessed in being able to accomplish this great feat, David gave. In response to what God enabled him to do, we read that David blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed food among all the people – the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women. That’s a lot of people! In response to the blessing of being able to bring the ark home, David acknowledged that it was all God’s doing by sharing his fullness with others. Then, he went home and blessed his household (next verse). That’s the way it is supposed to work. That’s the “be fruitful and multiply” principal in action. That’s it, folks. Blessed to be a blessing for others in word and deed.
Now, let’s read a familiar story about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark 6:30-44 (NLT): “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and what they had taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.” There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. They left by boat for a quieter spot. But many people saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and met them as they landed. A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things. Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy themselves some food.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “It would take a small fortune to buy food for all this crowd!” “How much food do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” Then Jesus told the crowd to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. Five thousand men had eaten from those five loaves!
Okay, notice with me that the disciples, first of all, were excited about the ministry they had been able to provide to people. They came back to Jesus bursting with stories! We can identify with this, can’t we? Surely there have been times we went away from our parents on a trip – perhaps to an away game, or maybe a band trip, or concert tour, or mission trip – and when we got home, we had so much we wanted to tell them (or somebody) about. The disciples were excited to tell Jesus about their experiences. But after a short while, they realized how tired they were. All of a sudden the adrenaline stopped flowing so freely and they were ready to drop. Jesus recognized this and took the lead: “Let’s take a breather from the crowds and rest.” But it didn’t happen that way. They set out for a quieter spot, but the crowds beat them there. Happens to celebrities every day. Okay, two choices here: Stand up, get the megaphone, and tell the crowd to come back tomorrow because you must get some rest, or get out of the boat and start caring for the people. Given these two choices – be honest with yourself – which would you choose after a long day of work? Which do you choose at the end of most long days? Solitude or service? We can learn from Jesus’ example, can’t we? But there’s more.
Jesus recognized the hunger in the people. Jesus always recognized people’s hunger and thirst – both physically and spiritually – and he met their need beyond their wildest expectations. There were over 5000 men present that day – most likely at least that many women and children as well. Using what was already present, Jesus took the loaves and fish – and he looked up to heaven, and asked God’s blessing on the food (This is exactly what Jesus did as part of sharing the last supper with his disciples.)
Apart from the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, this miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recorded in all four of the gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. In each one, except John, the word blessed is used. John simply records that after giving thanks, Jesus distributed the food. But in the others, Jesus blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fish and, like David, he fed a multitude of people. Capacity and result. Be fruitful and multiply.
The blessing has to do with giving. It always has to do with giving: God giving to us to fill us, and us giving to others, to fill them, in the name of the Lord. When we say, “That was a blessing,” we are saying, “God gave me that,” raising our own awareness of the responsibility we have to pass it on.
This is why we spent over $70,000 to dig in a very precarious place right under these beautiful stained glass windows – because we have been blessed. God has given to us, and we have been compelled to give to others. When we had church suppers of any sort until the fall of 2008, if a person couldn’t get down the long stairway by the back door, or the steps in the old airlocks, they just couldn’t come to the supper. It wasn’t that we didn’t care, it was just the way it was.
There were many in the church who talked about how to get people to the dining room. Could we install an elevator? Could we put in a ramp? Many people chewed the fat about this for many more years than anyone here even knows. Then finally, the need overwhelmed the fear, and the blessing overwhelmed the barriers – and God gave the faith. Many people were given the faith to believe new entrances could emerge from the dirt. Real plans began to be made.
Way before excavation started, Jim Smith’s health was deteriorating. Jim was one of the most consistent faith-filled voices for the project since the conversation began in earnest around the trustee table in 2006. He was deeply bothered by the lack of accessibility for fellowship meals here. Even before he knew of the extent of his cancer, even before he couldn’t walk the stairs himself, God blessed Jim with a deep concern for others who might feel left out, or left behind.
As renderings were given to us, we would post them here, and I would take them over to Jim. He was thrilled that it was actually going to happen - maybe nearly as thrilled as David was when the ark made it to Jerusalem. David knew that the ark was a real, tangible expression of God’s presence with God’s people. Jim saw these accessible entrances in the same way. God provided the faith, God provided the money, God provided the faith, God provided the right workers, God provided the faith, God provided soft rock (for most of the way), God provided the faith, God provided the vision, God provided the faith, and last winter, God provided cooks, servers, and a multitude of people to share in free, hot meals for the community. No one was left out. Everyone who wanted to come, was able to come in. Even those who needed a meal but couldn’t come, were blessed with our version of “meals on wheels.” I can’t say enough about the blessing it was in this past year to be able to share in meals after funerals, knowing that everyone who wanted to come and continue to grieve and heal together around a fellowship meal was able to get to the table without hindrance.
The key to living a life of blessing is found in these simple stories from the Scriptures. Acknowledge your blessings as gifts from God and be intentional about passing them on in word and deed. It is true that sometimes we’re tired. Jesus was tired. The disciples were tired. Often your elders, your trustees, your deacons, your committee members, your Sunday school teachers, your choir, and your staff is tired. But hopefully we are all learning that the more you give of yourself, the more you pour yourself into meeting the basic physical and spiritual needs of others, the more energized you become because of the fullness of your own blessings.
In his last months, Jim said over and over how blessed he was – blessed to have a wonderful family – blessed to have a loving church family – blessed to have a very special family at work. He spoke words of blessing over this church, and he spoke words of blessing over me that encourage me even to this day. I don’t remember Jim saying how blessed he was to have a nice house, a car, good clothes, a TV set, etc. Jim’s blessings all centered around people – because he understood that it is through developing our relationships with others, grounded in Christ, that the real blessings grow and flow, even beyond the grave.
We can learn from the way Jim lived, and we can learn from the way he died. But if he were here, Jim Smith would not encourage us to look at his life for inspiration. He would point us to the Lord, from whom all blessings flow. Amen? Amen.
