Blessed

Blessed

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

February 17, 2019

at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Zuni, Virginia

Jeremiah 17: 5-10

Luke 6: 17-26

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

Don’t you just love that song, His Eye is on the Sparrow. . . .

 Gives such comfort

But when you think about it too literally . . . provides for our needs, but our needs are so much more complicated than a Sparrow. . . but should they be?

Last week we talked about miracles?

Act of God not explained away

This week Blessings – what is the definition of a blessing?

We hear it all the time

I’m so blessed. . . . ask some one how they are doing they  say “blessed”

The cashier at Food Lion tells you to have a blessed day

What does it mean to be blessed?

When good things happen to us. . .

Blessed with family, friends, a great church,

I once wrote this after falling a asleep after a long day at the beach with Coralee under one arm clara under the other

I get it now, for I've been there, and tasted the other fruit,

The ones that have always been allowed, since only one

Was ever really forbidden anyway, and I also have now taken

The stroll, feeling the breeze on my face, in the cool of the day,

Knowing the true face of God, and calling, and purpose.

I was lying there between them, five and three, tired, drained,

All from the hard work of children's play in the hot summer sun.

We drifted off to dreaming together, but I lingered longer,

Floating away merely seconds after they did, at least I think so:

There are times in life where there is no discernible difference

Between waking and sleeping, for the dreams and realities of life

Are if just for a moment completely at the peace together as one.

The time did not matter. The rest did not matter, but it matters

To us, and it matters to him, and for moments such as these

I am and will always be forever grateful, and will never forget.

That I am truly blessed

If that’s not enough there is always

AGT – preacher Lawson – Flipped the Car 8 times. . . Blessed

What does Jesus have in mind?

Here is a peak. . . let’s look at Luke 6: 17-56

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have already received your comfort.
²⁵ 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.
²⁶ Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Is it me or does that completely turn our world upside down

All opposite – George Seinfeld Opposite day

There is an old Chinese Anecdote about the lost horse

The Lost Horse Story Origin: China

Long ago in a village in northern China, there lived a man who owned a magnificent horse. So beautiful was this horse that people came from miles around just to admire it. They told him he was blessed to own such a horse. “Perhaps,” he said. “But what seems like a blessing may be a curse.”

One day, the horse ran off. It was gone. People came to say how sorry they were for his bad luck. “Perhaps,” he said. “But what seems like a curse may be a blessing.” A few weeks later, the horse returned. It was not alone.

It was followed by twenty-one wild horses.

By the law of the land, they became his property. He was rich with horses. His neighbours came to congratulate him on his good fortune. “Truly,” they said, “you have been blessed.” “Perhaps,” he said. “But what seems like a blessing may be a curse.”

Shortly after that his son -- his only son -- tried to ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown from it and broke his leg. The man’s neighbours came to say how sorry they were. Surely, he had been cursed. “Perhaps,” he said. “But what seems like a curse may be a blessing.”

A week later, the king came through that village, drafting every able-bodied young man for a war against the people of the north. It was a horrible war. Everyone who went from that village was killed. Only that man’s son survived, because of his broken leg. To this day, in that village, they say,.”What seems like a blessing may be a curse. What seems like a curse may be a blessing.”

It’s true right, how many things have you known that seemed so bad at one time turned into something great, and on the flipside, how many things seemed so good and all went sour?

So what is a blessing? Are we ever to know? Are we like the Greeks?

They couldn’t judge whether a person was truly happy, or blessed, until after they were dead. . . because their luck could always turn again. . . until it couldn’t. . .

Or do the words from Jesus suggest as well that the only blessings that really exist are after death. . .

Its good to be poor because when you die you’ll be rich?

And woe to you who is already rich because you won’t be?

Heaven then is the great reversal of fortunes. . . the great evening out of stuff?

Or is it a just about our perspective. . . if we’re poor it will seem great, and if rich, not. . . ?

How do you read it?

Does this muddy the water for us? Can we even then say what is a blessing and what is not? From our perspective here on Earth?

How sad is that

The Old Kris Kristofferson Song Who’s to Bless and Who’s to Blame

Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame"

If a cheated man's a loser
And a cheater never wins
And if beggars can't be choosers
'Til they're weak and wealthy men

And the old keep gettin' older
And the young must do the same
And it's never gettin' better
Who's to bless, and who's to blame

[Chorus:]
All the cards are on the table
You done laid your money down
Don't complain about your chances, boy
It's the only game in town

And the meaning doesn't matter
Nor the way you play the game
To the winner or the loser
Who's to bless, and who's to blame

[Chorus:]
Keep your hands above the table
And your back against the wall
Toss your chips in with your chances, boy
Let 'em lay the way they fall

Cause the moral doesn't matter
Broken rules are all the same
To the broken or the breaker
Who's to bless, and who's to blame

Kind of a bleak way to look at life. . . maybe we shouldn’t be so literal

Take it seriously but not literally

Maybe the Old Testament is a help to us

⁵ This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

How bout that in the spirit of what we’ve said about blessings, and that we can’t judge them ourselves?

Worrying about whether we are blessed or not. . . no good

⁷ “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?

¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

 Trusting in the Lord is the blessing in itself?