Is there anyone here who’d like to receive
blessings from God?
Well, yeah. We all would, right? Who would not
want to receive a blessing from God?
And of course, all of us already have. We’ve all
received many blessings from God. A blessing, after all, is a special
favor or benefit. It’s not something we earn or deserve. A blessing is something we’re given, as a
gift.
And each of us has received a lot of those. The fact
that we’re alive at all is a blessing from God. God gave us life. The fact that we live in the United States of
American is a blessing from God. The fact that we live in this beautiful
part of the United States is a blessing from God.
And we’ve received a lot of other blessings, too. I
don’t know everything about everyone here, but I’m guessing most of us get up
every morning knowing that we’re going to have enough to eat today, that we’re
not going to starve. We all have some clothes to wear. We all had shelter last night and will
tonight. All of those things are
blessings from God, too.
But those are just the material blessings. And while
those are important, they’re not as important as the spiritual blessings we’ve
received from God. The blessing of God’s love. The blessing of God’s Holy Spirit to guide us
and help us through life. And of course,
the blessing of salvation, offered to us as a free gift through the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The blessing of eternal life
with God in heaven, and all we have to do to get that blessing is accept Jesus
as the Savior.
Those are blessings that are common to all of us. But
if each of us looked at our own lives, we’d see a lot more blessings. I
was blessed to have been born into the family I was born into. I’ve been blessed to have interesting work to
do. I’m especially blessed with the work I’m doing now. I’ve been blessed with an incredible
wife. I’ve been blessed with great
in-laws, too. I’ve been blessed to have been appointed to be the pastor of this
parish for several years. And I could go on and on and on, listing all
the blessings I’ve received from God throughout my life. You probably could, too.
It’s important that we recognize that. It’s important
that we recognize the blessings we’ve been given from God. And it’s
important that we be grateful to God.
It’s important that we thank God for all the blessings, all the unearned
gifts that God has given us. And it’s important that we think about the
goodness of God, and the love God has for each one of us, that God would give
us all those gifts.
But the thing is, you know all that. How many times
have you sat in church and heard the pastor tell you how good God is and how we
need to be grateful and thankful for everything God has given us? I mean,
I know I’ve talked about it several times in my time here. And I’m sure all the pastors who were here
before me talked about it, too. And if
you’ve gone to other churches, you’ve probably heard the pastors there talk
about it.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still an important thing to
remember. We still need to be grateful to God for all the blessings God
has given us. But here’s the thing that’s interesting to me. We know that God blesses us. But the Bible tells us that we are supposed
to bless God, too.
Look at Psalm One Hundred Three, which we read a little bit
ago. The first two verses are “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is
within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not
forget all his benefits.” And then at
the end, it says again, “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who
do his bidding, obedient to his spoken word. Bless the Lord, all his
hosts, his ministers that do his will.
Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
You and I are supposed to bless the Lord. And it’s
not just us. The angels are supposed to
bless the Lord. All the heavenly host is supposed to bless the Lord. In fact, all of God’s works, in all places,
are supposed to bless the Lord.
But here’s the thing: how can you and I do that?
How can you and I bless the Lord? Remember what a blessing is: a special favor or a benefit. Something
we do not earn or deserve. Something
that’s just given to us as a gift.
How can we do a favor for God? What can we possibly
do for God that God could not do without us? In fact, what can we
possibly do for God that God could not do easier without us? Most of the
time, we probably get in the way. Us
trying to “help” God is like a three-year-old trying to “help” Mom or Dad.
Mom and Dad like having their kids around and they let them “help”
because they’re trying to teach them, but the fact is that the parents could do
whatever it is they’re doing faster and more efficiently if they just did it
themselves. That’s us “helping” God.
There are no real favors we can do for God. God could do things faster and more
efficiently if we were not even there.
And also, a blessing is something we don’t earn or deserve.
What can we possibly give to God that God does not deserve? God deserves far better than anything we
could ever give. God’s greatness and God’s goodness are so far beyond
anything we can ever aspire to that there’s no comparison. And in fact, it all really belongs to God
anyway. God created everything we see or hear or touch. Even the stuff we think we’ve created is made
from things God created and is made with the talent and intelligence and
ingenuity that God gave us.
And a blessing is something that’s given as a gift.
How can we give a “gift” to God? I
mean, we sometimes talk about our monetary offerings as gifts, and in a way
they are, but the fact is that God does not need our money. The church
needs the money, and it does good things with it. The Annual Church Meeting book in the back of
the church shows the church’s budget, if you want more of a breakdown of where
the money goes. Your money is used wisely and well, and that’s a good
thing. But God does not need money to do
things. And it’s the same thing when we
give a “gift” or our time, our talent, or anything else. Now again, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure
God appreciates our gifts and our attempts to serve and honor God. But God is all-powerful. God can do anything God wants to do. God does not need our help or our gifts to do
things.
So we’re back to the question: how can you and I
bless the Lord? If there’s nothing we can do for God that God could not
do without us, what blessing can we give to God?
Well, I thought about that this week. And when I did,
I thought of one thing we can give God that God cannot give himself.
Love. You and I can give God love.
Love is the one thing we can give God that God cannot give
himself. Now, maybe God does love himself. I don’t know.
It seems like a strange thing even to say, really, that God loves
himself. But even if God does love himself, loving yourself is not the
same as getting love from someone else.
When we give God our love, we are doing for God the one thing God cannot
do for Himself. We are giving God the one blessing it is in our power to
give God.
Maybe that’s why the author of the psalm says, three times,
“Bless the Lord, O my soul.” The blessing we give God, the love we
give God, is supposed to come from our very soul. Not from our head,
although our head may be involved. Not
even from our heart, although our heart is involved to. Our blessing to
God, our love of God, needs to come from our very soul. Our entire being needs to feel love for God.
The author of the psalm gives us all kinds of reasons to
give the blessing of love to God. God forgives. God heals.
God redeems our lives. God gives
us love. God is just. God is merciful and gracious. God is
compassionate. The love of God is from
everlasting to everlasting. In other
words, God’s love is forever.
If we really believe all that, if we really feel it inside,
we almost have to love God. How could we not? A God who gives us forgiveness and healing
and justice and mercy and grace and compassion and love. How can we not
give God our blessing of love in return?
It should be the easiest thing in the world for us to do.
Let’s make sure we always take some time to think about all
the blessings God has given us. Let’s also make sure we always take some
time to think about how great and how good God is. And when we do, let’s feel love and show love
to God in return. Let’s truly bless the Lord from our souls.
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