The first entry in a new Sermon Series about The Beatitudes, given on Jan. 26th 2020
This morning’s message is titled “What does it mean to be blessed?”
Our sermon today is going to be the first in a 10-part series based on the Beatitudes.
It’s a well known section of Scripture, that I’d like to read to you know, but then we have some other verses that we’ll be looking at to help us understand what it actually means to be blessed.
So for the next 9 weeks, were going to be looking at each of the Beatitudes, and on the final week, Im going to give the sermon from this morning again, to see if our understanding of being blessed, has changed.
Matt. 5:2-11 “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
So we have all these statements “Blessed are….. Blessed are….. Blessed are…..” that describe what a blessed person is like, but we need to talk about what it actually means to “be blessed”
To help us understand that, to understand what it means to actually be blessed, were going to look at a few different verses (which will be on the back of your bulletin this morning) the first of those is:
Psalm 32:1-2 “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”
Revelation 19:9 “9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Matthew 16:16-17 “ 16 Simon peter answered Him “You are the messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus replied saying “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
( → → Opening prayer ← ← )
I'm going to ask this question a lot this morning
What does it mean to be blessed?
We see in the Beatitudes the characteristics and traits of people that Jesus says are blessed….but He doesnt go too deep about what it actually means to be blessed.
So, we have to do a little more digging through Scripture to find out what it means, to actually be blessed
And when we do, we will come across a number of verses where its mentioned.
And were going to use those verses as a compass to lead us to the truth
Ok, so we have our compass, we have our waypoints.
Sins being forgiven
Being invited to heaven
and
Having the truth about who Jesus is, revealed to us by God
When we read these things though….they dont really mesh with what we tend to think of when we hear someone say….or when we ourselves say “I am blessed” or “that person is blessed”
Because of the common usage of what people mean when they say that they themselves or someone else is “blessed” has come to mean something vastly different than what the Bible says it means.
-What it has come to mean
When someone says that the way their life has unfolded, in a good way, means they are blessed. -----it means theyre refrencing a few things such as:
The amount of money in their bank account
The type of vehicle they drive
The size of their house
The amount of land that they own
The job they have
The jobs their children have
“I am so blessed.”
It might be intentional that theyre saying “I am blessed” when they really mean: “Look at all the …..stuff….. in my life.” Theyre just using the term ‘blessed” as a way to disguise their bragging.
I don’t think that applies to anyone here this morning.
When someone tells you they are blessed, then goes on to list off the good things in their life, they aren’t using the word in the way that the Biblical authors used it.
Maybe it’s unintentional
Perhaps they really, deep down, in their heart of hearts, believe that the God of the universe has blessed them, and their big comfy house is proof of that.
If that is the case, and this person honestly holds their stuff that close to their heart, that it has become the evidence they use to say they are blessed…..what happens when it goes away?
When theres a car accident, and they no longer have a way to get to work?
When theres a car accidnet, and someone they love passes away?
When their house catches fire?
When a divorce settles upon them and their entire world falls apart?
When tragedy strikes, and something goes so wrong that they refuse to believe that God is even real let alone that He is going to bless them?
What do we think?
Do we just think, oh that sucks, im not blessed anymore?
If we listen to the billionaire preachers in their private jets tell us that God wants to bless us, meanwhile we don’t even have a bank account…. what do we believe?
When a polished and put together person claiming to be a christian, tells us that God wants to bless us…..but everything in our life is falling apart…...what do we believe?
If the preacher tells us “God wants to bless you” …..but no blessings come, theres only two possible explanations:
FIRST:
Im horrible
Im a sinner
Im unworthy of God’s love
Its no wonder Im not being blessed like the preacher on TV told me I would be, because im a low down, no good, dirty rotten sinner
Stay with me here-------when a person who loves and worshps God, goes to Church, tithes their money, reads their Bible, memorizes verses, lives a Christian life, tels people about Jesus, doesnt swear, doesnt get drunk, doesnt sleep around, does alllllllll the things the Bible tells them…..but still doesnt have all the STUFF that signifies being blessed---------------------------------------why isnt God blessing me?
SECOND:
Hes wrong about what being blessed means
----------
You see-------If we use the stuff in our life, and the station of where we are in our life, as evidence that we are blessed-----then we are setting ourselves up for failure
It’s like that, because “being blessed” has nothing to do with the stuff we have accumulated for ourselves.
Being blessed has nothing to do with The money weve earned
The car weve bought with the money weve earned
The house weve bought,
The life weve built
So what do we think then?
Can I say “I am blessed” even though I dont feel it?
Can I say “I am blessed” when we dont have a life full of STUFF?
Can I say “I am blessed” if my life is falling apart, if everything is broken, if my health is failing, my house is falling apart, my car broke down, and I got fired?
Can I still say “I am blessed”?
Or maybe things arent THAT bad. ------you're thinking to yourself….
Maybe we have an alright job,
an alright car
Maybe weve made some mistakes or others have made mistakes that effected us--- that forced us to wallk the hard path in life, but our head is above water and im doing alright...
Can that person, truly and honsetly, say “I am blessed”
Or what about the people that are on the fringes of both of those examples?
Can the orphan, disregarded by their parents and family----be blessed?
Can the abused and abandoned wife ---be blessed?
Can the homeless and destitute man ----be blessed?
Can the addict, the prostitute, the fatherless, the divorced, the widowed, the beaten, broken, hurt, depressed -----can all of the people looked down upon by society -----be as blessed as the people with all the STUFF that they use as evidence of their blessing?
The answer to all of the above….is, yes….. IF
The answer is YES…..IF because of What it actually means
But because of what the Bible actually says about being blessed.
If we look at are our main verses this morning, they have some big things in common
Psalm 32:1-2 “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”
Revelation 19:9 “9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Matthew 16:16-17 “16 Simon Peter answered Him “You are the messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus replied saying “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
The first commonality I’d like to point out here, is that God is saying that the people who are blessed, aren’t blessed based on THE THINGS in their life...
It doesn’t say “blessed are the wealthy”
Or “blessed are the upper middle class”
Or “blessed are the land owners”
Or “blessed are the people with nice houses and nice cars”
Swimming pool, big backyard, nice clothes, etc etc etc
Its also not saying “blessed are the impoverished”
It doesnt say that just because someone is poor, that they are somehow automatically blessed
Nowhere in all of Scripture does it say that being blessed has anything to do with STUFF be it a little amount of stuff, or a big amount of stuff.
Another commonality between all these verses, is that none of them have anything to do with the person’s station in life---be it positive or negative
They dont say “blessed are the people who have their life together”
Or “blessed are the people who are well respected and well thought of by their community.”
Or “blessed are the people who have a healthy marriage or well behaved children”
They don’t say “blessed are the people who live paycheck to paycheck”
Or “blessed are the people who work menial jobs and can’t afford a dentist”
Or “blessed is the single mother with three kids from three different men.”
So what does it mean then?
If we look at those verses, we can see that being blessed means that God is active in your life.
Hes forgiving your sins
Hes prepared a place for you in heaven
Hes revealed the truth about Jesus
Being blessed means that God is interacting in your life and in your heart and in your mind, for the single purpose of bringing you to belief in Him.
Its like that, because being blessed is based on something EXTERNAL to the person.
It’s not based on their heart or if they have good or bad emotions
It’s not based on their job, if its well respected or illegal
Its not based on STUFF OR STATION
We might be able to say that some of the things in our life are a BLESS-ING, but if we do that, we have to admit that we didnt EARN it.
If someone gives us a great gift, it’s a bless-ing because we didnt earn it
If a friend helps us out financially, its a bless-ing
You cant say “this home I have is such a blessing” ---- while also saying its something you earned by your own hard work.
Because a blessing, by its very nature, has to come from outside of us
We cant earn a blessing - we can only receive it
We cant buy a blessing - we can only receive it
We cant work hard, think hard, and say the end result of that is a blessing
Because ----- im repeating myself ------ being blessed has to come from something or Someone external to ourselves.
Being blessed is word used by God, to describe a person who He is involved with
Who He is working on
Who He is talking to and walking with, and listening to, and all the other adjectives that we can think of to mean that God is working in our life
----------
----When we experience tragedy, but through that tragedy we are drawn into a closer relationship with God-----we are blessed
-----When all the garbage that this world is capable of throwing at us, hits us square in the face---- and our response is GOD I NEED YOU!
It means we are blessed
-----When the sad times in our life draw us closer to God, it means we are being blessed
----When the happy times in our life draw us closer to God, it means we are being blessed
-----When were reading our Bibles, and a verse sticks out to us and is stuck in our head for the rest of the day….it means we are being blessed
-----When we have a secret thought that we know we shouldnt have, and confess it to God, it means we are blessed
-----When the way we have lived our life leads us to a dead end, and we realize we need God-------it means we are blessed
I’d like to read one of our verses again, but this time im going to include a little context
Matthew 16:13-17
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
When we realize who Jesus Christ is, and our need for Him, it is because God made the first move----and because it came from outside of us, outside of our effort, outside of our ability, outside of our strength----it means it is a blessing
And when God blesses you, when He works in your life, it will always be for your good.
But remember (like that one song says) -your blessing may come through pain and hurt, but if God is working in your life------He will never let you down-----He will never hurt you, never leave you………………………
Being Blessed means that God is active in your life- and when God is active in a person’s life, that person will forever be changed for the better
So what do we do with this information?
First:
(If you’ve ever heard me preach, you probably already know what I’m about to say)
Read. Your. Bible. Every. Single. Day.
Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
When you soak your heart in the word of God, He will move through your thoughts, steer your heart, and direct you toward a deeper and deeper understanding of who He is.
He will bless you
(Call up the Worship Team)
Second:
(this one is important because of the misuse of the word, by some preachers especially)
Understand (deep down in your mind) what it means to be blessed
Understand that being blessed has nothing to do with a surplus or a lack of STUFF
Dont compare your life to others, as if they are more blessed than you
Don’t you dare compare your life to others as if you are more blessed than them
Lastly
Bless other people
Help them when they need it
Listen to them
Support them
Give to them
And always point them to the one who Blessed you to begin with
(close in prayer)