One of the things that I love about the Christian faith is that it has a personalized dimension to it. When Jesus calls people to follow him, he calls them by name. Just before our appointed Gospel reading for today, Luke tells us that Jesus had been on a mountain all night to pray.
And when daylight comes, we are told that Jesus named his twelve disciples. And what I find interesting about this is that Luke is careful to let us know each of their names.
Names are important. Someone once said, “the sweetest sound is hearing someone speak your name.” We are not just someone in the crowd. We each have a name. Just like we have unique finger-prints, we also have unique personalities, backgrounds, experiences, hopes, longings, and dreams.
God knows us by name. God knows us in a very personal way.
After Jesus names his twelve disciples, we are told that Jesus gathers with a great multitude of people from the surrounding regions. He then offers them personalized blessings.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when the exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”
These personalized blessings provided them with comfort and hope. It’s a wonderful thing to receiving a personal blessing from God.
In June of 2012, my two sisters and brother were able to be with our mom the week that she passed away. She spent her last weeks in my brother’s home where she received hospice care. We were able to let mom know how much we loved her during those days with her.
During those last few days with her, we had a hymn sing. My brother played the hymns on the piano and we sang to her. It was such a holy time to sing to her, to pray with her, and to let her know that we were there by her side.
She passed away early on that Sunday morning. We were all emotionally drained. Later that morning, I decided to go for a run on a bike path that was nearby. Before I went on my run, I asked God to give me a sign, any sign that would reassure me that I wasn’t alone in my grief.
Only ten minutes into my run, I noticed a woman walking toward me on that bike path with her son. Her little boy looked to be a 1st or 2nd grader. And as I got closer and closer to them, I could see that this little boy was looking at me the whole time as I was running.
And just as I got to them, the little boy smiled and said loudly for me to hear, “God bless you!”
As I gradually ran past them on the bike path, I looked back at them and said, “God bless you as well!” They smiled back at me.
And as I continued my run, a smile came to my face because I realized this was God’s answer to my prayer earlier that morning. God was personalizing a blessing just for me through the words of that little boy on the bike path.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
This past fall, I opened an email that had this note of blessing from our District Superintendent, Rev. Mark Chow. It was totally out of the blue and it lifted my spirits that day.
Here is a portion of that email:
“Dear Robert, thank you for being a faithful and willing servant of the Gospel. I deeply appreciate your efforts in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in your congregation, community and beyond. I am honored this day to lift you in prayer for continued strength, courage, and boldness!”
He goes on to share all of the personal ways that our paths have crossed over all the past several years in ministry throughout the West Ohio Conference. And then he concludes with, “May God’s grace and peace surround you.”
What is incredible about our District Superintendent is that since he started in his new role last summer, he has been spending each Sunday morning worshiping in a different church in our district and we have 160 churches! And every time he visits a church, he always offers an encouraging word and a prayer of blessing to the pastor of that church. I know that these personalized blessings from Mark mean a lot to the pastors and churches of our district.
I think of our Korean congregation who gather here for worship in the chapel every Sunday afternoon. They not only lift us in prayer on Sundays but also when they gather here every single morning in this same building at 6 AM. So if you ever wondered why you are feeling blessed on any given day, it might just be because someone from the Korean congregation was already praying for you early in the morning.
A couple of months ago, a United Methodist Church from Illinois sent me an email letting us know that they prayed for us earlier that day. I responded with a blessing upon their congregation as well. They didn’t give a reason why they chose to bless our particular church that day, but it was nice they thought of us.
Every single morning, I go through a little prayer routine where I pray for members of my family and then I pray for our church community. I pray for the various ministries of our church, the special prayer requests in our congregation, and I always pray for our upcoming Sunday worship services, that through worship we would all be drawn closer to God and with one another.
And then of course, as part of our Sunday worship together, we always have our closing prayer of blessing where we are reminded that each one of us is a blessed, beautiful, and beloved child of God. That is the last word of our worship service, and that last word is a blessing to each one of us from God.
When Jesus offered his blessings upon the crowd in our Gospel reading, he was reminding them of God’s special care for them.
In keeping with the spirit of Jesus’ blessing upon the crowd in our Gospel reading for today, I wrote up some of my own personalized blessings that I’d like to offer.
Blessed are those who can’t make it to church on Sundays because they are holding down two jobs just to pay the rent. O God, bless them.
Blessed are those who have felt helpless watching their loved ones die of COVID. O God, bless them.
Blessed are the consumers who did what they could do to support the local businesses these past two years. O God, bless them.
Blessed are the ones who refrain from getting into political arguments on Facebook because such efforts are futile. O God, bless them.
Blessed are Growing Tree preschool children who wave at me whenever I pass them in the hallway. They will never know how much they brighten up my day. O God, bless them.
Blessed are our AV volunteers especially when online worship was all we could offer for several months during the pandemic. O God, bless them.
Blessed is that unknown person who was regularly putting money into our outside prayer box to be used in support of the homeless. Whoever you are, thank you! O God, bless them.
Blessed is our Athens County Health Commissioner who has been guiding us through difficult decisions during these past two years. O God, bless him.
Blessed are those who live in the Athens bubble but who have not forgotten the 30% of the county who live in poverty. O God, bless them.
Blessed are students, teachers, school administrators, doctors, nurses, grocery workers, and all essential workers. We will do our best to not take you all for granted going forward. O God, bless them.
Blessed are those who are struggling with mental health issues. May they receive the care and resources they need. O God, bless them.
Blessed are college students who are still uncertain about their future career. Take it from me who changed my major several times. O God, bless them.
Blessed are the closeted who do not feel safe to come out, due to the fear of being judged by others. O God, bless them.
Blessed are those who are bullied or victims of abuse for this is not the way anybody should be treated. O God, bless them.
Blessed are the makers of masks, vaccines, and hand sanitizers. Who knows how many lives you’ve saved and continue to save. O God, bless them.
Blessed are those who even when hearing a below average sermon are still able to find something in it that draws them closer to God. O God, bless them.
When Jesus spoke to the crowd that day, there were many who were blessed by his words. Somehow, Jesus knew what personalized blessing they needed.
The poor in that crowd were reminded that to them belongs the Kingdom of God.
The hungry were told that they will be filled.
And those who were weeping received the blessing that one day their tears would be turned into laughter.
Not everyone received a blessing from Jesus in our Gospel reading. To those who felt blessed at the expense of others, Jesus offers woes instead.
Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolations.
Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism once said that prosperity is “a sweet poison.” It can be sweet when we share what we have with others and it can be poison when we hoard those blessings that God has given us.
I wonder if these woes are included here to remind us that we receive the most blessings in this life when we choose to be a blessing to others. No wonder the words of our doxology say, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
May God’s blessings flow through each one of us so that others may be blessed.
When we do that, Jesus says, “Blessed are you.”
Personalized Blessings
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