What To Do With A Blessing - Genesis 12:1-3
Which
is the right way? We have the answer
from the very beginning of God’s Word. God
placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in the midst of all the beauty of
the best of the world that God had created…there was no greater blessing to be
seen anywhere around them. They were placed
in the Garden to tend it and care for it.
The words aren’t there, but we can see that they were blessed to be a
blessing to God’s Creation. Yet the
serpent entered the picture and convinced them that the blessing wasn’t about
caring for everything around them, but rather, he tempted them, life was all
about them and gaining what they could, “eat this fruit, gain all the knowledge
you can get, this Garden is all about you.”
Self-interested lives had led from the Fall in the Garden to the
destruction of the flood and through the confusion of the languages of all the
earth when those gathered at Babel were tempted to “make a name for
themselves.” Each of these folks and
groups of folks took the blessings they had, hoarded them, and sought to bless
themselves further.
We
can kind of picture things following the confusion of the language, because
when communication fails, chaos erupts.
We see that everywhere today, from our homes to our nation to the
world. So following the punishment of
Babel, we see God put into motion the process whereby he would seek to restore
His Creation once again. He found a man
named Abram. God told Abram, “I’m going
to make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name
great….” God’s going to bless
Abram. It’s all due to God’s good nature
and the fact that Abram was a saint, right?
The purpose of this blessing was to be a reward for Abram’s use for all
of Abram’s faithfulness, right? Doesn’t
this Scripture say that Abram was a righteous and holy man when God decided to
come to Abram with this promise?
Actually not. In fact, prior to
this blessing from God, this is what we know about Abram: 1) “When Terah had
lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.”[i] 2)
“Now these are the descendants of Terah.
Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran…Abram and Nahor took
wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai….”[ii]
And 3) “Terah took his son Abram…and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s
wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land
of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.”[iii]
This
is all there is about Abram when God decides to choose Abram and bless Him—it
was a pure act of grace and a pure blessing, and then God makes it very clear
why God is blessing Abram, God says, “I will make of you a great nation, and I
will bless you, and make your name great, SO THAT YOU WILL BE A BLESSING…IN YOU
ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.” God blesses Abram so that Abram might be a blessing
to those around him…so that all the world might be blessed from the grace that
God extended to Abram. Abram was blessed
so that everyone might come to know the amazing and abundant love and grace of
God.
While
God makes it clear that the reason for receiving blessings is so that we might
be blessings to others, God’s people throughout the Old Testament had to be
reminded over and over again not to hoard their blessings. In Exodus, as the Hebrews were wandering God
blessed the folks with manna to eat, and they were instructed to “gather as
much of it as each [needed]…[and]…let no one leave any of it over until morning…But
they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred
worms and became foul.”[iv] Here we see an early example of what happens
when we hoard for ourselves the blessings of God—it becomes waste and grows
foul and causes problems. Later on, the
prophets would criticize the wealthy for ignoring the needs of the widows,
orphans, and aliens, while they sought to just build upon and enjoy their
wealth.
In
the New Testament book of Luke Jesus tells the story of the rich man and
Lazarus. In this story, a poor man named Lazarus is outside the gates of the
property of a man who had been blessed with great wealth. This rich man, however, focused all of his
wealth upon himself and his friends while ignoring the need of Lazarus. Upon their death, Jesus says, Lazarus finds
himself in the presents of the saints while the rich man, despite his wealth,
despite having been blessed, because he had not used those blessings to bless
those without, in eternal torment.
In
fact, Jesus and Paul repeatedly reminds us of what we are supposed to do with
the blessings that God places in our lives…we are blessed for the sake of being
a blessing to others and pointing them toward God.
God
blesses us with resources that we might be a blessing to others. Jesus tells the host of a dinner: “When you
put on a luncheon or a banquet, [when you decided to use your resources to
celebrate], don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich
neighbors. For they will invite you
back, and that will be your only reward.
Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God
will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”[v]
Jesus
told the rich young ruler, “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to
the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”[vi]
In
Acts, we see that the early church understood that their resources were given
to them to be a blessing to others: “They sold their property and possessions
and shared the money with those in need.”[vii]
How
does this translate for us today? It
means that what God has given us is not given simply for our own enjoyment. It
is given to us that we may be a blessing to those around us. God gives us wealth so that we may care for
those who do not have the basics they need to live from day to day. What do we do with the financial resources we
have? Do we spend them all on ourselves,
or are we willing to share those resources, even sacrificially, so that others
may eat, have clothing, have a roof over their heads, or even have basic
medical care? For instance, are we
willing to give up a night out at Texas Roadhouse, have a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich, and give the difference to sponsor one of our CROP Walk
walkers?
However,
this is not limited to just our financial possessions. Are we willing to use our cars to drive for
Meals on Wheels? Are we willing to use
our homes to host small group gatherings?
Are we willing to share our food with someone who is hungry? Can we find a way to use any possession we
have from our computers to our books to our televisions to anything else we
have to help someone out?
“But
preacher, I don’t have much. I am not wealthy.
I don’t have a whole lot.” It
doesn’t matter, God is wanting to see our willingness to share, and he will
bless us to continue to be able to bless us…all we have to do is look to the
poor widow and her son that Elisha encountered.
She only had enough for her and her son’s final meal—yet, at the request
of Elisha, she prepared the prophet a meal—and found that in her willingness to
share what she had, God continued to bless her until the famine was over and plenty
was in the land again.[viii]
However,
it is not only the financial blessings and possessions that God gives us that
are to be used to be a blessing to others.
The gifts, talents, and abilities we are given are given that we might
share them and bless others. Among the
many places that Paul reminds us of this is in Ephesians when he says: “The
gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”[ix]
What
can you do? Whatever it is, it can be
used for blessing others through the building up of God’s body…God gave them
for that purpose, not that we might build ourselves up.
Good
at business or have great insight when it comes to finances? Whether helping with finances of the church
or aiding those in the church when it comes to discerning financial
investments, finding ways out of debt, or even filing taxes, that blessing can
bless others.
Talented
in music? There’s singing or playing in
worship or sharing that gift with children or in nursing homes.
Teaching
skills or love children? Sunday School
classes need teachers, school children need mentors and tutors.
Organizational
skills? Church events need planning and
history needs maintaining.
Cooking
skills? From covered dish dinners, to
shut-ins and sick needing meals, to serving in the Good Shepherd Kitchen
opportunities abound.
A
listening ear and encouraging words?
Some folks simply need someone to sit by them and listen and help them
think through things or cheer them up.
Even
the gift of our Salvation is a blessing that is meant to bless others. Paul
tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your
own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may
boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.’[x]
We
have been saved through grace, so that we may continue to the work of Christ in
the world—caring for those who cannot care for themselves, bringing them out of
the darkness and into the light of Christ—and this is the work that God
prepared and created us for, knitting us together in our mother’s wombs,
designing us to be a blessing to those around us. We have been given grace that we might offer
grace…given love that we might offer love…given salvation, that we might offer
salvation…the saving grace of Christ to a world that is in such desperate need
of a blessing.
What
are we to do with a blessing? Share
it…give it away…bless the world with the love and grace of God.
In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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