Sharing the Blessing
Series: Living in the Blessing
October 31, 2010
Summary – Being restored in relationship to God as our Father involves joining His work in the
world... including that of sharing the Father’s blessing with others. Sharing God’s blessing involves
five very basic qualities: Building Relationships on Common Ground, Looking to see as God sees,
Exploring the needs and longings of others, Serving, and Sharing the Father’s heart. We will bless
others when we allow these qualities to naturally flow together as Jesus did.
Intro –
Throughout this series we have sought to hear afresh how Jesus has come to restore us as sons
and daughters of God... to restore us as those who were created in God’s image. He came as the
eternal Son of God to restore us as God’s created children.
And this is what is vital for us to understand: an essential part of our restoration is joining the
Father in His work of restoration.
God’s children share in His work in the world. At the very beginning of creation he declared that
we were to be co-managers of the created world. When humankind went it’s own way... and He
began to call out a people to make Himself known. It began with His call to a man named
Abraham... who God called out to begin His work of redeeming the world. That promise to
Abraham would ultimately be fulfilled in Christ and all who follow.
Genesis 12:2-3
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
...and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
God says I will bless you... and you will be a blessing.
What’s our role in this world? To be a blessing.
“God made me to be a BLESSING in this world.”
This is the mission which Jesus came to fulfill... to restore the blessing we had forsaken.
Luke 19:10 (NIV)
Jesus said...”the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
The word save can be interpreted as ‘restore’... he came to seek and restore life in relationship to
the Father.
This is what Jesus now imparts to us... a revolution of restoration.
In John 17:18, Jesus said to the Father in one of his final prayers –
"In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world."
And later Jesus declares to those who follow him,
"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." - John 20:21
Our lives are infused with a mission... in the midst of all that may seem mundane... there is a
mission...to join Jesus in the process of restoring lives with their true identity and dignity as
God’s children.
It’s a profound truth to discover how much people matter to God, but it’s equally life-changing
to discover that he uses us to bless others to know who they really are.
Now there is something that can get very confused and distorted in the ways this is often taken
up. We can end up thinking we are salesmen for God.
Recently I was approached by a woman out on our street one night.. it was after dark... about
730pm... stating they were a carpet cleaning service whose only advertising was to offer free
cleaning to show how superior their work was. Since we had a stain no one had removed in the
past... and I was headed in the house I said she could have someone come in and give it a try.
Within a short time I began to get the vibe that this was a major manipulative sales process. I got a
chance to slip in my home office and do a quick search online... and immediately I am looking at
entire pages of the most horrendous stories of how this operation works... how they will not leave
your home and after 2 to 3 hours the police always had to be called to get them to leave.
> The simple truth is that he had to make sales and that is how they have designed their process to
go. It is designed to use people to serve their need... and to be manipulative rather than straight
forward.
When we allow the sense of simply being salesmen for God to define our mission...
We operate out of guilt rather than love.. and use people rather than serve them
We allow the real purpose to be reduced to a program
We become more packaged than personal
We become more disingenuous... we feel we have to say more than we actually know and
therefore more than what is natural.
God is not a product we have to sell...He is the source of life itself...and we are simply
sharing about a relationship which only another person can pursue themselves.
What we need to hold onto is that it all begins with identity... with discovering who we are...
and who all people were meant to be.... those who were created in by God in His image... and bear
such dignity.
When I treat people as they were meant to be treated...not as gods but as God’s children...and share
why... I will be a true witness of God and the Gospel.
We are to simply bless people as God sees them.... with a dignity they may not have known...
and longings they may not understand.
How do we share the blessing as those who discovered we can be restored as children?
I want to suggest that there are five steps that will allow us to join Jesus in blessing others.
Joining Jesus in Blessing Others
1. BUILD relationship upon the common ground of life.
The biggest challenge we can face is simply not knowing how to have relationship with people
when we sense that God wants us to be different that this world operates. Here is where I find the
greatest problem with joining Jesus in extending the Father’s blessing. We can tend to create a
separation that we can’t get past. We might compartmentalize our lives so that we gather with
those who are growing in relationship with the Father as a church community... and then simply do
work with co-workers and share space with neighbors... and talk family with family. Or we may
withdraw from all those other spheres altogether because we simply don’t have a good sense of
how to relate to them as one who is more into God.
What we miss is that we share common ground with people. We should embrace and enjoy what
we share in common.
When God wanted to restore relationship with us... when he wanted to restore us...what did He
do? He became HUMAN.
John 1:14 (GW)
“The Word became human and lived among us.”
Jesus was HUMAN ! He reached human life by being human.
How was he different? He lived in perfect relationship with the Father... and that is the relationship
that should make us different... and NOTHING ELSE. Apart from that relationship and how it
refines and directs us... we share the human experience as everyone else.
Jesus built relationships on the common ground of life.....eating meals with peasants and
prostitutes...which in early Jewish culture was the ultimate expression of fellowship.
When he first called the twelve disciples who he would prepare to carry his life and change the
world... the first thing he did was take them to a wedding. Why?
Because ‘Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.’ John 2:2 (NLT) [Note 1]
Jesus went to Zaccheus the tax collectors home for lunch. He reaches a Samaritan woman simply
by stopping as a community well.
He prayed for us... that we would no longer be OF this world... but equally that we would be
IN this world... not removed but IN this world AS HE WAS IN THIS WORLD...just like him.
(John 17:13-16)
Paul... one of those religious leaders grasped this power of identifying.
1 Cor. 9:22 - MESSAGE paraphrase...
“I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their
point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I
meet into a God-saved life.”
Paul built relationship upon common ground.
Common ground can include...
life places
life stages
life work
life interests
life challenges
life circumstances
life longings (for meaning, transcendence, relationship, justice, beauty)
Consider the common ground you share with lives you can bless... where you live... what you
enjoy... where you work... what you struggle with... and
1. BUILD relationship upon the common ground of life.
I’m not saying that we’re not to be different. What matters is HOW we are different. [Note 2]
Jesus said the world will know us by our LOVE which leads to the next point.
2. LOOK at others with the Father’s heart of love.
Matthew 9:36 (NLT)
“When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
It all began with his ability to see.
Jesus looked upon the crowds and had compassion... because he saw their real nature and need.
How often do we just see people’s outward struggles and dismiss their real need... or see their
outward success and dismiss their deeper need.
My friend Ed McGlasson recently shared about his mother in law (Nancy Lee Nelson Olsen) went
home to be with the Lord. He had experienced her love for everyone who crossed her path. She
taught him how powerful our words are, especially when you tell others what you love about them.
He described how...
Years ago the NBA bad-boy Dennis Rodman moved down the street from my mother-in-law. She
went down to meet him and profess Jesus loved him! At another time in a restaurant, she
approached his table filled with some of his friends (pretty scary dudes) and the fearless lover said,
"Dennis, I was watching you on the basketball court and you moved like a ballerina. You are
amazing." She told me she saw a little boy in Dennis who was still waiting to be completely
loved. She was able to look past the external tattoos and lip rings to love the broken boy who had
never known the love of a father. That is what flows when we can see others as God sees them
The most important quality in serving God and blessing others is compassion... having CARE for
others.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
We may tend to think that the fundamental qualities of those who lead others to God are qualities
like persuasiveness and natural authority...but the most fundamental quality of all is care and
compassion for people.
I’ve come to realize that if I really care about someone... anything I say or do will generally
bless someone... impart something of God’s heart. In the same way, if I don’t find love in my
heart... the most effective thing I can do is say nothing... because I simply can’t really bless and
serve God’s heart. [Note 4]
Here lies the vital role of PRAYER.
Prayer is what roots us in partnership with God. Prayer is where we align our hearts with God...
connect with what He sees and what He is doing... and what He is seeking to do.
If we can get honest... most of us would probably share that it is hard to really care about other
people... especially certain people in our lives. We may connect with God enough to be nice to
them. But we probably won’t really join Jesus in blessing them until we begin to pray for them...
not the obligatory prayer of blessing... but the deep desire to ask the Father to help us really
understand them and their needs... the prayer of a partner.
It’s also a choice to open your eyes to see what God might be doing. The reality that He is
already at work around us, in others, and we need to also have eyes to see what the Father is
already doing.
John 4:35 (NIV)
Jesus said... “I tell you, OPEN YOUR EYES and LOOK at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”
3. EXPLORE the experiences and longings of others.
Part of blessing another is knowing and valuing who they uniquely are. Every life is a story. Every
life has experiences that inspire and open one up... and some that hurt and close us off. This is why
learning to sincerely ask questions and then actively listen is truly a part of what blesses a life.
[Note 5]
Proverbs 18:2, 13 (NIV)
A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
but delights in airing his own opinions.
He who answers before listening--
that is his folly and his shame.
> These simple words stand as an indictment to myself... and perhaps many of us.
Proverbs 20:5 (NIV)
The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters,
but a man of understanding draws them out.
> How many around us simply need attention to what is lost within them?
It’s been said that ...
“Attention is the oxygen of modern man.”
It’s not the unhealthy passive attention that people need... but the deeper attention to what is
deep within.
This involves questions that help lead to understanding. And of course then it involves listening...
really listening. [Note 3]
So this third part of blessing is to learn to explore life through authentic questions and
listening.
(We’ll be exploring identifying real relationships and questions in Home Churches this week.)
4. SERVE the needs of others as the Father leads.
Many have heard the words of the gospel; few have heard the music. By serving others, we play
that music.
Mark 10:45 (Msg)
“That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give
away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."
Jesus knew words can be cheap... and that is why he came to serve and bear signs of what his
Father as the reclaiming ruler has at hand.
He embodied what he announced. From dramatic miracles to simply washing feet... he showed
the Father’s heart for them. Everyone was challenged to grasp all that he was declaring... but they
saw what he did and it established the truth of what he declared.
Never have words seemed cheaper and never has personal care spoken louder. So we need to really
grasp what Jesus said when he stated:
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a
lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in
the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. And as Jesus makes clear... this is not an interrogation light... but a
guiding light. This is the lamp that allows a darkened home to no see clearly... that allows lost
perceptions to become clear. And that light shines through our good deeds.
So Jesus teaches us to pray for those who are sick... or oppressed...to provide those in need with
clothes and food. Every act can reflect the Father’s heart... and be rewarded.
Matthew 10:42 (MSG)
“Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or
receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing."
One thing we can learn from Jesus that is so vital is that serving is not about simply becoming a
doormat to every human wish and whim... nor is it about trying to please every desire others
have. Jesus never became a servant of every agenda around him... nor did he try to meet every
need. He served as the Father led him... which always was within his limitations ... yet always
giving of himself.
Sometimes we serve others THROUGH our boundaries....through not becoming a source of
unhealthy demands or dependency. Some deeds just aren’t good deeds... and won’t serve to glorify
God... BUT there are always some deeds that will. There is always some appropriate response that
will honor God. We will bless lives when we embody the heart of the Father with that response.
All who grasp what it means to serve, not merely in response to the whims of others, but in
response to God, truly create light out of darkness.
We can also learn from Jesus that embracing a heart to serve with Christ... also allows one to be
served by others. The humility to serve will be the humility that allows us to be served... and to
avoid any sense of superiority and separation. Jesus was born dependent on a teenage mother...
... taught by a young carpenter.... fed and housed by friends... and served by many including a
Samaritan woman with a bad reputation.
I remember not too long ago... on a night before trash day.... I was up late... remembered my own
trash cans needed to get out because they pick up at dawn on our street... noticed neighbors... so I
took theirs out as well. The mother of the household thanked me. The next week.... her young adult
thanked me... and begged me not to tell his mother.... AND HE BROUGHT MINE IN.
> It was then that we became more truly neighbors.
5. SHARE the heart of the Father for others.
The Gospel is not merely words... but it DOES come with words.
Now sometimes we think that sharing about God’s heart has to be a really developed or difficult
presentation. Jesus simply told the lives he blessed to go share what he had done with others. We
need to understand that when we are called to be witnesses... and a witness is somebody who just
tells what they have seen.
Over and over we are told how when Jesus touched someone... he told them just to go tell others
what he had done for them.
”...in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and
respect.” 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
What are we to share? “The reason for the hope WE have.” Every one of us has something to
say about the hope we are finding.... Each of our lives is a story...a story that relates to the
larger story of God and life. Our stories provide an alternative interpretation to knowing who
we are and what life really is.
So the last part of blessing is that of SHARING how our story has discovered God’s Story.
We really believe that these are the five things that give us the ability to be a source of God’s
blessing. You may have notice that they somewhat naturally provide an acrostic that spells the word
bless. These are the principles... the way of living... that we want o take hold of as a community.
1. BUILD relationship upon the common ground of life.
2. LOOK at others with the Father’s heart of love.
3. EXPLORE the experiences and longings of others.
4. SERVE the needs of others as the Father leads.
5. SHARE the heart of the Father for others.
Are we going to experience some resistance? Of course. Even when extending the Father’s
heart.... we are also confronting one’s ultimate autonomy. It’s ‘territory taking’... and every human
heart is a territory taken captive which Christ has come to recapture. That’s why Jesus teaches us to
be prepared for resistance. But if we embrace these qualities... I believe that no healthy
relationship will be lost... in fact the healthiest ones will grow deeper. You’ll discover that it IS
possible to have friendships with those who don’t yet share our faith... and talk about spiritual
matters in positive way. (Personal stories)
CLOSING:
There is an intuitional story of when Jesus returned to the heavenly realm... and explains to the
angels how the mission went...and finally explains that he has now imparted it to human partners to
be the hands and feet of blessings. Since the angels know something about the nature of human
lives... they naturally are astonished at such a plan. SO they ask, "What if they don’t? What is plan
B?" And Jesus simply answers, "There is no plan B."
Closing Prayer
