January 6, 2002 Hebrews 11:20-22
“A faith-filled future”
INTRODUCTION
Of all the topics that I could bring up to welcome you into a new year, probably the worst would be to talk about new year’s resolutions. But that is exactly what we are going to do today. Oh, it won’t be the kind of resolutions that you have made in the past. You know what I’m talking about – those resolutions about keeping the house clean this year, or paying your bills on time this year, or getting your credit cards paid off this year. Or maybe it’s the most famous one of all – starting an exercise program so that you can lose those holiday pounds before spring when the winter coat can no longer hide them.
Some of you can identify with the woman who wrote this poem.
‘Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house,
nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I’d nibbled, the fudge I did taste,
all the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I remembered the marvelous meals I’d prepared,
the gravies and sauces and beef nicely rare.
The pies and the cakes, the bread and the cheese,
and the way I never said, "No thank you please."
As I dressed myself in my husband’s old shirt,
and prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as only I can
"You can’t spend the winter disguised as a man!"
So away with the last of the sour cream dip,
get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished,
‘till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won’t have a cookie, not even a lick,
I’ll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won’t have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore ---
But isn’t that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot ...
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
But, like many new year’s resolutions that we make, the one about going on a diet is quickly broken as we sit and snack inside our houses during the winter months. One lady’s husband had made just such a resolution. Late in January, the wife walked into her bathroom at home. As she did, she saw her husband weighing himself on the bathroom scales, sucking in his stomach. The wife thought to herself, "He thinks that he will weigh less by sucking in his stomach." So, the woman rather sarcastically said to her husband, "That’s not going to help." Her husband said, "Sure it will. It’s the only way I can see the numbers."
So this morning, we will not be encouraging a weight-loss resolution. Instead, we’re going to be talking about something much harder. I’m going to encourage you to endeavor to make a resolution to be a blessing to the people in your circle of influence over the coming year. That’s what we sang a few moments ago – Make me a blessing. But you say, “I already do that. Every time that someone sneezes, I say, ‘Bless you’.” That’s not exactly what I have in mind. Nor do I mean that when you are getting ready to end a conversation with someone on the phone or in person, that you end it by saying, “The Lord bless you”. Blessing someone is more than just words, although it can start with words. We’ll talk more about what is involved in blessing someone as we go along.
In order to help us become blessings in other’s lives, we’re going to examine three men – Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Before we get any further, I want you to quickly notice a couple of things about the blessings that they gave. First, the blessings were to their family. With Isaac, it was his immediate children. With Jacob, it was his grandsons. And with Joseph, it was to his clan. If you only have enough blessing to reach a few select people this year, let that blessing flow to your family members. Concentrate your time and energy on them more than on anyone else this year. Second, notice that the blessing came near the end of their lives. Gen. 27, which is where the blessings to Jacob and Esau are recorded, tells us that Isaac thought he was about to die. Here in Heb. 11:21, it says that Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh “when he was dying”. In fact, in Gen. 48:2, it says that Jacob rallied the last of his strength just to sit up on his bed when Joseph brought in his two boys. And Joseph blessed “when his end was near” (vs. 22).
Different people respond in different ways to the realization that they are getting ready to die. Some people complain. At a nursing home in Florida, a resident group was discussing ailments: "My arms are so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee," said one. "Yes, I know, my cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee," replied another. "I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck," said a third, at which several others nodded weakly. "My blood pressure pills make me very dizzy," another went on. "I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old," winced an old man. There was general agreement and a short moment of silence ensued. "Well, it’s not that bad," said one woman cheerfully. "Thank God we can all still drive!" Maybe the best way that these people could be a blessing to the rest of us is by putting away the keys to the car!
When Isaac, Jacob and Joseph knew the end was near, they didn’t complain. They used the last ounce of energy that they had to bless others. The fact that they waited until the end of their lives to pass along these blessings does not mean that they were only a blessing to their families at the end. It means that the blessing was so important that they wanted it to be the last thing that they were remembered for. The blessing was their last act. They couldn’t die before they gave it. It was the summation of all that they were, what their life had been about and all that they wanted to pass along. It was important. Blessing others is important in life and in death.
1. Blessing someone implies that there is a future.
There were multitudes of times in the lives of these men that they had a right to question whether or not there was going to be a future. Isaac’s wife had the same problem that Isaac’s mother had had – she was barren. At the age of 59, she still had no children. So Isaac prayed, and God answered, and He answered in a big way. God gave Isaac twins. And once again, Isaac wondered if there was ever going to be a future – a future of restful nights, romantic candlelit dinners, and spontaneous adventures – because all that he had now was diaper changes, screaming babies, and a post-partem depressioned wife. From the moment of birth, it was clear that these two boys were going to be very different. One was covered with red hair when he burst into the world, so they named him “Red” which is what the name “Esau” means. And the other came out of mamma holding onto brother’s ankle. So they named him “Jacob” which means “trickster, deceiver” – one who comes up from behind and attacks you at your weakest spot. It was a “wonderful” beginning. And things only got worse.
As they grew, these two continued the behavior which they had evidenced while they were still growing within Rebekah. They struggled with each other. Their personalities were totally different from one another. They fought over everything including the love and attention of mom and dad. Until finally, the only way that they could keep the peace was that Jacob settled as momma’s favorite, and Esau settled as dad’s favorite. Esau kept to the fields and hunting which is what he enjoyed. And that was fine with Jacob. It kept Esau out of his hair since he enjoyed staying at home and working there. When Isaac looked at his boys, he must have really wondered if there was going to be a future for the family.
Everything was going along fine until dad decided that it was time to pass along the blessing. The blessing determined who was going to have a real future. Isaac intended on passing it to Esau, but Jacob wanted it for himself. So, with the coaxing of his mother, he deceived his dad into giving the blessing to him instead of his brother. Esau found out that he had been cheated out of what he thought was rightfully his. He decided that he was going to make sure that Jacob did not have a future. He was going to kill Jacob.
So Jacob ran away to his uncle’s home in a distant land. Through a series of events that only God could have orchestrated, Jacob gained his uncle’s two daughters as wives, 11 sons, and a multitude of flocks and herds. After Jacob had spend 20 years in exile, God came to him and told him that his future was back in Canaan. So Jacob took all his stuff and all his family and headed back home. The problem with heading back home was that Esau was back home. Jacob knew that Esau could hold a grudge for a long time. He feared for what his brother might do. But God had promised a future, so he continued on. When Jacob finally did meet up with his brother, he discovered that Esau had forgiven the sins of the past, and they were re-united. Jacob settled back down in the land.
Over time, Jacob’s sons grew older and taller. Now he had 12 sons. Having not learned the pitfalls of favoritism from his father, Jacob chose his eleventh son, Joseph as his favorite. And Joseph’s brothers reacted like any sibling does to favoritism – they became jealous, angry and bitter. They even grew hostile toward Joseph, mocking him, looking for ways to get him in trouble. Their hostility culminated with their selling of Joseph as a slave in the land of Egypt. Now it was Joseph’s turn to wonder if there would be a future for him. It wasn’t bad enough that he was a slave in a land where he did not know the language and where most people in his condition lost all hope. But to make matters worse, he was accused of raping the wife of an important official and thrown in prison to rot his future away. And even there, when he performed a kindness for a fellow prisoner who was released and restored, Joseph was forgotten. What kind of a future could he have in prison?
In the course of time, Joseph, the one who seemed to have no future, was given the opportunity to provide a future for a nation on the brink of catastrophe. A 7-year famine was on the horizon. The One who holds the future in His hands communicated that future to Joseph through 2 dreams that Pharaoh experienced. And Joseph, the eleventh of 12 sons, slave, imprisoned criminal, hated by his brothers, became the 2nd in command of Egypt and Egypt’s savior. And through another set of circumstances that only God could have orchestrated, Joseph’s dad, Jacob and the rest of Joseph’s family came down to Egypt to live there where Joseph could provide for them. Joseph not only had a future, but he provided a future for others.
In each of the circumstances that these men faced where it looked like their future was about to come to a bitter end, they continued and prevailed because of one thing – the promises of God. See, God had made a promise to their ancestor Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and that he would become a great nation and that he would inherit the land. None of these promises had been fulfilled yet, so they were passed from generation to generation. They knew that God kept His word, and they knew that the promises had not been fulfilled, so they knew that there had to be a future. The passing on of the blessing was an act of faith in the promises of God. Joseph could command that his bones be taken up from Egypt and be deposited in Canaan because he trusted in the promise of God that the Israelites would one day inherit Canaan. His trust in the promises of God allowed him to look beyond his present situation and see that a future – a blessed future was coming.
And the reason that they could trust in the promises of God was because they knew the character of God. They knew that God did not lie. They knew that God himself held the future. And they knew that the one who created the world also controlled the direction that that world would go.
I read an article the other day that was written in July of 1999. Do you remember what the great fear for the future was then? It was Y2K. The article spoke of the fears for the future that people had at the time – fears that computers would shut down, lights would go out, and planes would fall out of the sky. Our fears went unrealized then. But now, we have new fears for the future. And now our fears include planes that really did fall out of the sky. Maybe on that day – 9/11 – or some other day this year, you began to question if there was a future for you or at least what kind of future it was going to be. You discovered a lump in your breast, you were handed a pink slip at the job, you found evidence that your spouse was cheating on you, or the distance between you and your kids is getting too far to bridge. All good reasons from a human perspective to sink into depression and despair about what the new year will bring. But God promises us a future filled with purpose and hope and fulfillment if we will live our lives by faith basing our decisions and attitudes on his promises rather than our feelings. (Jer 29:11 NIV) For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
That’s what blessing someone is all about. It is reminding them of the promises of God. Restoring hope to hopeless situations. Letting them know that in spite of what yesterday or today looks like, there is a future. And it is a bright future, because God is there.
2. Blessing someone indicates that I have something to offer.
Do you ever feel inadequate? Over the past week, you have heard over and over again probably one of the most lame and inadequate phrases in all of the English language – “Happy New Year!” The reason that I call it lame is because my saying that phrase will in no way impact whether or not you have a happy new year. That might have been the way that Isaac felt when he passed along his blessing to Jacob. (Gen 27:28-29 NIV) May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness-- an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed." Words, just words. But that’s not the way that Isaac looked at it. In verse 33, Isaac says that these words will come true. He has every confidence that Jacob truly will be blessed.
How could Isaac be so confident that his words would come true? Was he some kind of magician who could see into the future and make predictions like so many grocery tabloids claim to be able to do? No. The reason that he could be so confident is because he was not the source of the blessing. He was only the one who passed on the blessing to Jacob. Look at Gen. 28:3,4. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham." According to these verses, who was the source of the blessing? God was. Isaac’s role had simply been to be a conduit for the passing on of that blessing to Jacob who then passed it on to his sons and grandsons, even as Joseph passed it on to the rest of his people.
And that brings us to the second part of what it means to be a blessing. The first part was verbally passing on the promises of God to other people. The second part is being a conduit for the promises of God to flow through to the lives of other people through our actions.
It’s easy to think that we aren’t required to be a blessing in the lives of other people because we feel like we have nothing of any value to offer. And within ourselves, we are right, we have nothing to offer. But now that we are a part of God’s kingdom and have God’s Spirit living within us, we have all the riches of God to offer to other people.
God has said that He loves everyone. That’s a promise. But there are a lot of people out there and maybe even in here that don’t feel loved. We need to do actions of love toward those people so that they can see the promises of God fulfilled in our actions toward them. There are people who feel alone. But God has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. So we, the church, need to befriend these people so that we will be the ones who remind them through our actions of the promises of God. God has promised to meet our needs. Yet there are needy people out there. We need to be a blessing to others and fulfill the promises of God in our lives by sacrificially giving to meet their needs.
Each of us has something to offer because we have been given gifts by God. You will be a blessing in someone else’s life as you use that gift to fulfill God’s promises in their lives.
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, & day after day, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy’s tummy. The pregnancy seemed to progress normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek Church in Morristown, TN. But complications arose during delivery & finally a C-section was required. The baby is born alive, but in a serious condition.
With siren howling, an ambulance rushes the baby girl to the much better equipped neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville. Days pass by, but the little girl gets worse, not better. The specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. You better prepare now for the worst.”
So Karen & her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby – but now they’re planning a funeral instead. Meanwhile, little Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her,” he says.
Week two slips by, & it looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about wanting to sing to his sister, but little children are never allowed in Intensive Care. Finally, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael to see his sister whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.
She carefully dresses him in an oversized scrub suit & takes him into the ICU. When the head nurse sees him she bellows, “Get that child out of here. No children are allowed.” But the usually mild-mannered Karen stares right back at the nurse & says, “He is not leaving until he sees his sister!”
Karen takes Michael to where his sister lay. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And then he begins to sing. In the voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray…” Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm & steady
“Keep on singing, Michael.” “You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.” The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten’s purr. “Keep on singing, Michael.” Tears conquer the face of the head nurse & Karen glows. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next day – the very next day – the little girl is well enough to go home! “Women’s Day” magazine called it “the miracle of a brother’s song.” The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God’s love that teaches us, “Never give up on the people you love.”
What did that little boy have to offer? He had no medical expertise, no special prayer hotline to God…he wasn’t even supposed to be there! All that he had to offer was the blessing of a song. And God did the rest.
What are you willing to offer in order to be a blessing to someone else?
3. Blessing someone reminds me that I am not the center of the universe.
All three men, at one time or another, thought that they were the center of their universe. Isaac had been the center of his dad’s universe. That’s part of the reason why Abraham was told to sacrifice him on top of Mt. Moriah. Jacob thought his goals and his plans were more important than what was right. That’s why he was always conniving and scheming and cheating to get what he wanted. First, he cheated his brother, then, he tricked his dad, and finally he connived his uncle out of the majority of his wealth. All in the name of self-preservation and self-advancement. And then there was Joseph. He too was dad’s favorite out of 12 brothers. He could have thought that the sun set with him and the moon rose at his command. And when he got sold as a slave, and put in prison, he could have written the end of his life by pouting about all the things that had happened to him. But rather than wrapping himself in himself, he realized that there was more to life than just what was going on with him. When the time came for him to rescue the very nation that had so badly treated him, he responded by blessing them. And even when he had the opportunity to take revenge on his brothers, he did not take it. Instead, he blessed them by providing for them, forgiving them, and giving them a new home to settle in. Listen to what he says in Gen. 50:20 as he spoke with his brothers about what they had done to him: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Do you hear what he’s saying? He’s saying that the reason he could overcome the temptation to become bitter and vengeful about the events of the past was that he recognized that all that happened to him was not about him. It was about saving a multitude of people. Listen to the rest of what he had to say: “So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and for your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” He blessed them even when he had a right to curse them!
It was at the end of their lives that each of these men blessed others. A lot of stuff had transpired. A lot of hurt. A lot of bad blood. They could have focused on that, and if their universe still revolved around them, they would have focused on those hurts. But rather than focusing on themselves, they chose to focus on those who would follow them. They did as Timone and Pumba in The Lion King advised. They put their past behind them. They chose to focus on the future.
I saw the story this week of a man who was only a few days ago released from jail after having served 27 years for a crime that he did not commit. He would have never been imprisoned if the police had introduced evidence that they had that proved he could not have been where the murder took place. He’s spent most of his life in jail, unjustly convicted. The interviewer asked him if he was bitter. He said that he did not have enough energy to be bitter. While he was in jail, he had gotten his G.E.D. and had learned to play the trumpet. You know what he’s planning on doing now? He’s planning on working with inner city kids in Baltimore to try and give them skills that will give them a purpose in life and keep them out of jail. He’s planning on being a blessing to other people. Instead of being bitter, he’s chosen to be a blessing.
You have a choice to make too. Over the past year, stuff has happened. Hurt has been inflicted. Words have been said. Relationships have been broken. You have the potential of becoming bitter. Maybe you already are bitter. You need to choose to let go of the bitterness and become a blessing. The best blessing that you can give in a situation like that is to give forgiveness. God has forgiven your mistakes and sins of the past year. You need to forgive the sins of others. Be a blessing to those who have cursed you in 2001. Jesus said in Matt. 5:44,45, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Do you know why we don’t forgive – why we don’t bless other people in this way? Because we’re the center of our universe. We want life to revolve around our goals, our dreams, our needs, and our pains.
Too many of us are waiting for someone else to bless us. Stop waiting! Be a blessing!
I want to tell you an incident that recently happened in the life of my family. I tell this story not to brag on my wife, although there are plenty of reasons to brag on her, but I tell it to brag on God. Every year, Tammy gets a Christmas bonus from the school where she teaches. Usually, we use that bonus to get something for the house. Last year, we got a new stove. But this year, Tammy decided to split her bonus between two portions of her family, each of which was going through difficult times. She sent them each a check for $100, for a total of $200. That may seem like a dumb thing to do since, because of the church finances, our own family could have used that money. But Tammy, with my full agreement, gave it anyway. A few days after we gave it, we received one of many Christmas cards that we got this year. It was from the secretary of the church that I had served in South Carolina. She lost her husband a few months ago. This was her first Christmas without her husband of some 50 years. It was a time that she had every right to let the world revolve around her for a little while. But instead, she decided to be a blessing to us. Inside her card was a check for $500. We gave away $200 to be a blessing. We received $500 as a blessing from someone else. Did we know that check was coming? Had no idea. But God knew. He was the one who prompted Tammy with the idea in the first place. She obeyed, and we received a blessing.
Blessing someone else reminds me that I need to focus on the well-being of someone outside of me. But in blessing someone else, I actually wind up receiving a blessing back to me. Part of the original blessing that God gave to Abraham and was then passed on to each successive generation was “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you.”
It was Sunday morning and Harry was off. He pulled out of his driveway in his 2-seater convertible, with the roof closed because of typical Melbourne driving rain, and headed for church. But as he turned into the main road he saw ahead of him three bedraggled figures huddled under a single umbrella at the next bus stop. One was old Mrs. Fletcher. She still insisted on getting to church by herself, despite her arthritis which was always worse in wet weather. There was Dr. Jones, the local general physician. A year earlier Dr. Jones had diagnosed a rare and dangerous disease that Harry had contracted on an overseas holiday, so Harry virtually owed him his life. And the third person was Judith. Harry had had a crush on Judith for the past 6 months since she joined their church but had never had the courage or the opportunity to ask her out.
Harry had about 3 seconds to decide what to do. There was only one spare seat. Who should he offer a lift to? But 3 seconds was enough. He pulled to a halt, jumped out, passed the keys to Dr. Jones, helped Mrs. Fletcher into the passenger seat, then modestly waved them good-bye as he huddled close to Judith under the umbrella.
He let his world revolve around someone else, he chose to be a blessing, and he received a blessing in return.
CONCLUSION
We have entered a new year. I can’t predict for you what this year is going to bring or where any of us are going to be when it is over. There are going to be times that you don’t know which way to go and what will lie at the end of the road that you take. You will have to make a decision much like the young Zoad.
Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad?
Who came to a sign at the fork of the road
He looked one way and the other way too
The Zoad had to make up his mind just what to do
Well, the Zoad scratched his head,
And his chin, and his pants.
And he said to himself, "I’ll be taking a chance.
If I go to Place One, that place may be hot
So how will I know if I like it or not.
On the other hand, though, I’ll feel such a fool
If I go to Place Two and find it’s too cool
In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.
So Place One may be best and not Place Two.
Play safe," cried the Zoad,
"I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce.
I’ll simply start off to both places at once.
And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance
Went no place at all with a split in his pants.
There are going to be a lot of decisions that you will have to make especially in your relationships with other people and in your relationship with God. But of all the decisions that you could make about the new year, I know the best one of all. Take a chance. Choose to be a blessing in the lives of other people this year. There’s no real danger in that, other than the danger that God will pour out so much blessing on you that you won’t be able to handle it. Choose to be a blessing in the life of your kids. Choose to be a blessing in the life of your spouse. Choose to be a blessing to your boss, to your neighbor, to the postman, to your children’s teacher…choose to be a blessing wherever you go, to whomever you meet and whenever you have opportunity. Let God do as the song says, and let this be your prayer: “Make me a blessing, make me a blessing. Out of my life, may Jesus shine. Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray. Make me a blessing to someone today.
