What makes a person blessed? Is it the good fortune to be skilled at many things and make a good living? Is being blessed about how much money you have and how many choices you have in life on account of your wealth?
Is a person blessed through having many friends, or being part of a church that is large and growing and filled with energy? We covered in confirmation class this past week the question of ‘why do some people face more sufferings than others?’ Are people blessed when they dodge many areas of suffering? And if you don’t have things come easy in your life, if suffering is a regular occurrence, does that mean that you are probably just cursed?
It is a design of Satan that a Christian who has been given all of the blessings of God’s kingdom, should at times feel cursed, or feel that bad things just happen to me more often. Because if you feel things just aren’t likely to go well for you in life, then God’s love and goodness may just feel far away and inaccessible.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, what really makes a person blessed or cursed? Is it life circumstances and life history, or is it instead the Lord of Life, and the history of his ministry on earth that makes all of the difference! Indeed, Jesus alone is the one who determines the course of our lives. A living faith in Jesus makes us blessed- and regardless of what you might experience in life, as you look to the cross, as you look to your Savior you can know you are blessed.
If you are feeling cursed, how much can you say to others about the goodness of the Lord? Our memory verse for this week from 1Peter talks about always being ready to share the reason for the hope that is in you. So it is important not only for yourself but for others to know how much you are blessed in the Lord.
In our Old testament reading from Jeremiah we hear about the contrast between the man who is cursed and the man who is blessed. The single factor that makes someone either blessed or cursed is not the results they get in life, but who they put their trust in. To the world, my life might look like a failure or look unremarkable- but in the hidden form of God’s kingdom I have great blessing. What makes the difference in how we interpret our lives? The answer is God’s Word, the answer is Jesus the very Word of God.
Ancient Greek historian Herodotus once said of Egypt that it was the gift of the Nile. Without the Nile river, there would be no pyramids, no tombs, no treasures, no Pharaohs like Ramsey. Egypt would be like any other place in the Sahara Desert of Northern Africa. But since the Nile flows year round, and since Egypt was not dependent on rain, droughts were no issue in Egypt. The Nile flooded every year from the snowmelts thousands of miles upstream in the highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda. Those floods deposited silt to enrich the soil of Egypt.
But go just a mile away from the Nile, beyond the reach of floods and irrigation, and the desert and brown sand are what you have. The choice where to plant your crop is obvious. The Nile will give life and the Desert will dry everything out. In our Old testament reading the prophet Jeremiah is describing the choice between the desert of our own strength and the life given in the Lord, who waters us so we may prosper and grow in his green pastures. This is the work of God’s Word to make us fruitful.
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
The difference between blessed or cursed is whether we receive God’s Word and put our trust in the Lord. It does not matter about how much money we have or how successful we are in the world. If we seek God’s kingdom, we are blessed because the kingdom gives us a key to see differently everything that happens to us in the world.
The choice seems clear, the benefits of trusting the Lord far outweigh what we can provide for ourselves. But do we always at first nature trust the Lord? Or do we trust ourselves first, and when all else fails we say to ourselves, “Jesus take the wheel.” In this sense it is like the Lord is our second or third choice. “If need be, if things are hard enough, I can always fall back on the Lord.”
God rightly judges those who trust in themselves and is right to condemn them. We deserve what we would get, we deserve to be like those in the desert without water, to be parched, to wither and to die because we have not trusted in God who says to us, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”
We have failed to trust in the Lord; we have failed to seek him first. But there is one who did all things well, who trusted in the Lord with all of his heart, soul and mind. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. He trusted his Heavenly Father with all of his life.
In the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus trusted the Word of the Lord to take care of him and his life. And when he died on the cross, parched and thirsty, not because of any sin in him, but rather for us and for our salvation, Jesus still said even then: “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”
How do we become blessed? Does Jesus give us a list of things to do to be blessed? Do we earn rewards when we are poor instead of rich, when we learn to be pure in heart and learn to be peacemakers? Do our good works make us blessed?
The truth is we do not earn our state of blessing. It is all a gift from the Lord. We are blessed with richness in the Lord because we are made to know the Lord and seek him and follow his laws and decrees.
The difference between blessing and curse in our lives is the grace of God given to us in Jesus. In Christ the things we do in our lives may seem ordinary, but they are hallowed by Jesus. Everyday activities like caring for family and brothers and sister in Christ in our congregation are activities that are blessed in Christ.
Our Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 15 reflects on our Lord’s Resurrection from the grave. If Jesus were not risen, if we only had hope in Christ for this life only, we truly would be those who are cursed. “We are of all people most to be pitied.”
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The fact of Christ’s resurrection means we are blessed beyond compare. For this means that the blessings we see in this life and in this world are only a tip of the iceberg, the best is yet to come.
Listen again to the close of our reading from Jeremiah: He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Because Christ is raised, we are not anxious when drought comes. In Christ we have deep roots of faith, that keep us bearing fruit even when we feel much in life is barren and hopeless. The winter can amplify our feelings of the barrenness of life. But in Christ we have a deep reservoir of joy to hold onto and drink from. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Amen.