In my recent trip to the Northwest Territories, I experienced what it means to be a blessing. We went there with an idea of what would happen, but like many ministry endeavors, things changed. Our time there was filled with serving through our skills and efforts as well as connecting through relationships. It was challenging yet fulfilling.

The Gospels record the Beatitudes, the great sermon Jesus preached. Jesus, along with the twelve men who made up Jesus inner circle climb down from the mountain to the plain below where they encounter the awaiting crowd of disciples. The crowd is huge, a sea of women and children and other men. They come for various reasons.

Mainly the text says they come to touch Him and be freed of troubling unclean spirits. Regardless of their situation, they are in need of Jesus touch and healing and in the Jewish culture were probably outcasts. They know that He has a power that can not be found elsewhere. They come seeking life through listening to and following Jesus. And today we hear him say;

“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 they exclude you, revile you and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”

It’s short as sermons go, but a lot is said by Jesus that’s key for us who are disciples. How might we find a life of blessing through following Jesus? That is the central question in Jesus sermon, “How to live lives of blessing, rather than lives of woe.”

In the Old Testament, blessings were a big thing. The father would pass on the special blessing to the oldest son. When someone traveled people would say a blessing. As a child passed into adulthood there would be a special blessing for the child. It was a culture that knew what blessing was about. When was the last time someone placed hands on your head or shoulders and gave you a blessing? I suspect for many it might have been when you may have been commissioned for a task in the church or as a child being baptized.

My intuition says that even though we are unsure of what this blessing is about we want it. This is why I loved sharing the peace together at the Lutheran church I attended. It is a time of blessing one another. It is biblical; it is good, and to bless, and be blessed is how we understand our lives as followers of Jesus.

We don’t talk about blessing much these days. Sometimes the word is used when you sneeze “God bless you …” Someone said once that people said that because they feared when you sneezed that your soul left your body for a second and the blessing was help so that you did not lose it.

In fact, today, many see God’s blessings as all the good things in life. That is true, but I think we focus more on the blessings rather than the source.

Blessings are important. I remember being at a prayer meeting as a new Christian and mentioned I was facing a difficult situation in my life. One of the leaders there said, “We’ll pray a blessing on you, if you want.” I didn’t know what they meant by “Pray a blessing.”, but it sounded harmless.

And for the next 10 minutes they prayed and laid hands on my head and asked God to bless me. Not in a quiet Mennonite way, but with strong confident voices, they called upon God to protect and bless me. It was really weird and strange and wonderful. I left knowing that I had received a blessing. But more than that, I had learned that amid what life throws at us, God is there blessing us, these other believer’s blessing reminded me of that fact.

It is a humbling experience to have to call upon God and call upon Christian friends in difficult times. To allow others to ask God to bless you, makes you feel real vulnerable and weak. We human beings don’t like being vulnerable to others. We know why, of course. It is because many of us have been hurt deeply. Had shame heaped upon us – seems like failure on our part. Or know the soul scarring feeling of betrayal. We learn early in childhood, that in this world there is a “pecking order”, a “food chain”. Survival of the so called fittest, as Darwin called it. And yet, the one whom we call Lord, is not playing that game. In fact, today, this whole world is reversed.

Did you hear that in the text? Jesus calls those who are lacking blessed. And to top it off, He calls woes upon those whose desire is what our culture and world hold dearest. Jesus approach is a reversal from what our world values.

You see, all throughout Jesus’ life, this continual movement in what the world and maybe we would say, is the wrong direction. Instead of seeking out the so called good people, he goes to the rotten people. He goes out of His way to find the sinners. Instead of seeking out the healthy people, he looks for the sick people. Instead of looking for those who supposedly know all about God, he goes to those who appear to know the least. Instead of entering Jerusalem on a war horse with shouts of revolution against the enemy, he comes on a young donkey calling the people to fight evil with love. And ultimately, instead of destroying his enemies, he dies on a cross for them. The God we see reflected in Jesus is all upside down.

Maybe that is what Jesus is trying to tell us. Maybe the God of life that we look for is not mostly found among the places that make sense to us. Not in the places of power. Not away on a mountain or even in some fancy church building or among the theologians or with the clergy and their special clothes and proper prayers. These may not be the best places to see where God is at work in the world but rather look around those who are vulnerable. Look at those who are struggling to find life, the poor, the hungry, the grieving, the outcast, the stranger, the sinner and the lonely. Maybe there is someone you know who fits into one of these categories. I know Tracey has met some through her ministry at the Pregnancy Care Centre. The Soup Kitchen at my first church met many. In my time with the Mustard Seed I met many as well as in my recent trip to the Northwest Territories. All of us have passed by them.

People seem to be quick to judge and condemn those who are in lesser positions than ourselves. I worked with a girl who said that no one needs to live on the streets, that it is their choice that they live that kind of lifestyle. For some, it may be true. But that does not negate our responsibility to care for those in need. We need to move from our lives of blessings and become the blessing to others.

The early church believed it in Acts 2 when they sold their extras to help those in need. There is a group in Vancouver called “Jacob’s Well” that is a community of Christians and non-Christians, but whose lives are committed to help one another and break down the barriers and stereotypes that have been place on them. Take a careful look around this city as you drive around downtown. They look different. They may talk different. I know for sure many smell different. They need a blessing and we may be the ones whom God wants to use to give one to them. How do we live a life of blessing?

In the teachings of Jesus, we discover that this life of blessing is found in the most paradoxical way. Not in seeking blessing, but in seeking to give it away. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

May we all experience the blessing of being a blessing to others that in doing so, we may reflect God’s glory and goodness to this community and the world.