We're So Blessed

It is not a pact between equal parties: but rather between the Lord God, creator of heaven and earth, and one ordinary member of his creation, the itinerant sheep-herder and merchant Abraham.

Further, it does not place demands on Abraham; it is a 100% gift to him.

He has not and cannot do anything to deserve it, but only hear it gladly, receive it, and live in it, that is, he is to live in faith.

One of the parts of the covenant is that he is blessed in order to be a blessing to the nations of the world.

He has received unmerited gifts in order to use them for the benefit of many in addition to himself.

That part of the covenant has always been difficult to honor,

because we are so prone to hoarding for ourselves.

It is an arduous task to struggle against our tendency to selfishness,

and it is a struggle in which Helen was deliberately engaged.

“I'm so blessed,” she regularly announced, and she began giving things away, starting with her famous and infectious smile.

It was not always easy to do, since she had to face the untimely loss of her husband and other problems.

Let's join her in that task: for we, too, are so blessed,

blessed to be a blessing.

From the waters of our mothers we receive the gift of life and are born into human community.

From the waters of Holy Baptism, we are reborn and receive the gift of eternal life in the community of Christ that has no end.

What shall we do with the gifts of that double birth?

We can pile up possessions, and watch them evaporate in an economic downturn,

or we can invest them in people, and discover that the more they are given away, the more there is to give!

Blessed.

Blessed are those who know that their sin is forgiven, the Psalmist tells us.

They are the ones who recognize that they are surrounded by the steadfast love of the Lord, the Psalmist concludes.

Blessed are those who have been patient and enduring, the book of James reminds us.

Blessed are those who have waited for each good thing in its proper time and season.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus says.

Blessed are those who look for and cultivate the kind of relationships with others that Jesus offers to us.

Blessed.

The blessings continue:

--When we gather at the communion rail, Helen is there to share at the Lord's table with us.

--When we sing in our faltering way, her newly released voice carries the song to echo in heaven and on earth.

--When we pray, in the Holy Spirit she prays with us without ceasing.

--When we feel empty and lonely, Helen's voice, working through someone whom she has touched, may repeat the assurance in John's vision: See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them and they shall be his people.

It would be safer, I suppose, to relegate Helen, all the saints, and our Lord Jesus to some distant heaven where they could have no effect on us.

But that is not how God saw fit to work.

“Where I am, you may be also,” Jesus says to his disciples and us.

Through his blessed gift of memory to us,

and through his blessed gift of faith entrusted to us,

the Lord Jesus will be with us when we recognize our blessings and share them with

a homeless family,

a grieving neighbor,

fourth grade students at an elementary school,

the mailing crew at the United Churches office,

our places of employment,

the snowbird beaches

or wherever else Helen's life and our lives take us.

We're so blessed, Helen would remind us with a smile;

blessed to be a blessing. Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.