Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them.

Sometimes we don’t feel very blessed

It had been a tough month for Jason, and this last week was worse than the previous three. They’d run out of money long before they’d run out of month. Everything he touched at work seemed to go wrong; his boss had been on his back; his coworkers were equally stressed and cranky. The kids were sick, now his wife was getting sick and the transmission was making a funny noise, and his mom was going in for follow up tests; she said something about another spot or lump. Eyeing the cross that hung on the kitchen wall he longingly sighed and said to himself, “Sometimes I don’t feel very blessed at all.”

How many of us can from time to time identify with Jason? Oh maybe our problems, burdens, and dilemmas are different yet the sum total if we add it all up comes out the same. “Lord, sometimes my problems, my tribulations, the unfairness in this life seems to me and many others as unending. I know You are there but darn it, sometimes, sometimes I feel, You are very far away. Sometimes I don’t feel very blessed at all.”

In our Gospel lesson, we heard that the crowds followed Jesus. Let me tell you about the crowds. In order to do that I need to read verses that precede our Gospel lesson: Jesus went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues - preaching and teaching the good news of the kingdom of God. It doesn’t record what He said but in looking at His other teachings, I believe He taught that God is for you. He has not abandoned you nor forsaken you. He has kept His promise to rescue and restore you. News about Him spread all over Syria and people brought to Him those who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures and the paralyzed, and He healed them. It is interesting to note that the people weren’t for the most part powerful or influential. Disease and circumstance had reduced many of them to weakness. Yet, He taught as no other teacher taught. Their teachers taught about keeping the law and amassing good works and He taught about acting justly and showing mercy, walking humbly with God (Micah 6.8) Large crowds followed Him.

Even though it may not look It, they were blessed

Jesus looks over the crowd and then He calls the disciples together and God - after all, that is who Jesus is- God, He begins to teach them. All the miraculous healings I do verify that I am the Promised One for I do the things that only God could do. I make the unclean clean, the deaf to hear, and the blind to see. All these people seek deliverance from the earthly problems and burdens. Their pain and suffering are real. They live in the midst of unfairness, hurt, and disappointment they seek deliverance. They seek a blessing. Because they are of the world, they seek blessings as the world might give them: deliverance from pain, suffering, unfairness or fame and fortune. Truly, truly, they are like children without a parent to teach them. They seek immediate relief. I understand for I am with you, but the blessing you need and the blessing they need is far greater. The problems they face are real but what awaits them is even greater. Apart from a forgiveness which can only come through Me they will have a harsh life and an even harsher eternity for they will be separated from Me for all eternity existing in a place where there will be only weeping and gnashing of teeth.

See those I touched, those I healed. They will leave here and still face day-to-day struggles. They will have taxes and struggle to make ends meet. They will worry for their children and will experience the unfairness and disappointment of living in a fallen world. What they need is a blessing that will go beyond it all; a blessing that will carry them through the hard times. A blessing they can pass on to their children, grandchildren, and those around them.

Jesus taught them, Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who have been brought to realize the spiritual poverty they live in. Their sin separates them from God. This life is just the smallest part of their eternity. Blessed are those that realize there is nothing they can give to atone for their sins. As we heard in our Old Testament lesson you offer up a thousand of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, or even your first born but none of that will atone for your sins, none of it will earn God’s forgiveness. No amount of good works or good intentions will cover up the offense of even one your sins. Blessed are those who have been brought to stand before God and relying solely on My grace and mercy.

Blessed are those who will one day look to My cross and mourn over what it cost God to forgive them. Blessed are those who mourn, “My God My God what have I done and why is it I do it again and again. Please forgive me my sins.” And they will be comforted. They will find their forgiveness not in the their works but in the work the Father has sent Me to do. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. They will be forgiven and that unmerited forgiveness will change their hearts, and if their hearts are changed so too will their minds, the words they speak and deeds of their hands. Oh, they will leave here and go back to their homes, families and lives, but they will go with something I will give them- hope. Not hope as the world gives but real hope and with it comfort and peace that come from God. With these they will be able to ride out any storm or misfortune. Will it be easy, no. But it will be bearable, for I will go with them. Just as I never abandon Israel when I delivered them out of bondage but traveled with them, so too will I go with them, and you, and all who will believe in me.

With that and many other words, He taught His disciples and they in turn would teach others and so it remains today.

Even though we may not feel very blessed or question if we are blessed at all it doesn’t change the fact that we are

As for Jason, who could be one of us or someone we know, most certainly he was blessed as we all are- believers and unbelievers. For all of us the sun came up as it should and there was enough air to breath. But He needs to know that he was and is blessed beyond measure because he has been brought to believe in Jesus. When he questions if he is blessed at all, if he or we feel the blessings are pretty thin then it is best that we take another look at the blessings God has poured out on us.

First, there is baptism. There God washed away our sins and declared Himself to be on our side. It is there He promised to hear our prayers, sometimes with a “yes’, sometimes with a “no” and sometimes with the strength of one more day.

We ought to marvel at the gift of communion. There all that is God, all that is Jesus, comes to us and takes hold of us. It isn’t just some meal eaten in remembrance that Jesus was once here among us. It is all that is Jesus coming to and laying His hands upon us. It is Jesus whispering into our hearts I am with you and for you and I will see you through all things!

The Jason in all of us needs to spend time listening to God. Remember the crowds: large crowds followed Him because He taught with power and authority things the teachers of the world didn’t teach. We need to spend time listening to Jesus. It is in that listening that we are blessed by the working of the Holy Spirit. It is through God’s word in the Bible and the Holy Spirit that Jesus still speaks to us. Not with some new revelation but with His changeless messages of hope, comfort and peace. Truly, by them and through them we can find a peace that passes to us understanding. It doesn’t come playing Bible roulette- “Oh, God speak to me” and then flipping open the scriptures and pointing to a verse, believe me I’ve tried that. It comes from a daily interaction with His Holy Word. That Word changes our hearts. Oh, like the people in Jesus’ time, we will still have troubles but we can face them with a renewed sense of hope, comfort and peace.

All around are people who are chasing after earthly blessings and deliverance from the woes we all face. They are in need of hearing about our Jesus who blessed us in the way we need most of all- He forgives our sins. His blessings allow us to face all manner of misfortune and challenges with real hope, comfort and peace, blessings which come from a God who lived among us, died for us, and rose again to life for us promising to bless all who would believe in Him. Amen!