BLESS: Take Time to Enjoy Jesus and His People
Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)
Confession
I have a confession to make, and it’s actually quite an important confession. It might sound like a joke, but it is pretty intense how the Lord showed me this weekend that I’m not perfect yet. It was a little bit disappointing. I thought I was there, and then I realized like, hey, there’s still a lot of flesh at play. Venessa was the perfect wife this week, so I have nothing to pick on her, so I will have to pick on myself this morning in a little confession time.
So every other Friday I try and go to Costco to—for one reason, not for a big bottle of ketchup, no—just to go and purchase some flowers for Venessa, because it lasts longer. So, I’m cheap, and it’s like, hey, these things are lasting long, so it’s like, that’s where I’m gonna go.
And so I’m pulling into the parking lot, and there’s a gentleman in front of me—maybe my age, so really young—and on his phone, but walking really slow, not paying attention, in the middle of the road. Right? And so I don’t have a lot of patience. That’s kind of strike one; the Lord is still working in me in that area. And so I thought it will be good if I can just nudge him along to just say, “Hey, I’m assuming that you don’t own Costco, and so maybe it will just be either, you know, put your phone away and walk a little faster, or at least, if you don’t want to do that, just walk to the side, right, so that I can pass.” And so, really I had good intentions, that was my heart. I just didn’t want to kill this guy on a Friday. It’s like I need to purchase flowers. And so I did that. And a gentle honk, right, nothing intense, gentle, and he didn’t take it well. And so, first of all he gave me an international sign that wasn’t the peace sign, right? And so I saw that kind of, and now I’m passing him, and then this guy was really gifted, because he was able to pull out about fifteen other signs that I’ve never seen maybe before, right? And it’s like, I’m sweating, I’m turning red, and I’m really first impressed with all these signs that he can bring out of his pocket, right? It’s like, this is a whole ‘nother language.
But now I’m stirred. You know, it’s like I’m ready a bit for a fight, right? The flesh is up, and who does this guy think he is, right? And I really try and protect my heart and like not allowing other people to impact my heart, and usually I do well. I mean, with that first sign that he showed me I was able, I was still in a good mood, I just smiled, didn’t do anything weird. I didn’t give him any signs, right? And so then I parked, and now as I’m walking to Costco, because now I’m thinking it’s like, “Okay, should I just go to Super One and buy flowers there? Do I go in and see what happens?” It’s like, “Yeah, let’s do that,” right, because I have a man card and it’s like, hey.
And so I go in, and I have to say I was really looking for him. I didn’t have to wait long, he was kind of waiting there in the starting place by the TVs and stuff, and he’s there, and I was like, hey, I wonder who’s going to say something first. Well, he started off with saying some not blessed words, right, and so what did I do? Well, I just loved on him and, you know, say, “Blessings to you,” and… no, I didn’t. I didn’t swear, but I can tell you this, I wasn’t kind, and I did walk in the flesh in that moment, right?
And so I’m grabbing flowers, but now my heart is just all stirred. I’m frustrated because I kind of acted out. I missed an opportunity here to be Jesus, to be loving, to be a blessing, and I bombed. I looked like the world. And so it just, man, it just took me a long time to kind of settle my heart, and I got the flowers, and I’m back in the car, and I embarrassingly told Venessa—I think last night or Friday night, I can’t remember—about my incident. I said, “These flowers, I hope you enjoy it, because I almost got killed for your flowers.” And it was close, it really could have been an ugly fight. And then, so, praise the Lord, I knew I was going to have to preach on Sunday. It’s like, that’s not gonna be good. What a testimony if I stand here with a broken nose or whatever the thing might be. But I was truly frustrated with myself, right, and it just, man, this was an opportunity I preach to you guys, and then here’s the flesh in this moment, right?
Start With Love
And the Lord really used all of that, as we think again, last week we talked about this area of that we are called to love, right? And so 1 Corinthians 13, I preached this to you all week. Too bad I didn’t live this out in Costco. It says:
Love is patient [yeah, bombed totally], love is kind [you know, didn’t happen]. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor [bombed again] others. It’s not self-seeking, it’s not easily angered [bombed].
Yeah, it’s like whoa, I wish we could just rip this passage out, because this is not always easy when you’re in Costco and there’s some, you know, it’s like, hey. But Lord, this is the moment to love. You want us to love people. And actually, when you just kind of switch this to this first part in 1 Corinthians 13, it says:
If I speak in tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all the mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Right. And so everything starts with love. And so, just as I’m reflecting on, you know, my behavior in this moment and just thinking again about what’s happening in Israel and what’s happening in the world, and just our BLESS topic, there’s a couple things that came to mind. And I’m just talking to you a little bit here this morning, and again, you might agree or not agree, that’s okay. We can wrestle, and we can go for dinner and talk it out.
When we look at scripture, we see there is some of the biggest expectation that I believe that God has for us, that he calls us to, is this—to love him, love God, and to love people. Okay? That’s the baseline. And then we also then see to share the gospel. God calls us and he commissions us to share the gospel message. And as I’m pondering all of these things in our lives, it’s like, man, it is so easy to get involved and be so concerned and worried about so many things in this world, right? Every other week there’s a new topic that grabs our attention and that we can get all excited about, right? But in the end of the day, most of those things really doesn’t matter. We are called to love God, love people, and to share the gospel.
Make Love a Priority
As I was watching last night some of these videos about these drones and stuff that is going over Jerusalem, there were some home videos, people taking the drones with their cameras, and you can just hear the commotion. You can hear the kids as the alarms are going off. You can hear the kids and the women kind of yelling, right? And Venessa and I, as we’re watching it, we kind of almost got panicky. You know, there’s an anxiety that almost kicks up because you can only imagine. They actually showed some of these areas where we actually have been before. So just imagine walking there on a Saturday night. Last time we were there for our sabbatical. You think about the joy and the excitement it is after the Shabbat. Saturday night is the beginning of their week, and all the stores open up, and now everything is closed, it’s chaos, it’s alarms, it’s sirens, everyone’s got to run to bomb shelters, and just—you imagine the kids and the women. It is hard to watch all of those things.
And in our life, things can be over so quickly. Life happens, and our life ends here on this earth. And then all of the things that we have been excited about, and sometimes argued about—different political views, sometimes biblical views, right—none of those things matter when you’re running for your life. Nobody could care—even in Israel, it’s like, really, who is the Prime Minister?—and all of the political fights that is going on in Israel, because you realize like, hey, my life can end in this moment.
And I said, I don’t think we can go wrong if our priority is always love God, love people, share the gospel. I think that’s the thing that needs to drive us. Again, you might not agree with me, and that’s okay, but just as I’m thinking about all this stuff, because again, just with Friday’s event, man, I have this opportunity—this will take me forever. I mean, it is hard to sometimes love people. It’s easy to love you this morning, but it’s not always—most of the time, it’s not easy to love those guys in Costco that is—or love our enemies. That’s hard.
And yet God is calling us to do that and to be a blessing, and we see this in Genesis 12. This is our main passage for our BLESS series. It says:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all of the people on earth will be blessed through you.”
I believe that this still needs to be part of our lives too. God is blessing us. You’re on this earth for a reason, you have a purpose, you have gifts, and it is not to glorify yourself, but it is to be a blessing and to glorify God. Amen? That’s our calling. That’s our calling. And that’s something that we have to seal in our hearts every day and to say, “Lord, there’s going to be opportunities and temptation for me today to either be a blessing or to be a curse, to either walk in the Spirit or to walk in the flesh. Where can I be intentional today to be a blessing to people? How can you use my life to actually reflect Christ?”
And again, I’m saying I bombed, and so Venessa, as I was sharing this with her, she didn’t go, “Oh shame, poor Steven, sorry for that abuse that you experienced.” It’s like she said, “Well that’s a bummer, right? What will happen if that person is in this worship service on Sunday morning?” I said, “Well, that’s going to get really uncomfortable.” I don’t think I’m gonna recognize him, right? I didn’t pay that much attention, but it’s like, man, that would be embarrassing. Right? That would be embarrassing for me to face that. And guess what, it can happen. It can happen, right? And I’m gonna have to stand in front of him and apologize and say, “Hey, I didn’t shine Christ to you in a loving way in that moment.”
The BLESS Initiative
So as we look at this topic of BLESS, BLESS is a new approach to prayer and evangelism. It’s less about downloading information and more about loving our neighbors well. These missional practices can help us get unstuck and find new ways to share the gospel story. So within the Covenant we’ve got this evangelism tool that they call “BLESS,” and to say it is not about all of these next steps to make people a project, but to say, “How do we become a blessing to our neighbors? How do we think about how we share God’s story with them?”
And so last week we talked about Begin With Prayer. It says, “Ask God to show you two or three people in your life who do not know God and pray for them each day.” We can all complain about some of our family members that don’t know Christ and are acting out, but are you praying for them?
And then we talked about Listen With Care. Pay attention to people’s dreams and their pain, listen for evidence of God’s work in their life so that you can actually encourage them and come alongside of them. It’s not just about sharing your story and, you know, coming up with fifteen thousand words, but also to actually slow down and to say, “Let me pay attention. Let me listen carefully to what is God doing in your life. Where’s your pain? Where’s your hurt? And for me to pray with you.”
Eat Together
Today I want to talk about Eat Together. It says, “Invite the person you are praying for to eat with you or share an experience together.” I get to talk about my favorite topic today—food. Who likes food? Okay, the rest of you, we just need to pray for you because you’re lying, right?
Food is such a blessing in our lives. I love this quote, Henry Nowen, he says:
Isn’t a meal together the most beautiful expression of our desire to be given to each other in our brokenness? The table, the food, the drinks, the words, the stories—are they not the most intimate ways in which we do not only express the desire to give our lives to each other, but also to do this in actuality?
Isn’t that beautiful, right?
When we eat together, we are vulnerable to one another. Around the table we can’t wear weapons of any sort. Eating from the same bread and drinking from the same cup call us to live in unity and peace. A really peaceful and joyful meal together belongs to the greatest moments of life.
Back in the day in South Africa—I don’t know if this is still happening, I’m assuming probably not—there was groups that met, and they were intentional in having dinner parties together where they invited white and black people. So this was in the heart of Apartheid and just when Nelson Mandela was released and there was some tension, and they said, “Man, we got to come around the table and eat together, right, to figure this out, because how else will things change?” Even in Israel, I was reading that there’s certain restaurants where they are intentional for Jewish people and Palestinian people to come together around the table and to eat together, and so that we can figure out this tension. And I was like, that is so beautiful.
If you’ve ever been to the Middle East, I love how they do their meals. I mean you order, you kind of get your little steak or fish or whatever it might be, right, and then they bring this bowl of naan bread, and then you have all kinds of other little different things that they bring. It’s like, probably like eight, ten cups of different things, and you have to—this isn’t COVID-friendly, okay—so then you have to just break a piece of your bread and then dip it into, you know, whatever different sauces and dippings that they have in there. And it is so beautiful, and it is so awesome. In those moments I do like to share, okay? It’s like, don’t eat my steak or my fish, but I like to share this. There is something about breaking that bread together, right, and being in that community, and to say, “We’re vulnerable,” and in that moment to say, “I’m not really caring about how clean your hands are.” I know there’s some nurses in here and you’re already rolling your eyes. Okay, just be in the Spirit here in this moment; don’t go to the flesh. But it is awesome. Why don’t we do that more often, right, in our society, in our culture, where we’re actually just sitting around the table and where we’re sharing different meals? Because there is something special. If you get a chance to go to the restaurants in the Cities, there’s some African restaurants where they do the same thing and it is really an awesome blessing.
Food Is A Spiritual Blessing
But this morning, as we just think about food, Genesis 9:3 says:
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
So this is God speaking to Noah and his family, and he’s saying, “I’m giving you food. Here, you can have the veggies and the fruit and the meat.” I’m grateful for Genesis 9. Things change, right? Lamb chops, beef, steak, fish, all those things—God is saying, “I give it to you to be a blessing.” We actually see that again in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 29:
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Easy to read over this passage, but really, when we think about food, it is actually such a spiritual experience. Most of the time I’m so hungry and so excited to get the food, I don’t even think about the spiritual experience, right? But it is very common for most of us today to actually ask a blessing over food, right, to ask God’s blessing.
There’s a Jewish prayer, usually during Shabbat on weekends. I’ll read it for you here in prayer. You can hear what that sounds like:
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam…
Right? And so there’s kind of the base prayer, Hebrew prayers for families as they pray for food, and then they’ll add to this prayer as they maybe pray for the bread, as they pray for the wine, as they pray for the fruit, so I’ll just read it:
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, at whose Word all came to be.
And then for bread:
Blessed are you, O Lord, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the ground.
And then:
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
And so for us to have that awareness and just that spiritual moment, every time that there’s food in front of us, that God is the one that provided it. And it reminds us, and so it’s not just this traditional prayer to say, “Lord, thank you for this food,” and then we eat, but it is to actually be in that place and where we are so grateful for the way that the Lord provided, even when we think about going back to Genesis. It is not Costco, it is not Super One. At the end of the day, it is God. Amen? And that is why we part of why we ask this blessing. We are just so grateful for the way that the Lord provides for us.
Invite Others to Your Table
Acts chapter 2, verse 42–47. It says:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily who were being saved.
This is the early church, right, coming together, to be intentional, to be together, and to break bread. They’re talking about Communion, but it is also a meal, all right, having that meal together to say, “I am gonna show up.” Hey, praise the Lord, you have shown up this morning. Kudos to you, right? But what do we even do then with this moment? How do we—it’s about having fellowship. It is about being invested in each other’s lives, being vulnerable, doing life together and saying, “I care for you. I’m gonna pray for you.” And it is not just leaving here and saying, “Ah, goodbye, see you next Sunday,” and I know nothing that’s happening in your life. I know that’s a little bit of an ouch.
And that is why it is so important then to say, “Who am I doing life with? Who am I inviting to that table?” Because when I have invited you to the table, I get to share my story, I get to hear your story, and I get to share Christ with you. We can actually now do church and community together. Because, again, it is like, man, they came with joy, with sincere hearts and praising. They showed up, and they were willing to be invested in each other’s lives. I want to challenge you this morning, kind of, as we think about BLESS, right, who are you inviting to your table? And to do that. I know many of you are doing a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous job with it. Keep doing it. If you have never done it, I want to encourage you—invite people, get to know people, and don’t just invite the people that you like and that you know well, right? It’s a good thing I don’t know the guy from Costco and his address, because that would have been like, “Okay, can I invite—this is gonna be hard, but let me invite you over.” And really, that is what’s required of us. That is how we share Christ.
Benefits of Eating With Others
Interesting some research by the University of Oxford, published 16 March 2017. It says, “the results—,” so they’re talking about just how the survey has been on how people eat and the impact it has within a community:
The results suggest that communal eating increases social bonding and feelings of well-being and enhances one’s senses of contentness and embedding within the community. Researchers found that people who eat socially are more likely to feel better about themselves and have a wider social network capable of providing social and emotional support.
A third of weekday evening meals are eaten in isolation and the average adult eats 10 meals out of 21 alone every week. Busy lives and hectic work schedules are the main causes of this solitary dining trend.
More than two-thirds (69%) of those questioned had never shared a meal with any of their neighbors; 37% had never eaten with a community group; while a fifth of people said it had been more than six months since they had shared a meal with their parents.
Those over the age of 55 are most likely to eat alone. One in four in this age group said an evening meal with others wasn’t a usual occurrence.
And then another study from Harvard says:
The 7 Science-Based Benefits of Eating Together as a Family.
Eating together encourages healthier eating habits.
Eating together can help prevent mental health disorders.
Eating together can improve children’s self-esteem.
Eating together can improve communication skills.
So it was just fascinating to see that from a secular perspective—right, this is not even biblical—the impact it can have on us and our families when we actually come together and we sit and we eat together and have conversation, which is not common today anymore. And if it’s not happening, I want to encourage you make sure that you have those two/three dinner moments a week where you actually just sit and talk as a family.
Future Wedding Feast
Then if you have your Bible with you, please turn to Revelation chapter 19, because this should get us all excited. Revelation 19, verse 6:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and the bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Even as we think about end of times, there’s gonna be this moment where we get to just eat together, right, and celebrate as the bride.
A Warning
Here is my warning this morning, as we think just about food and invitation, there’s a warning for us in 1 Corinthians 11, if you want to go there. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 17. This is Paul writing to the Corinthian church as a warning. He says:
In the following directives I have no praise for you…
These are hard words.
… for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and others get drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
So then, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
So heavy words here, and just saying, “You guys think you can come to church” (the Corinthian’s church), and to say, “You’re just kind of doing life on your own. You’re dealing with all of this stuff, and then you think you can just do Communion without caring and loving for the church body.” And he continues, there’s some heavy words in the rest of that chapter, and to say when we come together, when we eat and drink bread together, man, it is to really be on a place where we say, “We love God; we love people.” Don’t do that lightly. There is some power behind it.
Serve and Share
Last week we talked about just this mission of Jesus. It’s about reaching, restoring, and to reproduce.
And so, as we finish up with BLESS, the first S there is Serve With Love. As you listen to the person you are praying for, think about ways you could help them and then do it.
And then, lastly, Share Your Story. After you have prayed, listened to, eaten with, and cared for the person whose name God laid on your heart, share your story about Jesus with them.
And so this is our call—to be a blessing. How can we do it? Very practical—again, it’s not about making people a project, but to say we’re gonna invite people, we’re gonna pray for them, we’re gonna listen to them, we’re going to invite them, we’re gonna just do life, and then we’re gonna serve them, and then we’re going to share our story as well. A lot of times, we do all of those things and we don’t share our story. Your story is important—what Christ has done in your life.
