By the Rev. Robert C. Blezard
RCL Reflection for Proper 10, Year B
July 14, 2024
Key verse: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. -Ephesians 1:3
North American culture presents us with a paradox when it comes to riches, happiness and gratitude. Common sense would tell us that more wealth would bring us more happiness and gratitude. Yet even in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we are not generally happy.
The World Happiness Report for 2024 showed the United States dropping out of the top 20 for the first time, landing at No. 23, CNN reports. I’m not a sociologist, but I think the reason is that our consumer culture invites us to be unhappy. We are barraged with advertisements whose underlying message is, “How DARE you be happy with what you have, when there are people wealthier than you? Don’t you want what they want?” And, so, happiness is always just one purchase away.
This, of course, is antithetical to the Bible’s view of wealth – that we should be content when our basic needs are met, thankful to God for all we have, and grateful for blessings that exceed our basic needs. The Bible also stresses that God’s most valuable blessings are not recorded on balance sheets and real-estate appraisals, but rather on the ledgers of our hearts and souls.
With that in mind, this week’s lections from the Psalms and the Epistles give a preacher much biblical thread to weave into a sermon that helps counter our culture’s lies about wealth and happiness. A preacher can talk about true wealth and its sources, and, thus, the source of a Christian’s true happiness and contentment.
This week’s selection from Psalm 85 declares the spiritual blessings that God will rain down on God’s faithful “who turn to him in his heart” (v. 5). The lection’s five short verses enumerate the blessings: Peace, salvation, God’s glory, love, faithfulness, righteousness, faithfulness. Wow! That’s a boatload of blessings, and I bet every Christian and every faithful community craves these things.
And notice that not one of the blessings involves money or wealth. In summing things up nicely, v. 12 does allude to prosperity – “The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase”– but the agricultural image implies stability and sufficiency, not exorbitant wealth. Moreover, we can glean from the image that “our land” refers metaphorically to all the growing fields of our lives: Relationships,
From the very first verse of the lection from Ephesians, Paul depicts the cascade of blessings that flow from God. Again, these are all blessings that flow not into our bank accounts, but into our hearts, minds, spirit, relationships and lives. God holds nothing back, blessing us “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (v. 3).
God has adopted us (v. 5), bestowed us with grace (v. 6), lavished upon us redemption and forgiveness (v. 7), made known the mystery of God’s will (v. 9), given us an inheritance (v. 11), marked us with the Holy Spirit (v. 13).
Again, Wow! With the spiritual blessings promised in the Psalm and the Ephesians readings, what reason have we to be wanting for money beyond our immediate needs? Why, then, are people who have stable, comfortable or wealthy finances unhappy?
The last phrase of Psalm 85:3 gives us the answer: God’s blessings are heard by people “who turn to Him in their hearts.” It’s not an economic problem that keeps North Americans unhappy, but rather a heart problem. The fact is, our hearts are most often turned towards our money, our status, our possessions, our upward mobility.
The solution is repentance – a change of orientation. Through prayer, Scripture study, worship, service and meditation, God gives us with awareness of our attitudes, values and priorities that keep us from appreciating the mighty flow of blessings into our heart. And we grow, day by day, week by week, year by year, into people who rejoice in the spiritual gifts God freely gives us.
In Worship
Invite your congregants to create a “blessing board.” Begin by distributing an index card to everyone before worship (they could be inserted into bulletins). Close your sermon by asking worshipers to write down their top two or three blessings. They could place the index cards in the plate during the offering. For the following Sunday, display them in a prominent place, such as a Narthex wall or bulletin board. Invite congregants to review the blessings and pray over them.
Alternatively, create a “blessing wall” by taping a length of sturdy roll paper to a prominent wall. Provide markers or crayons and invite congregants to write down their blessings. On a special Sunday, bring the paper into the sanctuary and have a dedication of blessings.
With youth
Most youth are at a stage where they desire things of the world – popularity, status, good grades, looks, money, a nice car, etc. This is natural and expected for where they are in life. Wisdom, maturity and life experience will surely catch up to them in time. But for now, invite youth to talk about what they want most in life. You could ask them to write their ideas down on index cards, or just have a verbal discussion.
Compare their answers to the blessings listed in the reading from Psalm 85 and Ephesians 1. Without passing judgment, just ask them to think about the difference. Discuss.
With children
For a time with children, assemble a bag (preferably paper) of apples and a basket. Tell them you are going to put together a “basket of blessings,” with each apple you put into the basket representing a blessing that God promises us in today’s Scripture lessons. One by one, take an apple out of the basket and explain these blessings: Peace, salvation, God’s glory, love, righteousness, faithfulness, grace, redemption, forgiveness, knowledge of God, an inheritance and the Holy Spirit. Talk about this “basket” of spiritual blessings and end with prayer. Then give every child an apple (making sure in advance you have enough for all).
Previous reflections for Proper 10B:
2018 – The high cost of truth-telling
2012 – At what cost?
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