BLESSED—2: Blessed To Be A Blessing
The link to the Audio Sermon: 119750475
Link to the video “Doctors Street Medicine” ?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea.1
Introduction
This is the Thanksgiving season and we always at my house talk about what are we thankful for. If I were to go around and ask each one of you to name one thing that you are thankful for, we would likely hear answers like this.
I am thankful for…
My new car…
My new house…
My new job…
My new pay raise…
My health…
To live in a free Country…
For my awesome family that God has blessed me with…
All of these things are great, they truly are great blessings. BUT…
I want to talk to you about a very real blessing that is from God but people don’t often recognize this as a blessing.
What is it that just gets you fired up, that makes you lose sleep at night, which causes you to take action to make a difference?
What is it that bothers you deeply?
Whatever you just named in your heart, God has blessed you with a BURDEN.
God has given you burden that reflects His heart, His nature, His character.
GOD HAS BLESSED YOU WITH A BURDEN
IDENTIFY YOUR DIVINE BURDEN
WHAT BREAKS YOUR HEART?
The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4
Martin Luther King was broken hearted by racism.
Mother Teresa was broken hearted by people no one loved.
Maybe you’re bothered by hunger in the world?
Maybe you’re bothered by the fact of so many homeless people?
Maybe you are bothered by the children in the world that need a home.? More than 100,000 children awaiting adoption just in America today.
WHAT MAKES YOU ANGRY?
(Moses) saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Exodus 2:11-12
(for the record I’m not saying that you should snap and kill somebody, I’m simply showing you that Moses had a burden for his people.)
What is it that makes you ANGRY?
I’m not talking about the person in the 20 items or less line who has 22 items. I’m not talking about pet peeves, I’m talking about a “Righteous Anger.” I’m talking about something that is an injustice, something that is morally wrong and it just makes you angry.
What is it that you just can’t stand and it makes you angry? Child abuse, those addicted to drugs and alcohol, the elderly who are ignored, unwed moms trying to raise children on their own, grandparents who are raising their grandkids because the parents wont or can’t.
Mother Teresa said when she saw the people in Ethiopia. “I just can’t help it when I see waste, I get angry.” “I don’t approve of myself getting angry but someone has to do something.”
WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT THAT OTHERS DON’T?
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
1 Samuel 17:26
Do you ask yourself, why am I the only person who seems to be concerned about this?
It’s because God has blessed you with the burden.
I’M BURDENED BY _____________________________.
WRONG WAYS TO APPROACH YOUR BURDEN
COMPLAIN ABOUT IT.
(Why doesn’t someone do something about this?)
IGNORE IT.
(I don’t want to hear about this, I don’t want to watch that show, I just have to stay away from it.)
APPEASE IT. (This person sees a need takes out their wallet, gives 5 or 10 dollars and says, “There I’ve done my part,
THE RIGHT WAYS TO EMBRACE YOUR BURDEN
1) LET YOUR BURDEN RUIN YOU. (Just let it mess you up)
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5
Read about it, learn all that you can about it, find out who is making a difference about it and learn from them. Just let it mess you up.
2) LET YOUR BURDEN MOVE YOU TO ACTION.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
Stop waiting for someone else to do something, you do it!
Stop complaining about whatever it is, Do Something!
Stop Ignoring whatever your burden is and Do Something!
Stop appeasing yourself by sending a few dollars, Do Something!
My Divine Burden Is…__________________________
Benedictine Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
May God bless you with a BURDEN to do something.
AMEN