"Have A Believer’s Eye For Blessings”

The prophet Elisha was a wanted man. The king of Aram (a nation to the northeast of the Holy Land) was at war with Israel. Aram is also called Syria and it was pretty much in the same area as modern-day Syria. But Elisha was frustrating all of his battle plans. Through God’s power Elisha was allowed to know anything the King of Aram planned. Even what he planned in secret. Time and again Elisha tipped off the king of Israel concerning the plans that the king of Aram was making. This enraged the king of Aram! But one day he thought he had Elisha trapped inside a city called Dothan (not the one in Alabama.) Under the cover of night he sent horses and chariots and a strong force to surround the city. The Prophet Elisha and his servant got up and went out early the next morning. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” We can imagine the servant looking around. He counts himself and Elisha. “Okay there are two of us and thousands of them. What am I not seeing?” Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes. He looked and saw the hills around the city full of horses and chariots of fire—God’s angel army!

Have you ever felt like Elisha’s servant? You look at a situation in your life and things seem desperate. It looks like God has abandoned you and is far from helping you. I don’t know what you have been through, or what you are going through, or what you will go through in the future. We know that life in a sinful world will always have trials and troubles. And for those of us who follow Jesus we may experience additional grief as those who oppose God attack us. We need God to open our eyes to see his powerful protection and his tender care. Again and again we must ask God to help us to see how he is working everything out for our eternal good.

With that thought in mind brothers and sisters in the faith let’s direct our attention to our Gospel Lesson for today. As we hear our Savior say that those who are poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted are blessed we need him to open our eyes to see how that can be so. Let’s make this our goal for our sermon together. Let’s ask Jesus to enable us to:

“HAVE A BELIEVER’S EYE FOR BLESSINGS”

1. We are spiritually poor, yet very rich (vv. 20, 24)

2. We are spiritually hungry, yet very satisfied (vv. 21, 25)

3. We are weeping spiritually, yet full of laughter (vv. 21, 25)

4. We are persecuted, yet greatly rewarded (vv. 22, 23, 26)

Although I routinely give you some background and context for every sermon text, the background is super important in this lesson. List again to how Luke’s Gospel sets the stage for Jesus’ astounding words. “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.” Let me ask you a question. Why does it seem that the majority of those people came to Jesus that day. For the most part life wasn’t easy for them! Some were searching for meaning in life. But it sounds like many were suffering from diseases and were struggling with evil spirits. Perhaps even demon possession! Do you see how that context helps to explain what Jesus said? Desperate people with desperate needs—both spiritual and physical—have flocked to Jesus. Of them southerners might say of them with pity, “Well, bless their hearts.” But all of them have listened to Jesus’ teaching about God’s Kingdom. Dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds of people, are reaching out to touch Jesus. Power is coming from Jesus healing each and every one of them. The point that the context makes for us is that those in the greatest need are often the ones blessed abundantly by Jesus. Understanding that helps us adjust the way we look at things in our own lives. Afflictions. Problems. Challenges. Sickness and diseases. If those things bring us closer to our Savior, they are blessings.

1.

The first blessing for our believer’s eyes to see is seeing what is truly valuable. Our Gospel Lesson went on to tell us, “Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” And then a few verses later Jesus gave the corresponding perspective. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” There’s much to unpack in these verses.