The 4th Week of Epiphany, Year A
Title: Blessed Ones Receive God’s Promises and Reward in Heaven
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
Key Verse: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12a)
So, what is a blessing? What are the blessings in your life? Our answers vary and depend on where we put our trust, and that brings us joy. For example, if we put our trust in money or a career, it is a blessing to have money or a job. If we put our trust in friends or family, it is a blessing to have friends or family. But deep in our hearts, we know that money, jobs, friends, or family can’t always bring us joy. They can be challenging at times and give us headaches.
A friend of mine lives alone. She has three children, but they stopped visiting and caring for her because of the conflicts she had with her husband over the last 30 years. Whenever we meet or talk on the phone, she always says, “My children are my blessings.” Hearing her say that always makes me go deep in thought on all the blessings that I learned in the Bible, the well-known Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, and a few from the book of Revelation.
After putting them side by side, we see some similarities and some that we don’t mention often enough. Whatever bearable or unbearable circumstances that we are in, like experiencing poorness in spirit, submission, mourning, or yearning for righteousness, God’s promise is given through each journey. We will be fed with righteousness, shown mercy, called children of God, see God, inherit the earth, and be part of God’s kingdom. And in the end, we shall all receive the reward in Heaven.
What are the blessings in our life? There isn’t anything wrong with putting our trust in what we have, money, jobs, friends, and family. I find that it is easier to tell the blessings of our life but harder to answer if we reverse the question by asking ourselves, “Are we the blessings to what we have, the money, the job, our friends and family?” This is exactly what the beatitudes are about. If we are certain that we are the blessings to what we have, the money would be used to glorify God’s kingdom, the job would be done in honor of God, the relationships with our friends and family would be in harmony. Of course, I oversimplify what our blessings to what we have may be. But you get my point.
From this day on, let us think about how we can be blessings to everything we have in our lives and how we can remember that. Don't the scriptures mentioned that God’s protection and blessings are like clothing that we put on? A good one is Ezekiel 16:10 in the Old Testament, “I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.” And another good one is Hebrews 1:12 in the New Testament, “You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”
Knowing this, let's make a sign and hang it in our closet that says, “Put on blessedness and be a blessing to all.” Therefore, it doesn't matter what clothing we put on each day, we remember that God’s promises are with us through what we say and do. And let God do the rest after we have lived out our blessedness in any given circumstances. As Jesus' said, "The reward in heaven will be given to you." Amen.
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