Loading...Have you ever thought of yourself as God’s gift to the world. Now you might say Who? Me? Well I believe that I am God’s gift to the world.
But if you think that sounds arrogant and that my ego is a bit too big let me quickly add that I believe that each of you are God’s gift to the world also. We are each one-of-a-kind Masterpieces
Henri Nouwen, in his book The Life of the Beloved , speaks of four words that he believes are central to the spiritual lives of Christians. His four words are taken, blessed, broken and given. You probably recognize those words as we hear them every time we celebrate the Eucharist “our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples”.
Nouwen said to be taken, to be blessed, to be broken, and to be given is a summary of the life of Jesus who was taken, blessed by God, broken on the cross, and given to the world. It is also a summary of our lives, because like Jesus, we are chosen and blessed by God. We are broken and have been given as gifts to the world.
Let’s take a closer look at these four words
Christ took the bread. We are taken by God. That means we are chosen and are precious in God’s eyes. Chosen by God and selected for a unique role to play in God's Kingdom. And when we recognize that we have been chosen, we also recognize that all people are chosen by God .
That’s sometimes hard for us to believe that we have been chosen when we feel not wanted or not loved. Sometimes its hard to believe that God loves us. But Jesus says, “You did not choose me but I chose you.”
He took the bread and blessed it. We are blessed by God. The word blessing is similar to the word benediction. At the end of each service we say a benediction. If we break the word down, dictio means speaking, and bene means well. So a blessing is as simple as speaking well of someone. Jesus commanded us to love one another. A blessing is a way to love one another. We are called to claim our own blessing and to bless others as we live each day. Christ knew the blessing of God, his Father. At his baptism in the Jordan River God said “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Who doesn’t long to hear those words?
We all want blessing, we all want others to speak well of us. We all need to know that we are good, to know that we belong, to know we are loved. When we receive blessing, we know we are loved. When we are not in touch with our blessedness, then we cannot bless or speak well of other people. People need blessing not criticism or judgment they need someone to speak well of them to bless them. It is more than complimenting someone’s hair or their success at work. A true blessing acknowledges that they too were chosen and created in God’s image.
Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it. We are all broken people. We are broken in so many ways, in our bodies and in our hearts, in our homes and in our world. Broken is how we describe or understand the chaos of this world and the messiness of life around us. Each of us suffers in a way that no other human being suffers. It is unique to us, and the more we run from it the more it raises its ugly head in awful ways.
A lot of our brokenness has to do with our relationships, especially with those whom we are closest, with our spouse or partner, with our mother or father or siblings, with our children or friends. Wherever there is love, there is also pain. Wherever there are people who really care for us, there is also the pain of sometimes not being understood or cared for enough.
We might feel like your brokenness is a sign that we are cursed, but as Nouwen says, when we listen to the voice that calls us “beloved” it becomes possible to see our brokenness as an opportunity to grow and learn and to deepen the blessing that God has given us. In other words, as we begin to allow the blessing to touch our brokenness we realize that what was once intolerable is now a challenge, what was once rejection becomes a way to deeper communion, and what seemed like punishment is simply a gentle pruning.
Christ took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples. We are given. If we truly know and live our lives as people who are chosen by God, blessed, and broken, then we can give of ourselves. Jesus said “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit”. When we bear fruit we are helping others bear fruit. Each of our lives is a gift to those close to us: family, friends, those we serve, as well as to people we will never know. God has given us—each one of us—as a sacred gift to the world.
When we talk about giving in our churches, it is usually in the context of the giving money or filling a needed ministry. These are important ministries but just as important is the giving of our presence, dropping everything and sitting with an ill or grieving friend, listening when someone just needs to talk or a lending shoulder to cry on, writing a note to someone who needs a kind word, not just delivering a meal but breaking bread together or simply offering a smile. Nouwen says, “When I ask myself, ‘Who helps me the most?’ I must answer, ‘The one who is willing to share his or her life with me.’”
Chosen, blessed, broken and given. We see this cycle all around us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus chooses 70 people to go into the world to tell of the Good News of God’s Kingdom. Notice that he didn’t just send out his 12 disciples but the use of the number 70 is Bible code for everyone. God chooses all of us not just the original 12 to do the work of God. Jesus blessed them and instructed them on how to go about their mission. He then gave them to the broken to world to teach the Good News of God’s Kingdom.
Whit is not with us today because she was chosen by the Red Cross. She received their blessing, and instructions and than they gave her to the broken people in West Virginia to help them as they struggle to cope with the devastation left by the floods.
As God’s beloved, you have been chosen, blessed, broken, and given as gifts to the world. Just like the bread that Jesus shared with his friends. Just like the 70 given to the world to spread the Good News and just like Whit who has been given to the people in West Virginia. You are God’s gift to the world.
I am reminded of Teresa of Avila’s 16th century prayer:
“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
With compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.”
Let us now take a few minutes in silent reflection, to consider how you have been taken, blessed, broken, and given. How is the world changed or benefitted by God’s gift to world, you.
