27 August 2017
I. Introduction
-- turn
in Bibles to Mark 10:13-16
Mark 10:13-16 [New
International Version (NIV)]
13 People were
bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the
disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to
them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the
kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will
not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And
he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
-- one
day, a group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell
into a deep pit -- All the other frogs gathered around the pit, and looked down
at their two friends -- when they saw how deep the pit was and how steep the
sides were, they lost all hope -- they told the two fallen frogs that they were
as good as dead
-- The
two frogs in the pit didn’t listen to their friends and jumped with all their
might, trying to leap up out of the pit -- the other frogs kept telling them to
stop wasting their energy -- that it was hopeless and they were as good as dead
-- finally, one of the fallen frogs took heed to what they were saying and gave
up -- He lay down exhausted and died.
-- The other frog continued to
jump as hard as he could -- once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to
stop the pain and just die -- but the frog in the pit just jumped harder and
harder and, lo and behold, he finally made it out
-- when
he got out, the other frogs said, "Didn’t you hear us? -- Why didn’t you
give up like the other frog?” -- the frog who made it out of the pit explained
to them that he was deaf -- he thought they were encouraging him the entire
time he was struggling to get out
-- This story teaches us a
lesson that we need to understand put into practice in our lives today:
-- There is power of life and
death in the tongue -- Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life
and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit”
-- what
we say to ourselves and to others makes a difference in what we do -- An
encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it
through the day -- on the other hand, a destructive word to someone who is down
can be what it takes to kill them.
-- Be
careful of what you say, both to others and yourself -- we need to take care to
speak life and not death to those who cross our paths every day1
--
tonight, I want us to talk about the power of the tongue -- the power of words
-- and, especially, the power of speaking blessings into the lives of those
around us
-- in
our day, we take the concept of blessings and curses lightly -- if someone
sneezes, we flippantly say, “Bless you,” without even thinking -- the idea of
blessing someone has just become common-place and is considered just empty
words without true power or meaning -- but the Bible says otherwise
-- if
you look back at the Book of Genesis, when God created the heavens and the
earth -- the plants and the animals and Adam and Eve -- He looked at what He
had created and He saw that it was good and He blessed it
-- to
bless something is to speak life into it -- to speak goodness and holiness into
it -- when God blessed Adam and Eve, He was speaking meaning and purpose and
goodness into their lives -- and His word brought that blessing to life
-- that
is why the blessing of the father to his children was such an important ritual
in biblical times -- as the father spoke blessings into the life of his
children -- as he proclaimed God’s goodness and righteousness and providential
blessings into their lives, his words formed new life and a new reality through
the blessing -- that is why it was such a big deal when Jacob stole the
blessing of the firstborn from Esau -- because words had power and the blessing
of the father onto his sons carried with it the future
-- it
was because of the power of the blessing that Jacob, when he was wrestling with
God before his reunion with Esau, wouldn’t let God go until God blessed him --
blessings, and words, were powerful in the Bible
-- even
in our day, words matter -- the old adage, “sticks and stones may break my
bones, but words can never hurt me” is not true -- harsh and negative words can
wound deeply and affect the future course of a person’s life -- in the same
way, encouraging words can lift up the broken-hearted and inspire others to
greatness
-- let
me give you an example of what I’m talking about from Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy’s
book, “In a Heartbeat,”
-- There
is a little-known congressional program that awards internships to young people
who have aged out of the foster care system -- these are the kids who were
never adopted and have turned 18 and are no longer eligible for state support.
-- A
senator the Tuohys met hired one of these young men as an intern -- one morning
the senator breezed in for a meeting and discovered that his intern was already
in the office, reorganizing the entire mailroom. The senator said to the intern,
"This is amazing—the mailroom has never looked so clean. You did a great
job."
-- A few
minutes later the senator saw that the intern had tears streaming down his
face. -- [He] said, "Son, are you
okay?" -- "Yes," the intern answered quietly. -- "Did I say
something to offend you?" -- "No, sir." -- "Well, what's
wrong?"
-- The
young man said, "That's the first time in my life anyone's told me that I
did something good."
-- "A
little bit of attention and a kind word—that's how little it takes to affect
someone's life for the better."2
-- we
need to realize this truth, and be careful of the words we speak to those
around us -- we need to speak words of encouragement and blessing -- and we
need to realize that when we bless others, it isn’t just meaningless, empty
words, but a prayer for God’s grace and mercy and power to be made manifest in
their lives -- by blessing others, we are asking that they would come to know
the providential grace of God and that they would experience His presence in
the manifold spiritual and material blessings they enjoy
--
blessings still have meaning and power in our day, and we need to remember and
reclaim the power that is inherent in this spoken word
II. Scripture Lesson (Mark 10:13-16)
-- we
see an example of that truth in this passage from the Book of Mark, where the
little children have been brought to Jesus for Him to bless them -- let’s look
at this passage together now
-- verse
13
13 People were
bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the
disciples rebuked them.
-- Mark
tells us that people were bringing little children to Jesus so that He might
touch them and bless them -- I don’t think we need to just pass over what Mark
is telling us here -- when we bless someone -- when we are speaking into their
lives -- we are doing the same thing the people were doing in this passage --
we are bringing others to Jesus
-- “A
spoken blessing is a positive, Biblical statement that invokes the
blessing of God in the life of another -- A spoken blessing does good
to those who hear it”3 because you are bringing them before the
throne of God and into the very presence of Jesus -- in a way, blessing others
is a means of interceding for them -- of standing up for them before God
Himself
-- so that’s
what we are seeing in this passage -- the people were bringing these children to
Jesus so He could touch them and bless them
-- John
MacArthur points out that the parents in this passage were seeking a blessing
that was a form of prayer -- a prayer “that God would pour out on this life all
the goodness that would lead that child to become famous in the Law, faithful
in marriage and do good works”
-- but
Mark tells us the disciples rebuked them -- we don’t know why the disciples
tried to turn the people aside -- we do know that at this point, Jesus is
headed to Jerusalem for the final time -- the cross is before Him -- and His
ministry has taken an almost frantic pace as He sets His face towards Jerusalem
-- perhaps the disciples sensed this urgency and were trying to keep Jesus from
being delayed -- perhaps they were just worried about Jesus -- but, as Jesus
shows in this passage, nothing could be more appropriate than letting the
children and the people come before Him
-- verse
14-15
14 When Jesus saw
this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little
child will never enter it.”
-- Jesus became indignant -- this means that He was angry
or annoyed at the unfair treatment of these children -- no one should be kept
from Jesus -- no one should be kept from the gospel or from the grace of God or
from the blessing of the Creator
-- so
Jesus turns the rebuke around on the disciples and tells them to let the little
children come to Him -- He sees their hearts -- He sees their innocence --
their whole-hearted faith in Him -- their unadulterated belief and trust in
Jesus
-- this,
Jesus says, is the attitude that leads to the Kingdom of God -- and if you
don’t let them come -- and if you don’t come like them yourselves -- then you
will never enter it
-- He
tells them to come and invites them, not only into His presence, but into His
lap -- into His arms -- into His heart
-- verse
16
16 And he took the
children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
-- Jesus
took the children into His arms and put His hands on them and blessed them by
pronouncing God’s goodness and grace into their lives
-- The
word “bless” in this passage actually means to eulogize -- to speak well of or
to speak good things of -- as Jeff
Schreve said, “When Jesus was blessing these children, he was speaking good
things into their life about who they were and what they were going to do” --
and their lives would never be the same again
-- one
thing to note here is that Jesus laid His hands on the head of each child --
this was not a general blessing or benediction, but a personal blessing for
each child, much as a father would have blessed their first-born or as the
Rabbi would bless children brought before them
-- this
tells us that each child was important and each blessing was individualized for
them -- that was a personal blessing and a personal time of intimacy with the
Savior -- it reminds us that our faith and our salvation come through a
personal relationship with Jesus -- we are not saved because we go to church --
we are not saved because we claim the name of Christ -- we are saved because we
have personally come before the Savior and He has blessed us with salvation and
forgiveness through His body and blood
-- just
think about what is going on here -- even though He was headed for the cross,
Jesus thought enough of the power of the spoken word and blessings to stop and
lay His hands on each of these children and bless their future
-- we
should do the same -- we should become more aware of what we are saying and the
impact of our words on those around us -- we should learn to speak life, not
death -- to speak blessings that inspire and empower others rather than
negative words that bring people down
-- Keith Miller, in his book Passionate People,
which he co-authored with Bruce Larson, describes two kinds of people --
"basement people" and "balcony people."
--
"Basement people" are the discouragers in our lives -- They may be people
from our past, or present, but their words go with us everywhere we go -- They
are the negative influences in our lives and their words go something like
this: "You can't do that." -- "That's a stupid thing to
do." -- "When are you going to get it right?"
--
Basement people divert us from our hopes and dreams -- they constantly point
out what is wrong, rather than what is right with us -- Basement people cause a
room to light up when they leave.
-- In
contrast to them are the "Balcony People." -- They are people who are
full of love and cheer us on. -- they
encourage us to be loving, courageous followers of Christ. -- They sit in the
balcony of our lives like a heavenly cheering section, saying, "You can do
it." -- "We believe in you." -- "You are special to
us." -- Balcony people are the great encouragers in our lives and we all
need them! -- balcony people bless us and inspire us and speak great things
into our lives
--
Balcony people try to lift people up to where they are, but basement people try
to drag people down where they are4
-- this
passage encourages us to follow Jesus’ example and strive to become balcony
people -- we should actively bless those around us by encouraging one another
and applauding baby steps of faith to spur people on to greater things in
Christ -- we need to speak God’s blessings and empowerment into the lives of
those around us
--
people need encouragement -- they need someone who can bring out the best in
them -- right now we're in the middle of college football season -- think about
the job of a coach -- what is it the coach does? -- he looks at the gifts and
talents of his players -- he looks at what they are doing -- and then he
challenges them and encourages them to reach out and do even more -- this is
what we are called to do as Christians
-- too
many Christians are negative -- we don't like the music -- we didn't like the
preaching -- we don't like the way that person sings or dresses or whatever --
we speak negativity into their lives
-- but
our calling is to be people who bless others -- to speak life and love and
purpose into the lives of others, especially as we see the Day -- the end of
the age -- approaching
--
people want to know they are loved and appreciated -- and that is our job as Christians
and as the church
-- it
all begins with us -- we must hear the call of God in our lives -- we must know
God and we must show God to others -- we must care for the poor and the
helpless -- we must speak life and hope to the hopeless -- we must stand up for
those without a voice in our communities
III. Closing
-- so,
how do we begin? -- let’s turn over to
Numbers 6:22-27, and we’ll answer that question
-- while
you are turning over there, let me share with you this thought from Tracy
Keck: “All day -- every day -- we have
the chance to speak words that bring life or death -- Whether we are talking to
our families -- [our] peers -- [our] co-workers -- strangers -- or even
ourselves -- the words we use will either tear down or build up.
--
“everything we say either leads to life or to death -- if we choose to speak in
a manner that is harsh, hurtful, condemning, gossipy, dishonest, or deceitful,
we are then choosing death.
-- “But,
if we choose to speak words that are encouraging, peaceful, healing, kind,
lovely, and uplifting, then we are choosing life.” 5
-- we
need to become people who speak life -- who speak blessings on those around us
-- read with me this passage from Numbers 6:22-27
Numbers 6:22-27 [New
International Version (NIV)]
22 The Lord said
to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the
Israelites. Say to them:
24
“‘“The Lord bless
you
and keep you;
25
the Lord make his
face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26
the Lord turn his
face toward you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they will
put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
-- this
is known as the priestly blessing -- this blessing was given by God to Moses
for Aaron and the other priests to recite as a blessing for the nation of
Israel
-- if
you don’t know anything else to say, then use this blessing as a guide for
those whose lives you are speaking into -- pray this blessing on them
-- ask that
the Lord would keep them -- that the Lord would make His face shine upon them
-- that He would be gracious to them -- that they would know the grace and
mercy of the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf -- and that the
Lord would turn His face towards them, and give them peace with Him and with
others
-- we’re going to close now,
and I want to leave you with this challenge -- this week, pay attention to the
words you use when you speak to others -- think before you speak, and make an
effort to only speak positive and affirming things into the lives of those
around you
-- look
for opportunities to bless others -- to verbally speak into their lives the
power and presence of God -- to speak to their future and to who God wants them
to be -- and see if you notice a change
-- make
an effort to be a balcony person this week and bless others with your words
-- let’s
pray
2 Men of Integrity, "How
Little It Takes," (November/December 2010)
4 From a sermon by David Owens, Encourage One Another,
11/3/2009 -- Illustration downloaded from Sermon Central: http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/scripture/illustrations-on-hebrews-10+23-25.asp
