Blessings

Good morning.

Sunling fai luk.

Kong hai fai choy.

So this is Chinese New Year season.

It's a season of blessings.

I think everyone in life searches for blessings,

even the little kids out there, right?

Like, after service today, you'll see it.

Here's what's going to happen.

They're going to swarm around every single married person in here

looking for these.

And they're going to come up to you and they're going to say,

Lai si, dao loi.

Because they want to be blessed,

and in their mind, getting lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of red pockets

is equal to being blessed.

And it's something that doesn't go away as we get older.

We just don't necessarily get it in Lai si.

I think every single one of us wants to be blessed in this upcoming year.

But I think the way we define blessings could be very different for some of us.

And I think for some of us, there's not necessarily a fixed standard of

this is blessing, this is not.

So I think I could come up to six different people one year from today

and ask each of them, were you blessed this past year?

And maybe one would say, yes, I made lots and lots of money.

And one would say, yes, I was absolutely blessed this past year.

I got straight A's in school.

One could say, I wasn't really blessed this year

because I didn't get that promotion at work.

And another right next to them could say, yes, I was blessed this past year

because I didn't lose my job.

One could say, no, I wasn't blessed this past year.

My boyfriend dumped me.

And then another right next to them could say, yes, I was absolutely blessed this past year.

My boyfriend dumped me.

It could happen.

And I think if we look at the Bible, it paints a very clear picture of blessing.

And this story that we just had read to us in Exodus 33 of the Israelites in the desert

gives us a very clear picture of this.

Now to give a little backstory, the Israelites 400 years previously had received a promise from God

that they would be a great nation, that they would rule over this land,

that it would be a land flowing with milk and honey, that it would be good.

And for the previous 400 years, they have been slaves in a foreign land.

Now the Bible doesn't explicitly tell us this,

but I'm sure that at some point in that 400 year time period,

people started to doubt whether God was actually going to keep his promise.

Maybe he's not strong enough to, maybe he's not reliable enough to.

You know, he made this promise, but we don't see any progress towards the fulfillment of it.

And they slaved away and slaved away.

And finally, one day, this guy Moses comes.

He performs these great feats.

And the Egyptians, the people who are keeping them as slaves,

say, get out of here.

You're trouble.

We don't want you anymore.

And finally, the Israelites are free.

They're setting off to their new land.

Hope has come.

They're ready.

They're going across the desert towards this land of milk and honey

that is soon to be theirs.

And they have a hiccup along the way.

You know, Moses, their leader, is up talking to God,

and the people build this idol, which God has just told them,

don't do that.

And God is not happy with them.

But, you know, they wake up this one morning,

and it seems to be a morning like any other.

And if you were to go up to anyone in the Israelite camp that day

and say to them,

what does it look like for you to be blessed in this upcoming year?

I think there are a handful of answers that they would give you.

One, we are going to settle in our new land.

We're going to take it over,

and we're finally going to have this promise that God gave us fulfilled.

We will be able to build houses and live in them

and not have to be living in tents as nomads anymore.

We will be able to farm our own food

and not have to eat the same thing day after day after day.

We can have variety in our diet.

That is going to be wonderful.

And God appears to them,

and he speaks to them,

and he tells them everything that they would have just listed right there,

they're going to get.

Listen to this in verses 1 and 3 of Exodus 33.

The Lord said to Moses,

Depart.

Go up from here,

you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt,

to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

saying to your offspring,

I will give it.

So he's saying,

Go up to the land that I have promised you.

I will send an angel before you,

and I will drive out all these lands.

So I'm going to give it to you.

You're going to take it over.

He says,

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey,

but I will not go up among you,

lest I consume you on the way,

for you're a stiff-necked people.

God says,

Go up.

I'm going to give you this land.

You're going to take it over.

It is a good land,

and you can have it.

But I won't be with you.

See, that little incident with building the idol,

God was not happy,

and he told them,

I'm going to keep my promise.

I'm going to give you this land,

but I'm not going with you.

And the people look at all of these blessings

that they were so excited about.

We're going to have our own land.

We're going to have our own houses.

We're going to have food to eat

that's not just bread day after day after day.

And when they see this promise

in light of the fact that God's not going to be with them,

they don't rejoice.

They don't celebrate.

They go into a time of mourning.

Because the nation of Israel realizes

that all the blessings that God can give to them

mean nothing

if it's not accompanied by God himself.

The nation of Israel realizes

that the presence of God among them

is the greatest blessing.

And that in comparison to that,

everything else falls so miserably short

that if you can have it all without God's presence,

it's not a cause for celebration.

It's a cause for mourning.

So Moses goes up to God,

and he begs God,

God,

please,

we are your people.

Don't abandon us.

Come with us.

And God says,

all right,

I will go with you.

He gives them this wish.

God doesn't come to Moses and say,

Moses,

you have your priorities all wrong.

You need all these other things.

You don't really need me.

God's like,

yeah,

Moses,

you got it right.

You need me.

But I think this story

gives us an interesting perspective

from the Bible

that everything they could want,

everything they dreamt of,

when it was held out in front of them

and they were told you can have it,

but God's not going to be with it.

They abandon it.

They give it up

because the presence of God in their lives

is the greatest blessing.

You know,

it's a simple concept,

but super,

super deep.

It's simple enough

that even a child can understand it.

I was talking to a very proud father

from Watermark a week ago.

He was telling me a story

about his children.

A couple months ago,

the kids transitioned Sunday school classes

up to the next grade

and his daughter was moving

from stream class to river class,

which means she's very young.

And she was scared.

She was nervous

because all she's ever known

is stream class.

And what's going to happen in river class?

I don't know.

Are the people going to like me there?

Is it going to be fun there?

Are they going to be mean to me there?

And as the kids were dismissed

going out into the hallway,

she stopped in the middle of the hall

and started crying

and said,

Mommy,

I don't want to go to river class.

And her older brother,

that same exact day,

was moving out of river class

into Rapids class,

which meant that he wouldn't be

in class with her.

And he sees his sister crying.

He comes up to her

and he puts his arm around her

and he says,

It's going to be okay.

You're going to love river class.

They play fun games

and tell us Bible stories

and the teachers are really cool

and they teach us about God.

And God will be with you.

And today I'm going to a new class

and God's going to be with me too.

And the little girl

looked up at her mom

and she said,

Will God really be with me?

And the mom said,

Yes.

And the daughter had the courage

all of a sudden

to go to this new class

and she loved it.

And I know that's sort of a silly story

about this little girl

who had this fear

that seemed sort of irrational

to all of us.

But when we think about it

on the grand scheme of things,

the things that were scaring her there

are the exact same things

that we get worried about.

Fear of the unknown

for us or people that we love.

Fear of stepping out

from places where we're comfortable

to places where we don't know

what's going to happen.

Fear of what does the future hold

because we can't tell.

It's the same exact issues

that we face

that this little girl is facing.

And it's the same exact solution

of God's presence

that is ultimately what we need.

And I know sometimes

it can be sort of nerve-wracking

when we hear this.

You know,

I need God's presence

but do I have God's presence?

And if we're Christians,

the Bible promises us

that we do.

The Bible says

that Jesus was born as a baby.

They called his name Emmanuel

which means God with us.

Jesus came to earth

to be God with us.

He grew up

and he was killed

for you and for me

to give us

this relationship with God

that we need.

and then he rose again

and the Bible says

that he met with his followers

before going back up to heaven

and he gave them

this one last piece of teaching

and the very last thing

that he said to them.

He could have told them anything.

The one last thing

that he wanted them to remember

more than anything else.

You know what he said?

He said,

I will be with you always.

I'm not leaving you.

I'm not abandoning you.

I am with you.

You are my people.

I am with you.

He could have told them,

I'm going to make you

super rich and powerful.

That is the blessing you need.

He could have told them,

I am going to keep you very safe

because that is the blessing you need.

But he doesn't say that.

He says,

I'm going to be with you.

And everything else that happens,

everything else that could go wrong,

it's going to be okay

because I am with you.

And if we're here today

and we're not Christians,

this fact that God's presence

is the biggest blessing

can be good news for us

or bad news for us.

Good news

because he says

anyone who believes in him

can be saved.

Anyone who trusts in him

can become one of his people

and he will be with us.

But bad news

because if we refuse

to trust in him,

there's no amount of effort

we can put in,

no amount of trying

that we can manufacture

that will give us this blessing

through our efforts.

You know,

the Bible again and again

and again and again

talks about how God's presence

in our lives

is the greatest blessing

and we don't have time

to go into all of these

different places today.

but if you look through

your Bible,

if you read it,

you'll see again

and again and again

that God's presence

in our lives

is the greatest blessing.

And as we close today,

I want to leave us

with a little diagnostic

for our hearts

to see,

you know,

is God truly

our greatest blessing?

is that how we see

the world?

And here's the question.

If God were to appear

to you today

and say to you,

in this next year,

I will give you

a billion U.S. dollars

but I won't be with you.

Would you see that

as a blessing?

Would you jump

at that opportunity

and say,

yes,

let's go for it?

How about this?

If God were to appear

to you today

and he said,

in this next year,

you're going to lose

your job.

Also,

you're going to get

severely sick.

You're going to struggle

to make ends meet.

It's going to be difficult.

There's going to be

some long,

sleepless nights.

It's going to be tough

to feed your family.

You'll have to really

downsize your style

of living.

But through it all,

I will be with you.

Would we take that

over the billion dollars

without God?

And I know

it's not that simple.

I know God's not

appearing to us today,

throwing that option

in front of us

and saying,

once for all,

you make this decision,

let's go for it.

Because really,

life doesn't happen

in those huge moments

like that most of the time.

Most of the time,

it happens in thousands

of small decisions

throughout the course

of the day,

every single day.

Thousands of small decisions

where we get to make

the choice,

God,

do I truly value

your presence

more than anything

else in my life?

And it's not just

something that we do today,

it's something we do

tomorrow and the day

after and the day

after,

where we choose

again and again

and again,

do I truly value

God's presence

as the greatest treasure

in my life

more than anything else?

Let's pray.

Father,

we thank you

for your presence.

We thank you

that you are

the greatest blessing

that we need.

We pray that

in this coming year

that we would be aware

of how amazing

of a blessing that is.

That like the Israelites,

if we have the opportunity

for all the wealth

and all the treasures

that we can imagine

without you,

that we would say

your presence is greater.

you are the greater blessing.

God,

please help us

to be aware of this.

Help us to make choices

every day

in light of this fact.

Thank you

that you love us

and are with us.

In Jesus' name,

amen.