Today, we're going to look at a biblical principle. It shows
up in different places in the Bible, expressed in different words. It shows up
in what Jesus said to the Twelve during that important dinner.
Jesus has a specific application of this principle in mind
here. What we're going to do today, though, is just look at the principle
itself and leave the specifics of the application for another time. And the
principle is not complicated. God will bless those who not only know but put
into practice what they know. Blessing flows from knowing and doing. Let's take this apart and see what it can
teach us.
We're going to start by looking at what has, sadly, become
another of those church words, 'bless'. What does it mean that God will bless
someone? It simply means that God will do some good to that person. Now, is
that what we might call a 'religious good'? That's how some understand this.
God will make you into a more religious person. And, of course, the response of
many to this is something like, 'Well, whoop-di-do. Big deal if I can do
evangelism or stay awake during my prayers or endure another sermon.' Others
think of God's blessings in terms of things like an increase in their paychecks
or not catching whatever it is that everyone else is sick with. But that's not
what's going on when God blesses. Think more in terms of things like God
changing who you are. As a result, your life makes more sense to you. You can
see your way through the fogginess that stumps so many others. Or you find that
you are beginning to really care about the people around you and doing that in
ways that you would never have even considered before. Or that nasty habit that
has plagued you for so many years seems to be in retreat. When God blesses you
are changed in important ways. Life makes more sense. God makes more sense. You
make more sense. Being blessed by God makes a difference.
Now, how does this blessing by God happen? Jesus tells us in
our text. God blesses those who, first, know some things. In the situation when
Jesus spoke these words the things to know had to do with being a servant to
others in the way Jesus had served. That would have been a new thought to the
men seated there, something they needed to know, something Jesus was teaching
them.
So, just as with those Twelve, there are things that you
need to know. And that gets us to the Bible. It's filled with things to know.
But these are not things to know so that you can be a good Christian. These are
things to know so that you can be a good person, a whole person. That's what
the Bible is about: how to become a whole, healed person among so many people
whose lives are terribly broken, whose lives just aren't working at all well.
If you would be blessed by God, if you want to receive good things from Him and
see your life changed, there are things that you need to know.
Now, this stands opposed to the too common notion that says,
'If I need God to do me good all I have to do is pray and ask Him for it. Isn't
that what the Bible says? Prayer is the only thing needed.' So, is there some
crisis that needs God's intervention? All you need to do is ask God to act. Do
you need God's guidance about some decision? Just pray. That's all that you
need to do, right? Well, Jesus would disagree. If that were true then He
wouldn't have said what He did to those men. Do you desire God's blessing?
Good. Start with this: there are things you need to know. There is a Bible
filled with things you need to know.
Now, let's go further. Let's consider what Jesus meant by
'know'. Knowing isn't just a matter of having some facts stuck away in your
brain. 'To know' means 'to learn.' Regrettably, even that doesn't make it as
clear as I would like. For so many who've been trained according to the
mentality of the academy, learning is a matter of collecting facts so you can
reproduce them when necessary. But that's not learning. To learn something is
to grasp it, to understand it, and not as an isolated bit of information but as
a part of the whole. To learn is to integrate all those facts in your
understanding. To learn something is to understand its place in life. The point
of education is supposed to be wisdom and not mere knowledge. The goal is to produce
people who understand life, not technicians who can perform required tasks to
pass a test or get a paycheck. So, real knowing is about learning. And real
learning is about gaining insight into life, wisdom. Real learning is about understanding
life the way God sees it. So, when Jesus talked about the need to know He was
not talking about filing away more information. He was talking about learning
about life.
And that becomes clear when you see the last item Jesus
mentioned. '…blessed are you if you do them.' The doing is so important. There
is no blessing without doing. And that needs to stand out. When someone comes
to see what real knowing is, he will also see that real knowing, having
actually learned something in the sense that Jesus means it, has to show in how
he lives. Doing is not an add-on to knowing. It is the inevitable result of
knowing, of real knowing. If you know about being servant, if you have learned
how that fits into life, if you've really gotten it, then that will show. You
will do it. You will serve others. And God blesses that kind of knowing, the
kind that includes doing as proof that a light has turned on and you understand
another part of how life is supposed to work.
So, there's our principle: knowing, doing, blessed. If you
watch for it you'll see it in lots of places in the Bible.
Now, I'll ask the question that I often ask at this point.
Why is this important? Why should you care about what I've just said? Take a
moment and think about the Christians you know. Some of them are doing really
well at life. And it's not a mask. You can tell. They really are doing well.
Not perfectly, but well. And then, there are other Christians who - let's be
honest, they aren't doing well. They aren't doing horribly, but they certainly
aren't flourishing. Life is tolerable, at least most of the time, but not
really more than that. Now, why is that? Here's one common answer. Some people
are in situations that are better than most. They have a better job, better
marriage, nicer kids, things like that. That's why they do better at life than
others. But that, of course, doesn't answer the question. It just pushes it
back one more step. Let's grant that their situation better than most. Why is
that? That question isn't asked enough, but if it were, too many would come up
with something very close to the idea of fate. Good stuff just happens to some
people and not to others. And that, of course, is the answer of an atheist. Is
there a God who blesses some? Does this God pass over others and not bless
them? ‘No, of course not! It's just how things happen.’ Fate.
There is a more religious variation to this. Why is it that
some Christians are doing better than others? Answer: God blesses some and
doesn't bless others. But, how does He decide whom to bless? Why this one and
not that one? And the answer here? 'Who knows? God is sovereign, and His ways
are beyond our figuring out.' That's just a religious way of talking about an
atheist's sense of fate.
Jesus disagrees with all of this. Why do some flourish and
others don't? He has told us.
If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them.
Some Christians know and do. As a result, they are blessed.
God does them good. And it shows. They are doing well. Again, just to be clear,
that doesn't mean life is easy and all is perfect. There are still issues to
face, bumps in the road, wrestling with sin and all of that. But they are
handling these well. Their faith, hope and love are evident and grow over the
years. When they falter, they repent and continue on. They are flourishing. They
are learning about life as God sees it. But there are some Christians who don't
know and don't do. So, what is the inevitable result? They aren't blessed. And
that also shows. They may smile at all the right times, but they are not doing
well. They are not growing. They are not flourishing. They are not learning
about life. Knowing, doing, blessed.
So, what happens now? Or to say that differently, now that
you’ve heard what I've told you, what are you to do so that you can be blessed?
The first thing is obvious. Believe Jesus. He's the one who brought up this
principle. Believing Him means seeing your life in terms of this 'knowing,
doing, blessed'. That's a bit of wisdom, a little insight into how life works.
Believe it.
The second thing is also obvious. You need to be working on
this knowing and doing. So, you need to know your Bible. You need to know about
life according to what God has already explained. So, believe it or not, even
the book of Leviticus, with all of its odd-sounding explanations of dated
rituals, has something to say about how life works. You may not see that the
next time you read it or hear it preached, but you still need to know what's in
that part of the Bible so that, at some point in the future, the Spirit can use
what's there to show you new things about life and how it works. So, work at
knowing what the Bible has to say about life. Read it, listen to it read and
listen to it preached, think about it, discuss it with others. Get to know your
Bible. Don't panic and don't rush. This is not a race. Get to know it at your
own pace. Quality is so much better than quantity. There are lots of people who
have their minds filled with Bible information but are still fools whom God
refuses to bless. Don't be like them. Get to know your Bible. And if I may be
so bold, the most important tool in getting to know your Bible is the weekly
sermon. And I say that because I learned it from the Bible.
Now, for the third thing. Bear in mind that knowing means
learning, real learning. The goal isn't bits of information, categorized by
topic, tucked away in your head. The goal is to learn about life, your life,
and how it's supposed to work. And as you think about that it will become very
clear that you can't make that happen. You cannot make yourself learn, not like
this, not with your limited resources. Only the Spirit can make that happen.
So, you need to pray. And what should you pray? How's this from Psalm 119:
Open my eyes, that I may see
wondrous things out of your law.
So, you read, you listen, you think, you discuss. And all
the while you pray. As you do that you can expect the Spirit to be busy. He
will point you to something in particular. He will put you in a situation, or
bring something into your life, or stimulate some thoughts. In some way or
other, He will direct your attention to something specific that He wants you to
work on. As you gather all sorts of information about lots of things, this
particular something is what He wants you to focus on. That will be what He
wants you to learn, to really learn. And He will make sure you learn it. You
will see the evidence that you are learning when you see changes in how you
live. You will see some 'doing'. Be patient. This takes time. And then, you
will realize that it's not just that God will bless as a result of your doing,
but that He has been blessing in the whole process.
I'm going to close with a question that I hope you will take
to heart. And the question is this: are you being blessed? Do you see that
happening in your life? Are you knowing more and thus doing more so that you
are seeing God blessing you more? Compare you today with the you of a few years
back. Are you dealing with life better now? Is it making more sense? Are you
understanding better who God is, who you are and what life is about? To be
sure, for all of us, there is so much more to know and do, but are you seeing
progress? If you are, then give thanks and continue to know and do so that you
can be blessed even more. If you aren't seeing progress you really should ask
yourself why.