Blessings of the Second Violin Sermon

We were to be a BLESSING to others, and through us, for ALL PEOPLES to bless themselves. But we are a culture who has forgotten how to offer blessings.
When is the last time you blessed someone?
We Blast them, we curse others, we compete with one another, we perform for them, we are indebted, but BLESSING? We have forgotten how, and even why.

When someone sneezes, by rote we respond Gersuhundheit = God bless you, a more involuntary response than the sneeze itself, without realizing what we have done. When we BLESS OTHERS, or pronounce BLESSED ARE YOU, we are consciously taking responsibility for that other person's life before God. We are accustomed to living “VICARIOUSLY” through others, but to intentionally live our lives to make another's life better, that they would contnue what you have done, in their own way, this is a blessing.

Throughout recent years there has been a controversy, about not offering prayers of invocation. For several decades, at Graduation Commencements, Building Dedications, Conventions, Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquets, Anniversaries and Birthday Parties, there was an innocuous prayer thanking everyone for coming and asking God, if there is a God to be present. But in the early 1980s someone objected and we no longer do so. Tragically, they objected for the wrong reason. The objection rightly could have been, that a BLESSING must be personal, a vow of commitment, of giving your name to this other, standing before all the world declaring this OTHER as having VALUE, having done you a great honor, having made your life worth living.

How awesome, if at an ENGAGEMENT, or WEDDING a parent would offer blessing, instead of muttering “How much is this going to cost?” or repeating on cue “Her Mother and I DO”. Rather than jokes or weeping, to give yourself to them, come what may.
If at a Birth, or BIRTHDAY, rather than focusing upon past accomplishments or embarrassing moments, we could name our love and our commitment to their future.

PAUL HARVEY SAID IT BEST, when he tried to describe that
In Our effort to Make Life Better for our Kids, we often made things worse,
so for my Grandchildren
I would really like for them to know hand-me-down clothes,
and homemade icecream,
and leftover meatloaf sandwiches.
I hope they learn humility by facing humiliation,
and learn honesty by having been cheated.
I hope they learn to make their bed,
to shovel the drive and mow the lawn.
I really hope no one gives them a car at 16.
It would be important to see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.
I hope you get a black eye, fighting for what you believe in.
I hope you have to share a bedroom with your little brother,
even if you need to draw a line down the middle of the room,
but when he needs to crawl into bed with you because he's scared or confide in you,
I hope you let him.
I hope you have to walk up hill both ways to school, and on really rainy days when you are driven, that you do not ask the driver to let you off two blocks away so you won't be seen with your Mother.
I hope that you learn to add and subtract in your head, to dig dirt and bait a hook and read a book.
May you feel sorrow and loss at a funeral, and passion at a holiday.
Tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness, knowing I am watching and taking pride in you.

Part of our problem with BLESSING is that many of us no longer worry about who is watching, our name, our identity, what we stand for or represent. FACE BOOK and MY SPACE.COM have become tools for shock value. How far can you go, to be known, to be remembered? As the advertising people describe, any publicity is publicity, rather than creating a name that will be respected and honored, that will be a blessing to others who come after with that name. What or Who are you willing to stand up for, to be known for, to die for? What truly matters?

There is a man in England, who has come to believe so little in his name, his identity, that he is auctioning off his identity in E-BAY. The highest bidder, gets his name, his apartment lease, his job, his address book and credit history. There has been no statement of what he will do afterwards, only that he is selling his name, his identity, his self to the highest bidder.

Part of our problem with BLESSING is that we have sought other things to fill us. If I am depressed, a quart of Ben & Jerry's would be sweet. If lonely, I can satisfy my isolation with my desires. A new car, a bigger house, what will satisfy us? If there is a cheap kind and an expensive, maybe the one that costs more is better.

The Gospel of Luke's telling of Jesus' sermon is different than the other Gospels. Matthew spiritualizes what Jesus said, such that he blesses those “who are poor IN SPIRIT” “those who hunger and thirst FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS”. Luke is more blunt and direct, knowing real poverty and hunger; knowing that we can and often fill ourselves with what does not satisfy. Knowing that we claim poverty, when what we mean is that we are not able to have everything we want, or we are not willing to make the compromises to achieve what we desire.

We are a people that believe in two alternatives. Either I go along with the crowd, or I stand alone. What Jeremiah and Luke promise is a 3rd way, in addition to trusting one's self (being true to your beliefs) and trusting others, of TRUSTING GOD to provide a future that you do not yet know. Acting on what you want to believe, to hope others might see.

Luke offers what we do not expect. We expect the opposite of BLESSINGS to be CURSES. What Luke describes Jesus said, ARE BLESSINGS and WOES. There are many of who have ridden horses, and know that a WOE is an attempt to slow down. To stop. To be more careful. The Woes are not Curses, so much as realization that life is passing us by.

What is especially intriguing about the Blessings of Jesus, is that these are not CONGRATULATIONS for ACCOMPLISMENTS, but rather that the Blessings come at times of our greatest VULNERABILITY, when we did not give up.

Blessed are you, for having had a grandson that was caught with drugs, and not abandoning or rescuing them.
Blessed are you for having had a daughter who was pregnant and you stood beside her.
Blessed are you for havng been married to someone that was often hard to take, and you made their life better.

The Great Conductor LEONARD BERNSTEIN was once asked: What is the most difficult instrument in the orchestra to play? And without hesitation he responded “The Second VIOLIN”. Everyone always wants to lead, to solo, but to meld, support and compliment the life of others with your life, as second violin is far more difficult. This is the movement of Dancing with God, and One Another through all the rhythms of life.