Blessing God by Being You Part 2

 

Blessed be God, the Creator of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, who grants us every spiritual blessing in these heavenly realms where we live in the Anointed—not because of anything we have done, but because of what God has done for us. Ephesians 1:3

Pause with me to celebrate a moment yesterday when you let your line shine.  Perhaps at the meeting you attended…or to the grocery store clerk or the receptionist at the doctor’s office…or to your neighbor.  I know it is tempting to think about where we stumbled or fell short of letting our light shine, but we live in the less-than-perfect place called, “here” and “now”, which is also exactly where God is at. 

Pause with me to celebrate the ways you are intentionally and prayerfully blessing God.  Not necessarily with perfectly polished prayers that glimmer and glisten in the light.  Not with angelic-like ways that cause you to levitate through life, but in beautiful, ordinary, even messy, human size ways.

Paul didn’t say to the Ephesians, “Blessed are you because you are practically perfect in every way.”

Paul didn’t say to the Ephesians, “Blessed are you because you give selflessly and take your pastor out to lunch.”

Paul didn’t say to the Ephesians, “Blessed are you because you always know the exact right thing to do or say.”

Paul says we bless God by letting loose our lives in less than perfect ways where we live.  And where we live is in the presence of the Anointed One ~ Jesus the Christ.  One of the wonderful mysteries of faith is that we live in Christ and Christ lives in us.  Both are true.  We never fully cross the finish line of faith; it is a race we run/jog/crawl/sit on the sidelines resting sometimes daily. 

One of the ways we can explore and express blessing God is through centering ourselves in Christ in this moment.  One practice I try to observe is to remind myself that Christ is already there in any room before I walk through the door.  Christ is there in the hospital room.  Christ is there in the care facility.  Christ is there at the hybrid meeting.  Christ is there in the sanctuary.  When I wake up to Christ hovering in our midst, it moves me in different directions.  It isn’t about me getting my way, it is about getting caught up in a movement that began long before I was around and the invitation I have to contribute to the symphony God is composing in this time right here and now. 

Blessed are you right now as each of us awakens to Christ right here in the less than perfect place called, “here” and time called, “now”.  Amen.