Making Life a Blessing Genesis 27:25-34

Making Life= a Blessing Genesis 27:25-34

Earlier in the service, we read the names of 26 FBC me= mbers who have died since we last observed All Saints Day. There are many important reasons w= e do this—1) to remember these departed saints and express gratitude for t= heir lives, their faith and service to this congregation; and 2) to offer our prayerful support = to their families as they continue to deal with their loss.

But there is another underlying reason why all such me= morial services are important. We ne= ed to be reminded that one day it will be us on that list, our names affixed to t= he grave marker. We will be the = ones being remembered. When that d= ay comes, I hope that somebody will be able to testify concerning us, “H= e or she was a blessing in my life.”

Our topic today is “Making Life a Blessing.̶= 1; Our text is found in Genesis 27:25-34. This is the story o= f Isaac, now old and blind, bestowing the family blessing on his son, only it was not the son he intended to bless.

We do not have time to read the whole story. If you are not familiar with it, t= hen I encourage you to read Genesis 27 and 28 for all the sordid details of what happened and what resulted from it. It’s a sad story of sibling rivalry and Dad and Mom playing favorites with their children.

Often the Bible instructs us on what we should do. At other times, it tells us true s= tories from the lives of people who ought to know better in order to demonstrate f= or us what NOT to do—and this story is a case in point.

Hopefully, this story of the blessing of Jacob will se= rve as a warning to us and point us to some ways that we can do better in our relationships and in fact be a blessing to those about us.

Genesis 27:25-34--25 Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your gam= e to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and = he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 The= n his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught t= he smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

&nb= sp; "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed. =

28 May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations= serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the so= ns of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

30 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 H= e too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me yo= ur blessing." 32 His father Isaac asked him, &qu= ot;Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "your firstborn, Esau."

33 Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game= and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!" 34 When Esa= u heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me—me too, my father!"

You see why I said these were troubled times in Isaac’s family--the blessing was intended for the oldest son, Esau, w= ho also happened to be Isaac’s favorite son. But through a cruel deception plann= ed by Isaac’s own wife, Rebekah, the blessing went instead to Jacob, who was her favorite. Of course, Jacob we= nt along with this or it could not have happened.

Why did this even matter, though? The importance of the blessing in = that day was enormous. The leaders= hip of the family was conveyed to the son who received the father’s blessing, along with a double portion of the inheritance.

So, once again, we have an ancient story with a very c= ontemporary ring to it. Like so many fami= ly stories today, this one comes complete with the sins of jealously and greed which no doubt prevented anyone involved from truly feeling blessed!

This was not Isaac’s intention—he meant th= is blessing for good. Let’s learn from this story as we consider how you= and I can be a blessing to our children, certainly, but also how we can bless a= ll the important people in our lives.

Dr. Gary Smalley wrote a book entitled, The Blessin= g. In this book, he examines this blessing that Isaac bestows upon his son, Jacob, and he makes this observat= ion:

&nb= sp; "The blessing contains four ingredients that ought to be presen= t in every home today. And when those four ingredients are present, and practiced consistently, then our children grow up solid, secure and confident of themselves, able to go out into the world and function normally."

I want to share with you these four ingredients that Dr. Smalley identifies= , and then apply these not only to our children, but to other relationships as we= ll.

I. THE FIRST INGREDIENT IS A MEANINGFUL TOUCH. Earlier in this story, verse 22 of Genesis 27 says, "Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him." And v. 26 says, "Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss= me.’”

This is not an isolated incident in the Bible. Almost every time a blessing is bes= towed, it involves touching--the laying on of hands, a kiss, an embrace--something that conveys affection.

The 10th chapter of Mark’s Gospel says that people brought children to Jesus so that He could touch them. <= /span>Jesus took them in His arms and held them, and the Bible says, "He blessed them." Jesus knew exactl= y what children need to feel loved and accepted. He touched them and blessed them.
This is so important. When ch= ildren are small, you can’t communicate love with words because they donR= 17;t understand words yet. The bes= t way to convey love to a small child is by touching them, cuddling them, and hol= ding them close.

Now, Jacob was 40 years old when Isaac touched him and kissed him as he bestowed the blessing upon him. So whatever a person’s age, it is important to communicate love and acceptance in some meaningful way. And this often involves an appropriate touch or embrace.

II. THE SECOND INGREDIENT IS A SPOKEN MESSAGE OF AFFECTION. Listen to what Isaac says to his s= on, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed."

I’m not sure it would be as effective today to tell someone that they smell like “dirt”--but it WAS a compliment back then. And for an old outdoorsman like Is= aac, who thought he was speaking to his outdoorsman-of-a-son, Esau, the smell of= a field about ready for harvest was a great smell. It was a compliment intended to com= municate love and admiration.

How often we are quick to criticize one another for our mistakes. To a chil= d, we say, "You dummy, why did you spill that milk?" To a spouse: "How could you b= e so careless as to wreck the car?” Or a political leader: "How stupid not to regulate all those lenders and derivatives and hedge funds." None of these words of criticism re= ally accomplish anything, do they? Yet we are all guilty of expressing them at times—frustration does this to us.

There is room for advice and discipline and constructive criticism, to be s= ure. But it’s even more impo= rtant to communicate love through words that say, "You’re valuable. I’m glad you’re part of= my life. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I genuinely love you and appreciate you.” We need to communicate this messag= e over and over again, even when those around us stumble and fall and fail.

III. THE THIRD INGREDIENT IS THE ATTRIBUTING OF A HIGH VALUE. Notice what Isaac says in v. 28, "May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness = - an abundance of grain and new wine."

He’s saying, "I think you are so special that God should give you the best He has to give." We’re often told that we should enable our children to have a positive self-image= , and that it’s our responsibility to build up their self-esteem. That’s true.

And don’t forget that the greatest tool we have = as Christians for doing this is to teach our children: "You are loved and= so valuable—not only to me—but to your Heavenly Father as well—so loved and valued that God sent His only begotten Son into this world to give His life for you." As followers of Christ, this is the message we seek to send to all people with whom we share life. Talk about being a blessing to others! This is the message that matters m= ost of all!

But we have to earn the right to communicate the Father’s love. Let’s just think about our relationship with our children as an example. How often when our children come i= nto the room do they get the message that we are too busy for them? We have one eye on the TV or the computer or the checkbook—and we’re not really concentrating on what they’re trying to tell us.

When a child comes to talk to you, or your spouse or good friend, turn off = the distractions and focus on them. Look them in the eye. Listen to th= eir words, and the deeper messages behind those words. They may have things they’re anxious to tell us if we will only look at them, listen and show that we ca= re!

This says, "You’re a valuable part of my life. I’m glad God put you in my li= fe. Whenever you have something you nee= d to talk about, I’m here to listen." That’s a wonderful way to bl= ess someone—and we can all do this if we choose to!

IV. THE FOURTH INGREDIENT IS THE PICTURING OF A GLORIOUS FUTURE. Isaac says to Jacob, "May nati= ons serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may= the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

Isaac is helping his son to see that his future is bright—which is an important responsibility of parenting, isn’t it? We all know that pas= sage in Proverbs that says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and = when he is old he will not depart from it."

We usually apply this spiritually: "Teach the children the things of G= od and when they’re older they won’t forget them." But there is another application w= hen it comes to children. We’r= e to help our children find their niche, to discover who they are and why they’re here.

God made each one of us special, unique, gifted for something. So as children are= growing up, we help them understand their abilities and what they’re best sui= ted to do in life. Sometimes peop= le who are all grown up are still searching and would be blessed by our help and advice.

How often we have the opportunity to be a blessing to = others through our counsel and encouragement and whatever else is needed to help t= hem become the person God made them to be.&nbs= p; And I don’t mean by that insisting that they become what we wa= nt them to be. To be a blessing,= we must help them discover God’s plan, not ours!

Maybe you heard the story about a little girl named Sa= ndra who was raised in a small adobe house in a rural section of Arizona. Her family had no electricity or r= unning water. In fact, her family ha= d to drive to El Paso, 200 miles away, so that her mother could be in a hospital when Sandra was b= orn.

Because they were so far away from any school, Sandra’s parents taught her at home. They ordered a variety of magazines to expose her to the outsi= de world. Resources were limited, but Sandra grew up in a very caring environm= ent.

Her fondest memories are of the times when mom and dad took the whole famil= y on vacation to visit state capitols. They went into every capitol building wes= t of the Mississippi, and she remembers climbing the domes of all those capital buildings.

When Sandra finished high school, she was accepted into Stanford University= ; and she graduated with honors. Today, we know this woman as Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to become a justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Mostly because of mom and dad’s blessing, I would say. They cared enough to hel= p Sandra see the gifts and abilities God had given her, and then encouraged her to f= ulfill her potential.

Not everyone is that intelligent or gifted, of course, but our responsibili= ty as parents is to help our children see themselves for who they really are, = and to help them prepare for the future God has planned for them. If they find His will for their li= ves, it will be good. Whatever it = is, they will be blessed!

But this is not just about parents and children. All of us have opportunities to bl= ess one another—through a caring hand on the shoulder or a helping hand u= p, through words of affection and encouragement, comfort and hope.

Someday, and none of us knows when, but someday, frien= ds, it will be us. Don’t you w= ant others to remember your life as having been a blessing to them—your children, your spouse, your parents, your classmates and co-workers. Don’t you desire to bless them? Lord, make us a blessin= g to someone today!