A Blessing
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
“‘'The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
“So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27
Dear Friends,
This blessing is probably familiar to many people and while I didn’t grow up with it, my husband has prayed it over our children before bed and prayed it over our church family for years now. It has become a warm blanket of familiar stability, cozy and comforting. But this blessing of God's favor, protection, and affirmation is more than sweet words. It has the capacity to shape my perspective and move me into action.
First, the word for “you” is singular meaning that this blessing is for me. I’m the one God blesses and keeps. I’m the one who receives a face of shining gladness and love. I am known and loved and valued by God. I’m the one who God turns God’s presence towards me and looks at me with complete affection and acceptance. I’m the one God desires to have peace. (And friends, this is also for you). This is the blessing God gives to Moses to give to Aaron, the high priest, to give to the rest of the community.
God blesses you and keeps you.
This blessing tells me God isn’t angry or mad at me. God isn’t hiding God’s presence from me. God isn’t looking at me with a twisted face, disgusted by my behavior or disappointed in how God made me.
God blesses me and keeps me.
When God gave this blessing to Moses to give to Aaron to give to the people, God’s blessing might have felt distant or had to travel far where God was unapproachable. And God was. And sometimes the Church still makes God unapproachable and inaccessible—out of reach from mere humans. We segregate blessing to only come from the priests or pastors onto the people. We tuck blessing away into dusty corners of cathedrals and onto pew benches in sanctuaries, relegating it to the keeper of keys and paid clergy. We come to the Church to receive blessing from the powers that be.
But through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, the Temple curtain that separated God’s presence and holiness from the common and mundane was torn down the middle. Jesus became our great High Priest and our mediator. Speaking out blessing is not reserved for ordained or paid pastors, priests, ministers because when you gave your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, when you became a disciple or follower of Jesus, you became a priest. You became a pastor and minister and bearer of blessing.
This blessing isn’t simply for you to receive on a Sunday or to pass the peace to the church people around you. You become the bearer of blessing, the passer of peace. The church gathers to speak blessing over each other so we can go out and speak blessing over the world.
God blesses the world and keeps the world.
There’s a lot of people who need a blessing and need to know that God is for them, that God loves them, that God shines God’s face upon them, and that it is God who brings them peace.
May it begin with me. May it begin with you.
With (love),
Bethany