SERMON: THE BLESSING OF GOD

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Numbers 6:22-27

 

Numbers 6:22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

 

24 “‘“The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.”’

 

27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

 

-- When Steve Henning was two years old, he contracted spinal meningitis. It was the winter of 1943, and because of World War II, doctors had a shortage of penicillin and could not provide Steve the treatment he needed. Sadly, he lost his hearing.

-- For 57 years, Steve could not hear music, laughter, or human speech. Even though he lived a full life, he still longed to hear the voices of those he loved.

-- In the winter of 2001, he learned of a surgical procedure that would allow sound waves to bypass the non-functioning part of his ear and travel directly to the auditory nerve -- so, on January 30th, Steve underwent an operation to help him hear -- because the implanted device could not be activated until the swelling in the ear decreased, neither the doctors nor Steve knew if the operation was successful of not

-- The day of reckoning came six weeks later on a blustery spring day -- Steve nervously wondered if the procedure had been in vain -- As the audiologist programmed the cochlear implant, he invited Steve's wife to say something to see if Steve could hear her or not

-- Pat Henning leaned toward her husband and gently said, "I love you." -- for the first time in six decades, Steve was able to hear -- his face broke into a smile as the first words he heard was someone telling him they loved him

Source: The Daily Herald (9-29-01)

 

-- that feeling that Steve Henning experienced at that moment is what happens to us when we hear God whisper into our lives, “I love you” -- when we realize that because of Christ, we are loved and blessed and highly favored by God

-- in these modern times, we don’t really take blessings seriously because we don’t realize the inherent power of a true blessing from God -- for most of us, a blessing is what we say before a meal -- or the automatic response to someone when they sneeze -- or maybe just something we casually throw out in our daily prayers, “God bless us -- God bless our family” -- without really thinking about what we are asking when we pray that

-- and, of course, there’s the pejorative use that is so common down here when we’re trying to come up with something to say about someone that we disapprove of or someone that has done something particularly not smart -- we shake our heads and proclaim, “Well, bless their heart”

-- but true biblical blessings are powerful because they invoke the very presence and power of God into our lives or into the lives of someone else -- when someone blesses you and means it, it is an intentional act of calling down God’s favor and grace and peace into your lives -- it is someone whispering into your ear that God loves you

-- we need to recapture the wonder and the power of true biblical blessings -- we need to remember that our words have power -- the Bible tells us that -- Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”

-- so, we need to be careful in what we say -- we need to speak words of life and not words of death -- we need to proclaim blessings on people and not curses -- and we need to learn how to offer blessings through the Spirit that carry God’s grace and power with it -- recognizing that as God’s ambassadors and ministers -- as His holy priests on earth today -- we have the ability and responsibility to proclaim blessings to others in the name of the Lord -- blessings that aren’t mere words, but true blessings that carry with them the very power and presence of God

 

-- here in this passage from Numbers 6, we see the priestly blessing that God gave Moses for Aaron to pray over the people of Israel -- such proclamations of blessing are known as benedictions and usually come at the end of a spiritual service

-- we’re familiar with that practice, because we do that, too -- we begin our time together with an invocation -- invoking the name of the Lord and asking for His presence to be among us as we gather to worship Him -- and then we close with a benediction -- the proclamation of God’s love and blessing to His people as we go forth in His name

-- so, God gave the priests the duty to proclaim this benediction -- this blessing -- to the people of Israel as they gathered together to worship Him

-- So, I wanted to spend some time this morning talking about blessings -- in particular, this priestly blessing from Numbers 6

 

II.  General Thoughts on the Priestly Blessing

            -- there are several things that we need to recognize about blessings as we go through this

 

            -- first, notice that this blessing invokes the name of the Lord three times -- some scholars and commentators believe this may be a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the Trinity that God was revealing to the nation of Israel

-- as you know, this doctrine is not specifically called out for us in Scripture, although we can see the Triune God worshiped and discussed throughout both the Old and the New Testament

-- three times God told Aaron to say, “The Lord,” possibly referring to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

-- and over in the New Testament, in the apostolic benediction from 2 Corinthians 13:14, we see that same pattern given to us: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”

-- so, the first thing we see in this blessing is the pronouncement of the Lord’s name three times

 

            -- next, we see that this blessing follows atonement -- in Numbers Chapters 5 and 6, we read of God’s cleansing of the people -- of their separation from the world -- their repentance of their acts of unrighteousness and sin -- and of their preparation to become holy as the Lord is holy as they prepared themselves to finally enter the Promised Land

            -- this blessing was not given until after the cleansing and atonement of the people -- and the nation of Israel followed this pattern throughout the rest of its history

            -- this same priestly blessing would traditionally be proclaimed to the people by the High Priest once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, after the High Priest had ministered before the Lord in the Holy of Holies and made atonement for the sins of the people -- he would then come out from the Holy of Holies and into the courtyard and proclaim God’s blessings on the people for another year by reciting the words we read here

            -- the spiritual principle for us here is that blessing only follows after atonement -- you cannot expect the blessing of God when you are living in open disobedience to Him and His word -- His blessings come only in response to our faithfulness, righteousness, and holiness

            -- and, finally, as we have already mentioned, blessings stand apart as proclamations from the Lord -- as recognition of promises that have or will come to pass because the Lord has said so

-- as one commentator put it, this blessing is “not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the LORD imparts. It is as binding and sure as a patriarchal blessing -- once said officially, it cannot be taken back -- The priest here is then pronouncing the word of the LORD, declaring to the congregation the outcome of the atonement.” -- the blessings from God to the people of Israel that were to follow

            -- in other words, in this blessing, the priest is not praying and asking that these things happen -- he is proclaiming the truth of what God is doing and has done in the lives of the people in response to their cleansing and atonement from sin

-- and the response on the part of the people was to stand on that promise of God -- to believe in faith that this blessing was real and active in their lives -- and then to go forth and live out this blessing of God so that others might be blessed through them

 

III.  Scripture Lesson (Numbers 6:24-27)

            -- so, let’s look now at the individual blessings in this benediction -- look back with me at verse 24

 

24 “‘“The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

 

 

            -- so, what does this verse mean when it says, “The Lord bless you?” -- what is a blessing?

            -- we’ve talked in general terms about blessings and about how blessings only follow atonement and cleansing, but we’ve not really defined what a blessing is -- a blessing is an act of God’s grace -- it is God pouring out His favor, kindness, mercy, and goodness on us -- it is God giving us Himself -- His power and His presence made manifest in our lives

            -- so, when we read here the proclamation, “The Lord bless you,” what that means is that God Himself -- the Lord God Almighty -- is pouring out His kindness and mercy into our lives -- He is giving us His grace -- He is letting us know that He loves us

            -- to be blessed by God means to be in a right relationship with Him -- to be happy and joyful in His presence -- to know Him and to love Him as He loves us -- all of that is captured in this proclamation, “The Lord bless you...”

 

            -- but what about “keep you?” -- what does it mean for the Lord to keep you?

            -- to keep implies protection -- protection from danger -- from evil -- from temptation -- from sin

-- for the Lord to keep us means that He is watching over us -- guarding us and protecting us as the Good Shepherd -- keeping us safe from all that would seek to harm us, even ourselves

-- this term reminds us of God’s prevenient grace -- Wesley called it “preventing” grace -- the grace that is active in our lives to keep us from falling -- to keep us from being swayed by the winds of this world and every false teaching that comes our way -- the grace that leads us to Christ and keeps us close to Him after we are saved and our sins have been forgiven

            -- that is the picture here -- the Lord keeping us safe by His very presence -- as it says in Psalm 121, “The Lord watches over you -- the Lord is your shade at your right hand -- the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night”

-- Jesus gave us that same promise of protection in John 10:28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish -- no one can snatch them out of my hand. -- My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all -- no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

 

-- verse 25

 

25 the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

 

            -- the Lord is the source of all light and goodness -- remember a couple of weeks ago when we were studying Revelation 21 and we read that there would be no sun and no moon in the heavens and the earth because the Lord Himself would be our light -- that is the same message that we see here in this verse

-- David picked up on this theme in Psalm 36, when he wrote: “In your light, we see light” -- when the Lord makes His face to shine upon us -- we experience the light of His love -- His goodness and His mercy and His grace -- we finally know what goodness truly is -- and what we think is good here on this earth pales in the light of God’s goodness

-- when I read this verse, I think of the experience of Moses -- the Bible tells us that when Moses would come back to the people of Israel after being in the presence of God, Moses’ face would be shining -- it was so bright that he had to put a veil before his face until the light faded

-- when the Lord makes His face shine upon us, that same light that reflected in Moses’ face is reflected in ours -- others should be able to look at us and see the reflection of God’s presence and goodness in our lives

 -- the Christian group, Newsboys, were at Wild Adventures last night -- and one of my all-time favorite songs from them is called “Shine” -- let me share with you the chorus of that song”

 

Shine.

Make 'em wonder whatcha got.

Make 'em wish that they were not

On the outside looking bored.

Shine.

Let it shine before all men.

Let em see good works and then

Let em glorify the Lord.

 

-- when the Lord shines His face upon us, we experience His grace and reflect His presence to this world -- leading the world to come to know the very grace that we have experienced

-- and what is grace? -- it’s God’s unmerited favor -- God’s gift to us -- some have taken grace as an acronym that stands for “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”

-- God’s grace comes to us as He shines His face upon us -- as we bask in the light of His presence -- as we know Him and experience Him in our lives

-- and while God’s grace comes to us in so many ways, the greatest grace of all -- the amazing grace that we sing of -- is the atonement of the cross -- the forgiveness of our sins -- through the death and the resurrection of our Savior, Christ Jesus

 

-- verse 26

 

26 the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.”’

 

 

            -- what does it mean for the Lord to turn His face towards you? -- or, as other translations put it, “to lift up His countenance?” -- it literally means that God is looking at us and smiling

-- have you ever thought about God looking down from heaven and seeing you and smiling with pleasure? -- most of us don’t consider that -- we think of God as distant -- as sitting on His throne -- and if He looks at us at all, it is with a stern countenance -- we never think of God as looking at us and smiling

-- years ago, I heard Mark Lowery talking about some difficulties that he was having in school -- he had ADHD and couldn’t sit still and couldn’t quit talking and was constantly in trouble for not staying in his seat and not following the rules

-- he said one teacher took a liking to him and would take him outside when he got too wound up and just couldn’t sit still -- she’d carry him outside and just let him run around for a moment to settle him down

-- one day, the teacher told him, “Mark, do you know that God likes you?” -- he thought that strange -- we always hear that God loves us -- and we know that, even if we don’t always take it personally -- but to hear that God likes us -- that was different

-- his teacher went on to say that God not only loved him, but he liked him -- God enjoyed seeing Mark be himself -- He enjoyed seeing Mark go through life and live life to the full -- He liked seeing Mark and when He saw Mark, that would bring a smile to His face

-- that’s what this verse is telling us -- God not only loves us -- He likes us -- He enjoys us -- He enjoys our presence -- just like parents with little children will turn their face to them and just smile as they see them playing and having fun -- it’s the same thing here

-- that’s the message that God was giving to Moses and Aaron to pass on to us -- when God sees us living in relationship with Him, He loves us and He likes us so much that He just smiles at the sight of it  

-- I really like how Max Lucado captured this in his book, “A Gentle Thunder” -- no one can quite phrase things like Lucado -- he wrote, “There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to himself -- to appease his justice -- to demonstrate his sovereignty -- But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because he is fond of you -- He likes having you around -- He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while -- If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it -- If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it -- He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning -- Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen -- He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart -- And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He's crazy about you!”¹ 

-- and, I would add to what Lucado wrote, we bring a smile to His face

 

            -- so, God turns His face towards us and smiles, and then He gives us His peace -- what is the peace we receive from God? -- peace with God -- peace from God -- peace that leads to unity among men -- the peace of God that passes all understanding

            -- the word for peace here in this verse is the Hebrew word Shalom -- Shalom means peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility -- the Jewish people would traditionally use Shalom to greet people and say goodbye to them -- it invoked God’s peace, presence, and protection on that person as they entered your home and then again as they left

 

            -- verse 27

 

27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

 

            -- To put God’s Name upon us means to proclaim God’s nature within us -- to put His seal upon us -- to identify us as His own

            -- until modern times, it was known that names had power -- to know the name of someone, meant that you knew them -- you knew their heart -- you knew them as a person -- you knew who they were, inside and out -- knowing the name of a person meant that you had power over them because you knew their intimate secrets

            -- that’s why we read in myths and in fantasy stories that names were not freely given, because if you knew someone’s name, you could invoke it and control them and have them do your bidding

            -- that’s what’s so amazing about this verse -- not only does God share with us His name, He puts His very name on us -- He gives us His name -- He calls us His beloved -- He makes us His sons and daughters -- and He identifies with us

            -- to have the name of God put on us means that we are His and He is ours -- it defines our relationship with God through His grace and His blessing on our lives

 

IV.  Closing

            -- let’s bring this to a close

            -- one of my favorite authors is Henri Nouwen -- he was a Catholic priest and professor that has since passed away -- but he wrote prolifically and his writings remind you of the Psalms because he just poured out his heart into them, sharing his life and his love through them

            -- Writing in his book, “Life of the Beloved”, Henri Nouwen tells of a time when he was working with disabled people -- one of the handicapped women in the community, Janet, asked him for a blessing, but when he started to do the ritual signing of the cross she said, “No. That doesn’t work. I want a real blessing!”.  -- He realized something special was needed, and promised to do something when the community gathered together later that day

            -- when the community met and about 30 people were present, he shared with them that Janet had asked for a special blessing

            -- here is Nouwen in his own words:

 

-- “As I was saying this, I didn’t know what Janet really wanted. But Janet didn’t leave me in doubt for very long. As soon as I (started speaking) Janet stood up and walked toward me.

-- “I was wearing a long white robe with ample sleeves covering my hands as well as my arms. Spontaneously, Janet put her arms around me and put her head against my chest. Without thinking, I covered her with my sleeves so that she almost vanished in the folds of my robe.

-- “As we held each other I said, ‘Janet, I want you to know you are God’s beloved daughter. Your beautiful smile, your kindness to the people in your house and all the good things you do show us what a beautiful human being you are.

-- “I know you feel a little low these days and there is some sadness in your heart, but I want you to remember who you are: a very special person, deeply loved by God and all the people who are here with you.’”

 

-- Nouwen relates how Janet’s smile assured him he’d hit the mark -- before long, many of the other handicapped people had also come forward for a blessing of their own.

-- “The most touching moment, however, came when one of the assistants, a 24-year old student, raised his hand and said, ‘And what about me?’

-- Nouwen responded, ‘Sure, come’. -- He came and, as they stood before each other, Nouwen put his arms around him and said, ‘John, it is so good that you are here. You are God’s beloved son. Your presence is a joy for us all. When things are hard and life is burdensome, always remember that you are loved with an everlasting love.’

-- As I spoke these words,” writes Nouwen, “he looked at me with tears in his eyes and then he said, ‘Thank you, thank you very much’.”

 

            -- and in that story, we see the power of blessing -- we see how proclaiming God’s presence and love and mercy and grace into the life of another person can touch them deeply and transform their very being

            -- people need to hear that God loves them -- and that God likes them -- that He wants to bless them and to pour out His presence into their lives -- that He wants to give them His divine kindness and goodness and grace

            -- as the people of God called to be here in this place, that is our mission and our responsibility -- to bless those around us -- to speak life and not death -- to speak blessings and not curses

            -- may we be people who reflect the light and love of God -- messengers of grace and peace in a divided world who desperately need to know that God loves them and likes them

            -- and with that, let us close with this very same proclamation:

 

“The Lord bless you and keep you;

 

the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

 

the Lord turn His face towards you and give you peace.”

 

            -- let us pray

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder (Word, 1995)

2 “Life of the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen, Hodder & Stoughton 1992, p 57-59