Numbers 6:22-27
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 upon 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."
(NIV)
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
11 Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for
perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of
love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All
the saints send their greetings.
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
NIV
When
a minister moves from one church to another, one of the requirements is that
the presbytery where that person will be moving must conduct a public
examination of the new pastor.
As
a minister, I know that when I stand in front of a presbytery desiring to
accept a call to a church, I can be asked anything and everything.
When
I came into this Peace River Presbytery, the process was wonderfully easy.
One
minister jumped up to the microphone and began to speak, saying, “I’ve known
Maynard Pittendreigh for 25 years.”
I
look at this man and I’m thinking – I have never seen this man before in my
life.
He
continued, saying, “I met Maynard when he and I were in a class together at
Columbia Seminary. It was a preaching
class with Professor Tom Long.”
I
look at this man and I’m thinking – I remember the class. I sure don’t remember this man, however.
He
continued, saying, “Dr. Long told our class that a sermon title should be so
compelling, that if you put that title on the sign of the church and an Atlanta bus drove past it,
the bus would come to a stop and every passenger would have an irresistible urge
to get off that bus. Even the driver
would get off that bus.
“Maynard
Pittendreigh then interrupted Dr. Long’s lecture and said that this meant that
the only viable name for a sermon title would be, ‘There’s a Bomb on Your
Bus’.”
Everyone
laughed, and the next person who got up offered a motion that my examination be
closed and I be accepted into the presbytery.
I was not asked a single question!
Sermon
titles!
OK,
I have to admit that today’s title would not compel anyone to hop off the bus.
In
fact, because when someone looked at today’s bulletin and saw the title of
today’s sermon – the Benediction – there was concern.
What
if, he asked, what if some people see that the sermon title is “The
Benediction” and they think it is the end of the service and they get up and
leave?
Trust
me, this the sermon – it is not the end of the service.
I’ll
let you know when you can get up and leave!
The
Benediction.
It
is that time in the worship service when the minister has the last word in the
worship service.
When
I was in seminary, students were not allowed to give the benediction. The first time we would give the benediction
was in our ordination service.
That
was never in the Book of Order, it was simply a tradition, and it is one that
is no longer practiced. Students in the
seminary often give benedictions.
But
for me, I did not give a benediction until my ordination.
I
remember standing in front of the mirror, wearing my brand new pulpit robe,
looking and feeling both holy, and stupid.
I
raised my hands in the act of giving the benediction, and no longer did I feel
holy. I just felt stupid.
I
was not the only one – all of my friends in seminary felt the same way, so much
so that we came up with a catalog of benediction styles that we gave to one of
our seminary professors.
You
know these styles – you’ve seen them.
There
is the STORM TROOPER.
The
BOY SCOUT.
The
ever popular STICK ‘EM UP.
And
the lesser-known FRANKENSTIEN.
CLUELESS.
GIVE
ME A HUG
There
is even the benediction that a minister might give while walking down the aisle
– we named that the “I’m ready to go get lunch” benediction.
Ministers
in the Presbyterian Church are not often asked to do anything physical – except
to stand or sit – except in the benediction when we are to raise our hands as a
symbol that we are laying hands upon each and every person in the room.
You
feel foolish with your hands spread out!
But
there is something deeper than feeling foolish.
But
I suspect that Students of ministry feel embarrassed when asked to deliver the
Benediction early in their career, not just because they have to hold their
hands in a certain way, but because they are called upon to say words that have
a very special meaning and power.
“And
the word of God to Moses…
and to
those of us in the ministry today…)
Tell Aaron,
tell the ministers….
Give the
people a Benediction, a blessing.
Say to
them: The Lord bless you and keep
you.
The Lord
make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord
lift up his countenance upon you
and give
you peace.”
Young
seminary students and ministers early in their career feel uncomfortable and
often embarrassed. And the reason can’t
be because we have to hold our hands in a certain way. It has to be more to it than that.
Maybe
one of the sources of our embarrassment as young ministers came from the fact
that we were afraid that the Benediction had become for many people an empty
ritualistic action, void of meaning.
After
all, those of us who give the Benediction are up here with our arms spread out,
proclaiming the blessing of God and at the same time, most folks are out in the
pews folding bulletins, putting the hymnbooks back into the pew racks, and
stuffing life savers into their purses.
Those
of us who are preachers, sometimes wonder if the Benediction inside the
Sanctuary has become as meaningless as the Benediction outside the Sanctuary,
Which of
course is GOOD-BYE,
Which used
to be GOD BYE
Which used
to be GOD – BE WITH YOU.
And
so, ministers feel uncomfortable.
We don’t
like to waste our time with things that are meaningless, and there is the
haunting doubt that what the Benediction has become is something meaningless.
But
no. That’s not all of it.
I
don’t think that is the complete answer either.
We
who are ministers feel embarrassed by the Benediction, and the reason has to be
more than because we are called upon to do something with our hands, or because
SOME people don’t take its meaning seriously.
I
suspect that the real reason why I am uncomfortable with the Benediction is not
because I’m afraid that some of you DON’T take it seriously, but rather because
I DO take this act of worship so seriously.
Because
I know that when I am delivering these words, I am delivering something special
and powerful, something that is not really mine to give.
The
Benediction is unique. It is not simply
a prayer. It is more than a prayer.
In
a prayer, I ask God for something.
But
in a Benediction, I don’t ask for anything.
I TAKE something from God without asking and I GIVE it to you.
My
God! No wonder I fell so uncomfortable
with the benediction. Because I am
called upon to give what is not mine to give, the very blessing of Almighty
God.
And
God said to Moses…
You tell the ministers.
Give
the people a blessing.
Many
ministers would say that this is something they cannot do, that they cannot
presume to be so bold as to pronounce the blessing of God.
Several
years ago, I attended a Presbytery meeting and there was a motion to
congratulate one of our churches for something they had accomplished. The motion called for the moderator of the
Presbytery to convey to the people of that congregation “the blessings of God.”
Well,
one of the ministers stood and spoke against the motion. He was indignant that anyone could ever think
they could convey God’s blessing on anyone else.
And
yet, that is what the benediction is all about.
God
said to Moses…
You tell the ministers.
Tell
them to give the people a blessing.
AND I MYSELF WILL BLESS THEM.
Peter
DeVries, in his novel, THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, presents a thinly disguised
autobiography.
In THE
BLOOD OF THE LAMB, there is a father who loses a daughter to Leukemia,
paralleling an event in the author’s own life.
In the book, the father is raised in a strict conservative Christian
home, but as an adult he departs from his religious upbringing.
As
a college student, this man wrote in the campus magazine, “I think we ought to
get rid of this silly crutch of religion.
After all, we’re supposed to go through life standing on our own two
feet.”
But
later in this novel, life kicks him down as his daughter battles hopelessly
against leukemia, and in the final pages of this book, the father is called to
the hospital room for one final visit.
When
he walks into the room, a nurse is taking blood pressure.
She
whispers – “Almost none. Just a short
time now.”
He
and the nurse step outside of the room for just a moment. She tries to be comforting. “Maybe it’s better now. After all, now her dreams will all be
peaceful.”
But
the father is empty.
He walks to be bedside.
He doesn’t know what to do.
His daughter has only moments to
live.
He reaches out to touch her.
He
touches the wounds where the needles have been.
He caresses her hair.
He
touches the childish face that will never grow up.
He
wants so much to say something.
He wants to
give her some words of comfort for her last journey.
He wants to
give her one last gift.
But
he has nothing to say.
He has nothing to give.
And
out of his emptiness and beyond himself, he reaches back to his childhood and
remembers a phrase. And the father gives
the only think he knows to say.
“My
little lamb.
The Lord
bless and keep you.
The Lord
make his face to shine upon you
and be
gracious to you…”
In
the benediction, I give what I do not have.
I give what is not mine to give.
This
is a difficult day for me. I’ve preached
in this pulpit – this boat - many times over the past few years. Today is the last day I will get to do
that. Over the last several days, I’ve
said good-bye a lot.
And
last Sunday you gave me many gifts that I will always appreciate.
And
now, I want to give you a gift.
But
right now I want to give you something more than just another good-bye.
I
feel awkward.
I
feel foolish.
I
feel embarrassed.
I
want to give you something that is not mine to give, but I give it anyway,
because I believe the promise.
I
believe that even as I say these words, God himself will bless you.
Please
stand, and receive the blessing from God.
May the
Lord Bless you
And keep
you.
The LORD
make his face shine upon you
And be
gracious to you;
The LORD
turn his face toward you
And give
you peace.
