Numbers 6:24-26/Psalm 103 portions
John 15:9-17
When I was a little girl, I used to go and play at a friends house sometimes after school.
We both liked to sing and to pretend, and so sometimes we would spend all afternoon putting on records and singing along, and making up stories that went with the songs.
My friends’ mom would check on us sometimes. She liked me, I remember. She would see that I was reading a big book one day – I was trying to read “Little Women” – and it was pretty thick – and she would tell me how great that was, and how smart I was.
And then she would say, “I wish Cindy would read like you.” She would say, “Cindy, you should read more like Diane.”
Or maybe I had some notebooks, because I liked to write stories, and my friend’s mom would ask about them.
And she would say, “Good for you!” But then she would say, “Cindy, you should write more stories, like Diane.”
And it felt good that she thought I was smart – but I always felt bad for her daughter, who never measured up.
So – Blessing – blessing is the final step of the faith5.
And it might feel like an add-on. If you Share, Read, Talk, and Pray, why do you have to bless? Blessing seems extra.
And in fact, if you just think of bless as the gesture – you know – making the sign of the cross or a fist bump and saying something like ‘Jesus loves you’ – then maybe it’s not so important.
Although it CAN be a good ritual in families.
To bless each other with simple words.
To make blessing a habit in our relationships.
But Blessing is more than that.
The little ritual we can practice is part of something much larger – something I think about when I think back on my friend and her mom. Those experiences made me realize how important our words are – the things we say to one another -- words aren’t “just words”: they have power.
The people of Israel thought that.
They thought that words had power. God’s words, in particular, had power.
If God said, “let there be light” – well then, there was light.
If God told Abraham, I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… that was going to happen.
If God gave Aaron words, “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you….”
Those words were binding, and God would bless them and turn is face to them, and grant them favor, and grant them peace, that is, shalom. God’s words have power to create reality – and our words have power too.
That’s why, in the book of James, the author criticizes the people. “out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing.” He says. “This should not be so.”
So the last step in the Faith 5 is to do what God has instructed us to do – to bless each other.
And to bless each other with both a word and a gesture, and I think that is important, too.
Whether that gesture is to say “Jesus loves you and so do I” with the mark of the cross on a forehead – or the gesture is a fist bump or a hug or a high five – to put a word and a gesture together – helps us to remember that our words and our actions TOGETHER have power.
And it’s what we talked about in confirmation last Monday night. The word “Integrity” -- means that our words and our actions match each other, that we say what we do, and we do what we say.
Blessing.
It’s the final step in the Faith 5, but it’s much more than that. And there are two things about blessing that I want to highlight right now.
The first is from those words that Moses gave Aaron – “The Lord bless you and keep you….” There’s a phrase in this benediction that you may not notice. I’ve heard it in different ways.
“The Lord make his face shine on you… the Lord lift up his countenance to you… the Lord turn his face to you….”
The Lord turn his face to you.
For God to turn God’s face to us – is to bless us. For God to look upon us, is to look upon us with favor.
Think about that. That God turns TOWARD us, instead of away – is part of the blessing.
And that means that part of what it means for us to bless each other – is to turn toward each other – instead of away.
It’s a word – and a gesture – and so I’d like us to bless each other now – turn toward someone near you, and make the sign of the cross in the palm of their hand, and say, “May God bless you and protect you. You are a blessing.”
There’s a marriage counselor, John Gottman, who says he can observe a couple over a weekend and he can predict whether they will stay married or not – by observing one simple action – how often they turn toward one another rather than away.
He says it’s a matter of the ratio of positive to negative interactions, and he says it is the small and simple things that are the glue – just whether we turn toward each other, in simple words and gestures. Blessing.
And the second thing about blessing?
Blessing starts here – among us – and in our relationships and in our families and in our Bible studies and groups.
It starts here as we practice blessing each other with words and gestures.
But it doesn’t end here. Remember Abraham?
God said to Abraham, “I will bless you and I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing.”
And that is our purpose as well.
We are blessed so that we will go out and be a blessing – to the world. Our congregation is here – to bless the communities and neighborhoods that surrounds us – to bless the children and the families at the school.
It’s why we are here – and I don’t mean just “here” in the world, I mean it’s why we are here in this particular time and place.
The gospel reading for today helps us to see blessing in this way –Jesus begins by telling his disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Love one another – the blessing goes both ways – parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and congregations – love one another – bless each other – “as I have loved you.”
As Jesus has loved us, in both word and action. Ad we can only do it because of his life in us and our life in him – the vine and the branches, rooted in love.
To bless each other is to share the love of God which flows through us – to turn toward one another as God has turned toward us on the cross – to speak words to each other which set us free.
And Jesus speaks those words to his disciples.
He says to them, “I call you not longer servants, but friends. Because you know me. You know the father because of me.”
He says to them, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you.”
In other words, even if the world tells you, you don’t measure up, in my eyes you do. Because of my love.
And you know there are so many people who don’t know that, who only hear words of judgment.
Who only hear words that tell them, You are not good enough.
So those words were words of blessing.
And then he told his disciples to take that blessing, and turn outward, toward the world. To be a source of blessing in the world. In words and in actions. To bear fruit that will last.
Blessing. It’s the fifth step of the Faith5. It’s sharing a word and a gesture. And it’s our purpose in life. To bless each other.
And to bless our community. To be there when the chips are down. To share our bread with the hungry.
To clean up houses after the flood. To lift up those who are doubting.
To tell the children, Jesus loves you – and make the sign of the cross on their foreheads – and to let them do the same to us.
AMEN
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