Sermon Preached by
The Rev. David McMaster
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Text: Psalm 8,Numbers 6:22-27
May the Lord bless you and keep you…Numbers 6:22-27
The Irish are full of many things and one of them is certainly a penchant for blessings. At least one Irish blessing is known around the world, and any trip into the “Google-world” reveals many more, such as this one:
May you always have... walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire;
Laughter to cheer you, Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire.
Being Irish and an awareness of various blessings, however, did not prepare me well for what I would encounter in the last church I served. By one count, the church had individuals from 38 different nationalities in its membership. People from all over the world worshipped there and many diverse traditions presented themselves. And so, it was not long into my ministry there when I asked to bless a house. A lady came up to me and said, “Pastor, I’ve just bought a new house and I wonder if you could come over and bless it.” Blessing houses hadn’t really been a part of my Irish tradition, not had it come up in my seminary training either but before I had time to think, the words, “Of course, I’d be glad to,” came out of my mouth. The following Friday evening, I went over to the woman’s house, we had a cup of tea, I said a prayer of blessing, and got up to leave. “Is that it? she asked. “Yes,” I responded, “What else would you like?” “Well, back home,” she said, “The priest goes all over the house with the cross and prays in every room.” “I was a little stumped but managed to say that we had prayed for God’s blessing and he had heard us, so the house was blessed.
It wasn’t long after that another family asked me to come over and bless their house. This time I determined to prepare myself more and decided to put together a little liturgy, with prayer, the scriptures, a brief word from myself about God’s grace, and a prayer of blessing. It was a good thing I had prepared because the broader family and it seemed the whole neighbourhood had been invited to this house blessing. So at the appropriate time, I gave the little liturgy and prayed … at the end, however, I got into another conversation along the lines of the first about going through the house.
After that, I was much better prepared for the blessing of a home but have to admit that, at first, I was a little dubious about it. Within a year or so, however, I became more accepting because some of these people were the salt of the earth, strong Christians, the practice was incredibly meaningful to them, and it was a great opportunity for me to interact with and minister to the flock. I was also aware from my Old Testament studies of what is called, “the power of the word.” Words were powerful things in the ancient world. In ancient religious rituals, words uttered by a priest had consequence on earth and in the entire cosmos. The power of God’s word is seen immediately in the beginning of Genesis where we read that God spoke and it was so. “Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light (Gen.1:3).” We see the power of word again in blessings and the way Jacob, for instance, was so eager to receive the blessing of his father above his brother Esau. In biblical theology, words carry power particularly when they are connected with God. So I began to appreciate the theology of blessing in those years, and found it a tremendous privilege and responsibility that the people of this church trusted me to ask for the presence of God in their lives and in their homes.
I can tell you also that the congregation did not stop with the blessing of homes, they would invite me to bless new businesses, bless them when they went on new ventures, and several times I was asked to bless new cars. And I remember Rosie coming in to see me on one of her lunch hours, “Pastor, I’ve bought a new car, would you bless it for me.” I got up from my desk and we walked out to the church parking lot. She pointed it out as we walked and I turned back. A bewildered Rosie turned and said, “Pastor, what are you doing?” I said, “Rosie, it’s a Honda, it doesn’t need blessing.” In those days, Hondas were renowned for their durability but with the joke made, we prayed.
Blessings, they are a part of our lives and a part of our worship. Almost every week, I don’t know if you realize it, Dr. Stirling or myself, or one of the summer preachers will say a word of blessing over the you at the end of the service. We call them benedictions, good words, mostly they are words of blessing.
Blessing is an ancient practice. We can trace one of them back some 3,300 or 3,400 years to the time of Moses. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the high priest over the children of Israel and Aaron was asked by God to pronounce a blessing over the people while they were in the wilderness. They are familiar words, “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Num.6:22-27).”
What beautiful words? What a wonderful blessing. Of course, we hear it so often in worship that, like many familiar things, the words tend to fly past us and we don’t give them a second thought. But as we stand at the cusp of a new year, 2013, I wondered if we could hear again these words of blessing and trust God to lead us forth as a congregation, as families, as individuals in the year ahead. “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
The blessing has three parallel couplets. The first emphasizes God’s protection, “May the Lord bless you and keep you.”
The “keeping” power of God is a prominent theme in the Bible. Throughout out the Psalms, for instance, one of the psalmists’ main prayers is that God would keep them safe and comfort them in all manner of adversity. I suspect that all of us feel the need of help and protection in life.
On Friday, I was looking at the CBC website and came across an article about the top news stories of 2012. CBC wanted people to vote on the most significant news item and pointed to possibilities. They mentioned Hurricane Sandy, the death of Whitney Houston, the US election, the suicide of Amanda Todd, the unspeakable acts of Luka Magnotta, the Toronto shootings of the summer, the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the mall collapse in Elliot Lake, corruption in Quebec, Syria, and the recent horrible events in Newtown, Connecticut. Most of these things are negative and happened among so-called civilized peoples – people like us. Negative events seem to abound and, if there is one thing we all hope for, it is that we will be shielded or spared from these things in our lives. But it’s not just dangerous circumstances that we would ask the Lord to keep us from, there are many other tragedies that occur in life. We would rather be spared from these too, but if they find us, we all could use some help or hope to get through.
Over the holidays, I watched again, the old film version of A Christmas Carol, perhaps you have seen it, with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. There’s a scene in the film in the midst of the visitation by the ghost of Christmas-yet-to-come. The focus is the home of Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchett. Bob has a son, Tiny Tim, who is disabled and weak, and the scene depicts a crutch in the corner where Tiny Tim would sit. Tiny Tim was to die if nothing altered in the future and the family are depicted sitting around the fireplace grieving. As they sit, Tiny Tim’s brother, Peter, brings a little flicker of light into that dark scene. He reads from the psalms. Psalm 91 speaks of “Those who live in the shelter of the most high.” God, it says, will deliver them from the snare of the fowler … under his wings they will find refuge. “You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day.” … God will be with you in trouble, he will rescue you and honour you.
Psalm 91 was written from a deep knowledge of God and a trust that even in the worst situations in life, even in the gloom of death, God is with his people, and he will honour them, support them, and give strength when it is needed. As another psalmist writes, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore (Ps.121).” It is a prominent theme in the scriptures and, perhaps, Aaron was the first to pray with the power of the word, “May the Lord bless you and keep you” in all things.
The second couplet asks for the Lord’s grace, “May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious onto you.” Unfortunately, all of us need the grace of God when we goof up, err, when we sin against God or others. It can happen so easily. It can even be unintentional or indirect.
I’m sure you are aware of the conviction of Penn State Football assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, this year. He was alleged to have used the power of his position to sexually assault a number of young boys and young men. Many felt a sense of revulsion over what Sandusky has done. An interesting article in The Christian Post pushes us to think further about our concept of sin. It is, of course, easy to recognize Sandusky’s acts as sin but what about the others who knew something about Sandusky’s behavior, turned a blind eye, and did nothing. The writer states, “The emotional and graphic testimonies made by Sandusky's victims, now young men, revealed that not only had they been taken advantage of during the most vulnerable phases of their lives, but that other adults who never laid a hand on them re-victimized them by choosing to look the other way.” Mike Niebauer, a Chicago area Anglican priest, is quoted as saying, "The monstrosities committed by Jerry could not have gone on for decades without the wilful neglect of hundreds in the community to pursue justice," … "Every blind eye turned … is a crime against God and the victims,"
Perhaps, we could never imagine ourselves doing what the Sanduskys of this world have done, but what about those who knew something, and for whatever reason, maybe fear or a desire not to get involved, turned away and did nothing? How often have we perhaps seen some injustice in the business world, in our place of employment, or in organizations we are in and, for one reason or another, maybe to keep our jobs, maybe just to stay out of things, kept quiet? Sin may be much more pervasive and closer to us than some of us think and when it happens, it breaks down relationship with God, we lose God’s presence and the benefits of having him walk with us through life. We need God. We need God to keep us, and because of sin, imperfection, wrong choices, and the hurts we cause others, we also need God’s grace. Thus Aaron prays, “May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious onto you.”
We also need peace. The third couplet reads, “May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” The Hebrew word for peace, shalôm, is a lovely word. It can be translated simply as “peace” in English but also carries with it connotations of well-being and wholeness and a general sense that things around us are well. It has actually even become a greeting as people wish “well-being” and peace on one another’s lives.
I don’t know if you have ever suffered through a renovation but I recently had one going on in my basement following a problem with tree roots blocking clay sewer pipes. And what a mess. I had to take everything in the basement and find a place for it on the main floor of the house. I felt cramped, the dust and dirt being tracked around the house for 8 weeks was interminable. The noise, the sense of invasion as people worked there, it drove me nuts. It affected my ability to carry on with some academic work that I am doing, I lost sleep over it, I was at sixes and sevens to use the old British idiom for confusion. Essentially, I did not feel shalôm.
It struck me in thinking about my predicament, what must the poor people in Syria be feeling these days. If a basement renovation can cause disarray, what must a full-fledged civil war cause? People would not be able to get on with normal life. They would struggle to make ends meet. They would have to fight for survival. They would have to devote all their energy to having the basics of safety, food and shelter. There’s no way to make progress in life in those conditions, no betterment of self, no leisure, there is no shalom. One just hopes to survive. Human beings need shalôm, they need a level of security and the ease of knowing that the basics in life are going to be there for them if they are to progress. And it’s not just war, all sorts of things can come along and take away our sense of well-being and peace in the world. Sometimes it is an illness, the illness of a loved one whom we must care for, sometimes it is a financial problem, the loss of a job, a death. All kinds of things can disrupt our lives and hold us back. We need shalôm.
I wouldn’t normally tell a story about my mother in public but it is one that she has told often in her work with Christian Women’s Clubs across Ontario. She has had a tough life and I could begin by telling you that in her middle teens, she was effectively orphaned and forced to make her own way in life. She managed to finish her year at school, took a short secretarial course and went out to work. A year later, she turned in her typewriter for the role of a student nurse and slowly but surely began to make her way in life. A few years later, she met a young minister, married, and had three children. At an early age my father unfortunately died and my mother again was left to herself, this time with three very young children. I was the eldest just old enough to notice some things, so I recall some of the grief she incurred during those days. But also that she took on the task of life and bringing up her children bravely, went back to the hospital, then into public health, and kept furthering her education along the way. In my 30s, when I was able to really sense what she had undergone during those years, I asked her one time how she had made it through. She told me this, “I had to carry on but I also had a very real sense that God was with me, helping me and I knew things were going to be okay.”
And here’s the thing, in Europe, there is a tradition of naming houses. And once named the house keeps that name always. My mother and our family moved out of the Methodist manse some ten months after my father passed away. We moved to a house that she bought and she gave that house a name, Eiréné. It wasn’t until I studied theology that I knew the significance of the name, Eiréné. You see eiréné is the Greek NT word that is used to translate the Hebrew OT word shalôm. Used in the biblical milieu, it too carried the connotations of peace, well-being, and wholeness. She told me that it was one of my father’s favourite words in the New Testament and so, in spite of all the adversity she had faced and was facing, because she sensed that God was with her, she felt a peace, she sensed that everything would be alright, and she named that house, Eiréné, shalôm, it was a place of peace and well-being.
“May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
And here we are, standing at the cusp of a new year. I do not know all that you have been through in the past year, none of us knows what we will face in the next … but let us remember, that all those who live in the shelter of the Most High have God with us and if God be for us, who can be against us. “May the Lord bless you and keep you in 2013, may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious onto you, may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you shalôm … eiréné … peace,” regardless of whatever you face.