13 June 2010
Psalms 93, 96; Num 6.22-27; Acts 13.1-12; Luke 12.41-48

Aaron and his sons are commanded by God to bless the people of Israel. It is a great privilege to be allowed to speak for God and here the specific words are given that comprise the blessing. When the priest gives this blessing, his hands are also very carefully arranged so that they form the first letter of the word “shaddai” which we translate as almighty. The blessing is a gift to Aaron from the Lord. The prayer is indeed a great blessing: the graciousness of God is material and spiritual prosperity and the peace of God is the shalom of God, which connotes a good deal more than our word for peace. It relates to completeness rather than simply harmony although that too is part of the meaning. At the end of our worship each week a priest stands before the congregation and prays a similar prayer of blessing over the people before they are sent out on mission.

We are responsible for what we know. Does this mean we should not strive to know more? Jesus relates the blessing to obedience, the one found doing the master’s will when the master arrives. We have been given a trust and that trust is that we know the will of the Father and doing that will reveals the master to others. Christians have a responsibility to live in such ways that we reveal our love for our Lord. Loving others is a critical part of the Great Commandment. The way we treat others is meant to reveal the love of the Father for humankind. His love for us is meant to flow out in our relationships with others. John, in his first epistle, makes much of this principle, how can we love God whom we have not seen, if we don’t love our brothers and sisters whom we have seen?

Paul is sent out on his first mission and confronts a false prophet who is keeping the proconsul from truth and, therefore, faith. Paul’s method was to rebuke the false prophet, Elymas or Bar-Jesus, and call down a curse on the man in the form of blindness as he has attempted to keep the proconsul in spiritual blindness. We need to remember that we do have an enemy to our work of mission and to be willing to speak into those situations in order for the Gospel to be received. In our worship I sometimes use an alternate blessing which asks that the Lord “scatter the darkness from before your path” and finishes with the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I use that blessing to remind us that we live in a world characterized by darkness and opposition to God and that in order for us to move out in mission we need two things, that darkness to be dealt with and the blessing of God on our work in order that it bear fruit.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Honour and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.