Holy Trinity Sunday, May 22, 2016

Numbers 6:22-27 (NKJV) - And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:  ²³ "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. 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 lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." ' ²⁷ "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them."

With Memorial Day weekend coming, you have the official (or unofficial) start of the vacation season.  And with that you’ve been hearing more news stories about “what Americans are going to do this summer.”  By the sound of it, if you’re flying anywhere, it looks like you’re going to spend your summer standing in line.  Good!  More time to think about if you brought everything you need!  “Do I have enough clothes?  Did I remember to pack the sunscreen?  Do I have my toothbrush?”  We think about those kinds of things when we travel, don’t we?  But is that all?  Is that truly everything you need?

The children of Israel were about to take a trip too.  They were leaving Mt. Sinai and heading for the Promised Land of Canaan.  It was going to be a long journey through the wilderness, but they were prepared!  From all the tribes they had counted off 603,550 fighting men to protect them on the way.  All their plans and arrangements were set as far as where each tribe was going to line itself up for the long march.  And they had the Ark of the Covenant along with the tabernacle and its furnishings, all being tended to by the Levites.  Their offerings made, their vows taken, their unclean people put outside the camp—just about everything was ready.  Well, almost everything.  Can you guess what they still needed? 

The LORD, the true God, the God of free and faithful grace had one more thing He wanted to give to His people as they journeyed to the Promised Land.  And it’s the same thing that He wants you to have on your journey through the wilderness of this life—on your way to the Promised Land of heaven.  The LORD wants you to have His blessing.     

1.     A blessing that puts His name on you.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace” (v. 24-26).  These words from Numbers 6 are familiar because we hear them just about every week.  We call them the Aaronic Benediction—the blessing that the LORD gave Aaron and his sons, the priests of Israel, to speak to the people.  And the LORD had some pretty specific reasons  why He gave this particular blessing:  “So they [Aaron and the priests] shall put My name on the children of Israel” (v. 27). 

As the children of Israel were heading out from Sinai to the Promised Land, it was important for them to remember their identity as God’s people—that they belonged to the LORD.  And this wasn’t going to be easy.  Already at Sinai they had slipped into idolatry when they forced Aaron to build the golden calf for them to worship.  As they journeyed on time and again they would be tempted to turn away from the LORD.  Yet, as the priests would speak these words of blessing to the people, they would be putting the LORD’s name on them.  They’d be reminding them that they indeed belonged to the LORD and that all their blessings—every good thing they had—came from His grace and mercy.  On the one hand it would keep them from wanting to stray; and on the other, when they did stray (which unfortunately happened many times), these words of blessing reminded the people of Israel that the LORD was still faithful to them—even when they were unfaithful to Him. 

When I was little I used to think that driving was easy, that I could steer the car just fine.  It didn’t look that hard; Dad could do it, so why not me?  Well, then came the day that I asked if I could sit on Dad’s lap and drive.  So he let me.  We weren’t going fast, only ten miles per hour.  I’d turn the wheel and we’d head toward the shoulder of the road.  The only reason we didn’t have an accident was that Dad was holding the wheel at the bottom the whole time.  It was a thrilling experience—but it also was enough for me to figure out:  this driving stuff is hard! 

As the Lord leads us on our journey through life’s wilderness it’s tempting to want to take the controls, to believe that we can figure things out on our own, that my body belongs to me and I can do whatever I want with it.  After all, how hard can it be, right?  We forget that we belong to the LORD, the true God, who put His name on us the first time at our baptisms, when we were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

So that’s part of the reason why we still continue to speak this ancient blessing given to Aaron and his sons, to keep putting the LORD’s name on us.  Did you notice that in this blessing the LORD’s name is repeated three times?  A reminder that our God is the true God, the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And He is the LORD—the God of free and faithful grace who sets His captive people free from bondage.  And when we hear that name, we’re reminded that we are His—and no one else’s, not even our own.  We are His because He paid for us!  “You were redeemed not with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).    

As you go on your journey, faithfully receive this blessing—this blessing by which the LORD puts His name on you.   When you hear, “The LORD bless you and keep you,” in part it’s a reminder to let Him be the LORD and lead you!  A reminder not to grumble and complain, not to try to take the wheel of our lives for ourselves.  It’s a reminder to follow His will and no other, not even your own will.  It’s not as easy as it looks, is it?  Yet you can be sure that the LORD’s name is on you.  You are baptized into His name; You are His through faith, and even when you stray from His paths, the free and faithful grace of God is there to receive you back again once more.        

In the end, that’s the greater work that these words of blessing carry out.  Like all the other promises of the true God, they actually give you what they promise.  In the end, the Lord’s blessing can be faithfully received because it’s:

2.     A blessing that grants you His gifts.  

As the children of Israel headed out from Sinai to the Promised Land, they needed all the help they could get.  With these words of blessing, the LORD gave them the help they needed.  He told Moses, “Say to them:  ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon You, And give you peace.’  So shall I put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (v. 23-27). 

 “The LORD bless you and keep you.”  These words grant us the protection and preservation that we identify with God the Father.  He blesses and keeps us by providing all that we need for this body and life—food, clothing, house, home, and all that we own.  In His mercy He causes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on both the righteous and the wicked alike.  And on top of that He protects us from all danger and keeps us from all evil, working all things for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose (Ro 8:28). 

“The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you.”  In the Bible, especially the Old Testament, the notion of the LORD letting “His face shine” on us is often tied to the LORD’s grace and mercy.  Psalm 31, for example, “Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love” (v. 16).  And Psalm 80, “Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved” (v. 7).  And God can only make His face shine on us in grace because of the saving work of God the Son, our Savior Jesus  Christ:  “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Ro 5:1-2).  His death blots out all our guilt before God so that now we have access to His love through faith in Him.  And this leads us to the last part of the blessing that points us to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. 

“The LORD lift up His countenance upon you And give you peace.”  As the triune God reveals His grace to us, it changes our hearts.  He lifts His gracious smiling face toward us—smiling because of Christ—and in doing so, the Holy Spirit fills us with His peace.  As Paul said in our epistle lesson for today, “[T]he love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Ro 5:5).  We have the peace and hope borne of faith which the Spirit Himself has planted and nourished in our hearts through the good news of God’s forgiving love in Christ! 

When it comes to this journey through life, you and I need all the help we can get!  Faithfully receive the LORD’s blessing!  When you hear those words today, believe them, rely on them.  Rely on God to provide for all your needs, to be gracious and forgiving toward you in Christ, and to fill your heart with His peace.  And as you faithfully receive this blessing, faithfully share it!  Since the Triune God’s plan of salvation is finished in the death and resurrection of Christ, you and I are all priests in the kingdom of God.  We can give these words of blessing to each other!  So strengthen one another—and be strengthened for the journey! 

You can faithfully receive and share this blessing because His name is already on you—you belong to Him!  All His gifts are already yours—His protection, His love, His peace.  Let there be no doubt that as you journey through the wilderness of life, as long as you have the LORD’s blessing, you have everything you need.  And the LORD—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—will bring you safely to the Promised Land.  Amen.