Pastor Slaughter
June 12, 2022
Trinity Sunday
The Triune LORD Blesses You!
Numbers 6:22-27
What does someone mean when they say, “God bless you”? It really depends on how someone uses it. For example, when someone sneezes, you might automatically respond with a “God bless you” because that is what you are supposed to say. You may say to someone leaving, “God bless you” but isn’t more of a wish that they have a good day? What exactly is God’s blessings?
Now what do you think it means when I say, “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace”? Do you think it is expressing a wish or a hope? I wish that the Lord keeps you, makes his face shine on you, and be gracious to you. I wish the Lord looks on you with favor and I hope he gives you peace. Or maybe you just think it means that the service is done and it is time for you to go home. (I am a little surprised half of you didn’t get up and leave!) God’s blessing isn’t just a wish or a nice greeting or something that marks the end of church service. Today we will hear how the Triune God blesses us and hear what it means for us.
When you think about God, or when you talk about God, what is your impression of him? Is there a part of you that feels God is distant or aloof? Like he is there for you when turn to him in prayer but otherwise he is far removed from you. But maybe you know that God dwells you and is with you every step of the way but at times you question if that is really true. When the pain, and sorrow come your way, or when the suffering or headache fall upon you, “God it just feels like you are so far removed from me. Are you blessing me?”
In our lesson we see the nation of Israel gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai. And man… they saw some pretty incredible things. The LORD saw their misery and was concerned about their suffering. And he came down in a very miraculous way, showing his power and might with the pelages and rescuing them from the slavery of the Egyptians. During those displays of God’s power, it could have been easier for the people to see that God was with them then when they were wondering in the wilderness.
He not only rescued them from the Egyptians but also reveals himself to them as the LORD (all caps). Anytime you see that, remember who the LORD is… Compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin (Exodus 34:9-10). He is the God of free and faithful grace. The LORD comes to Moses and tells him, “to speak to Aaron and to his sons and to tell them to bless the Israelites with these words…”
So you have God telling Arron to speak his word to the people and as he is speaking his word the LORD (the God who is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…) will bless them. And the Israelites needed Aaron and his sons to repeatedly speaks God’s word, his blessing to them. The Israelites were about to set out on a treacherous journey through a dry and barren desert. They weren’t going to see God’s power in the same way as they did in Egypt. Yes God would show his presence and his power. Yes God did perform miracles in the desert. But even so they needed to hear Gods Word and receive his blessing through that word, just like you and me today. When we hear that blessing, we realize that God is not some far off distant God but he is actively involved in the lives of his people.
This blessing is really cool. In the blessing, you have the “LORD” (Compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin) spoken three times. And each time it describes a different aspect of what the LORD does for his people. This is why this lesson is chosen for Trinity Sunday. God is Triune, three distinct persons yet one God. When God reveals himself as triune, the point is to bless us.
Our God is anything but distant from us. “The LORD bless you and keep you.” The nation of Israel was going to embark on their journey in the wilderness. They would be totally dependent on God to provide for them. He miraculously provided manna and quail for them to them to eat. When they were thirsty, he provided water for them to drink. Throughout their wandering you hear how the people complained to Moses and even though the Lord had provided them at times it wasn’t good enough. In spite of all of that, the Lord not only provided for them but kept them safe during their journey
The Lord bless you and keep you. Isn’t there a temptation for us to begin to worry about God’s providing in our lives? When the medical bills begin to pile up, when you lose your job, when your savings starts to deplete because you are in a nursing home. It’s during those times that God may feel distant or aloof. But in his blessing he reminds you and promises you that he is there with you. We see the blessings he does provide for us homes food, children…etc. Ultimately the richest way in which the Lord blesses us is that he keeps us faithful to the gospel to the end of our lives!
How do we know that the Lord is going to bless and keep us? Because of what he says next, “The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.” We see how the nation of Israel turned their back on God. We see how they worshiped the golden calf, we see how they crumpled and complained against Moses and God. They didn’t deserve God’s blessings. The same is true for us.
We know our sins. We know the guilt that keeps us up at night. We didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. We don’t deserve God’s grace. In fact we did everything to push God away. By who we are, being born spiritually blind and dead to sin. By the sins we commit day after day. When we focus on our sins and feel its guilt, do we almost think that there is no way that would be close or near to us when we said or did that.
That is God’s grace—his undeserved love to us. It is that grace in Christ. For in Christ God shows his love to us—a deep, profound love which forgives us when we least deserve it because of sin. The LORD looks at us, covering all our sins with the perfect redemption that Christ has purchased for us. As we hear God’s word, he is present and blesses us with his grace “The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.”
“The LORD look on you with favor and give you peace.” Sometimes do we wonder if the LORD looks on us with favor? Sometimes do we wonder where is the peace that God gives us? The Israelites would wander in the barren wilderness, having to endure suffering. As we face the suffering on this side of heaven do we wonder “Does he really show us his favor? Does he give us peace?” Peace in the middle of conflict. Peace in the middle of hardships and if we don’t have this peace do we think that he so far distant and removed for us?
The Lord doesn’t promise to take away our suffering but we see the Holy Spirits work in the midst’s of suffering. Instead, he turns his face toward you. He shows favor toward you. And through his word he abides with you, weather you are about to wander thorough the desert as the Israelites were doing or you are facing the trials and suffering in life as was spoken in Romans 5. Through his Word he is by you side. He himself is there.
Because his face is toward you, you know with certainty of faith that as long as you are right with God through Christ (a recipients of his grace which you are) everything in you life will also work out right for your eternal good. You can stand up to the fiercest trials yes even in the face of death and have peace. That peace in knowing that whether you live or die, you are the Lord’s.
The triune God is not some distant God who is far removed from you but abides with you through his Word and blesses you. Yes YOU! In the Hebrew, God chose to use the single form for you, not you as a collective congregation. You as an individual. When you hear the blessing at the end of the service, the pastor isn’t talking to the congregation as a whole but you individually. The Lord bless you as you face the challenges and trials of life.
The Lord makes a promise to you in this blessing, “In this way they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.” This isn’t just some wish or hope. God himself puts his name on you. And he blesses you as you leave here today and go out into the world. Amen