My Dear Shepherds,<\/p>\n\n
In Marilynne Robinson’s novel, Gilead,<\/em> an elderly and ailing minister writes to his young son whom he knows he will not see grow up. At one point he’s explaining the pastoral privilege of pronouncing God’s blessing. He says, “Not that you have to be a minister to confer blessing. You are simply much more likely to find yourself in that position. It’s a thing people expect of you.” Then he adds, “I don’t know why there is so little about this aspect of the calling in the literature.”<\/p>\n\n Exactly! Why were some of us taught so little about the pastoral privilege and responsibility of conferring God’s blessing on his people? We’re preachers. We believe in the holy potency of God’s Word spoken. So it is with God-given words of blessing. It was one of the principal duties of the Old Testament priests:<\/p>\n\n Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the LORD, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever<\/strong>. <\/em>(1 Chron. 23:13; cf. Deut. 10:8; 21:5)<\/p>\n \n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The essential assignment, of course, was this:<\/p>\n\n Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:<\/em><\/p>\n ‘The LORD bless you and keep you;<\/em><\/p>\n the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;<\/em><\/p>\n the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’<\/em><\/p>\n So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”<\/em> (Num. 6:24-27)<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Pastors who aren’t in the habit of blessing their congregations with such sacred words don’t realize what they or their people are missing. A blessing God intends for them to hear and treasure goes unspoken and undervalued.<\/p>\n\n It may seem unnecessary to pronounce a blessing which God’s people already have. Won’t God keep them and be gracious to them whether or not we say it? Yes, but that’s evidently not the point. God wanted this blessing to be constantly reiterated. “Forever,” he said. And he told them why.<\/p>\n\n\n
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