Living the Benediction

Church services, when I was a child, seemed to have a hard time winding down to an end. Often I’d try to steal a glance at the clock at the rear of the sanctuary, knowing the pastor had preached well beyond the noon hour.  A lengthy altar call usually followed the sermon.  We’d stand and sing through all the verses of Just as I Am, only to start over again from the beginning as though my pastor was signaling his determination to outlast the very last recalcitrant sinner still clinging to his pew.

Now and then I’d catch my mother’s nervous glance, and I could tell she was thinking about the pot roast she’d left simmering at home. I often just wished someone would hurry up and get saved just so we could go home and eat. I could never tell how my pastor decided enough was enough, but eventually he’d call us to sing one of the verses as the last. He’d offer a prayer, release us, and send us on our way.

A time of coffee and fellowship follows the service at the church I now attend. Before dismissing us to our Styrofoam cups of steaming coffee, however, my pastor raises his arms and invites us to receive the benediction. Often he recites this one found at the end of the book of Hebrews:

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,  equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13: 20, 21 ESV

Benediction. The word means blessing, and it’s used quite often in Scripture. Patriarchs of the Old Testament pronounced blessings on their firstborn children, and something real happened when they did so. A transaction occurred. A son received real rights and privileges; he was assured of his inheritance.

Brothers formed lifelong resentments toward one another based on who did, or did not, receive his father’s blessing. Twins brothers struggled to beat one another out of their mother’s womb, wrestling to grab hold of their inheritance. Brothers threatened violence toward one another. In one case, there was some unpleasantness involving deception and bowls of soup.

The patriarchs of the Old Testament were mere men. They were not magicians who could speak words of blessing and cause them to happen. Of their own, they possessed no more power to bless their children than did a squirrel. These men did what God told them to do; they laid hands on their sons and spoke over them the words He told them to say. In doing so they conveyed something which had substance, something real.

When my pastor invites me to receive the benediction, something real happens. He’s not just reciting ceremonial words to signal the end of the worship service before dismissing me to my coffee. He is asking me to lift my eyes and receive my inheritance. He is reminding me of God’s promises and, in prayer on my behalf, is reminding God of the promises He’s made to me.

• He prays that God will equip me with everything good.
• He prays that God will enable me to do His will
• He asks God to do the work in me that will please Him.

Notice what does not happen in a benediction. My pastor does not raise his arms and say, “Okay, now that I’ve given you a pep talk from God’s word, I want you to go out this week and try really, really hard to do what I just said.”

He invites me to receive God’s blessing. He reminds me that God is at work in me, growing me up to do things that are pleasing to Him. He reminds me of what is already true about me.

When I get up each morning, I don’t stop and ask myself whether or not I’m going to behave throughout the day like a gray-haired middle-aged woman. That’s just who I am. Granted, on any given day I may behave like a twelve-year old; but my behavior doesn’t change what is true about me.

I don’t know how your church service typically ends. Perhaps you sing all the verses to Just as I Am multiple times. Perhaps it ends with a simple prayer. But. If your service concludes with a prayer of benediction, I encourage you to stop and listen to the words. Lift your eyes and receive God’s blessing. Then, after you’ve received your Styrofoam cup full of coffee, go in peace to live what is true about you.

Grab hold of your blessing. Live the benediction.

Linking with Michelle @ Graceful:

And with Jen and the sisterhood: