Dear Congregation,
What is with calling the close of the worship service with an archaic name all about? After all, that is what it signifies doesn’t it? No, not really.
The word Benediction carries the meaning speaking well or speaking a blessing. And that is really the purpose. We have been in the awesome and gracious presence of God, enjoying His grace in mercy and love and benefiting from the instruction of His Word, comforted and strengthened in our faith, and now we are about to leave.
Is there a leaving word for us? Is there an encouragement for life beyond this citadel of worship and blessing in the presence of God? The answer is yes, we are assured in this word of God’s blessing that rests upon us in Christ continues to go with us in Christ also. That is the Benediction – it is not a prayer lifted up to God but a pronouncement in the name of God. It is an assurance from God He has indeed been in their midst and that He intends to bless His people.
With a prayer, we ask for what only God can do: “Father in heaven, may your kingdom come.”
With a doxology, we give the glory only God is due: “Now to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
With a benediction, we expect what only God can give: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5).
– Drew Hunter
‘By it the people who have gathered together in God’s name and with his presence among them depart with the assurance that God has indeed been in their midst and that he intends to bless his people.’ (Ryan McGraw)
From the very beginning of Scripture, in the beginning of the creation of humanity, we discover that our God delights in blessing His people – “Then God blessed them…” (Gen 1:28). In John 20:19-22 the resurrected Jesus appears to His disciples as the markers of the new creation and pronounce a benediction “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! …. Receive the Holy Spirit…”
The classic and still relevant example in the OT is the Aaronic Blessing given in Numbers 6:22-27. This is perhaps the best-known and most commonly used benediction in the history of the church.
“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.”
Numbers 6:24-26
This benediction is important in establishing the warrant for the use of benedictions in corporate worship, since it was the first occasion on which ordained officers in the church, the OT priests, were instructed to pronounce a blessing on the congregation of God’s people on a regular basis.
It declared that the result of the presence and blessing of God upon his people was grace and peace. Notice the similarity to Paul’s usual greeting to the churches of the New Testament, “Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The blessing contained a promise of the grace and comforts that result from the presence of God among His people and His promises affirmed to them.
It is not lost on us – or should not be – that only 5 of the NT letters do not close with an Apostolic benediction (I’ll leave you to discover which and to ponder why that might be so in the context of these letters). The forms of these benedictions vary but they all share the character of being blessings from God to His people through His apostles.
The popular example of an apostolic benediction is the “Trinitarian” blessing in 2 Cor 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” By this we learn that the form of a benediction is not limited to the Aaronic Blessing, allowing the minister to vary his use of the Scriptural blessings, but it also indicates that it was a regular part of the worship of the new covenant people of God.
Returning to the Aaronic blessing we should also note how in the following verse, verse 27, God underscores and yet interprets the impact of that blessing by saying “So shall they put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (v.27).
God sets His name upon those who received His blessing.
Does the weight of that privilege and yet responsibility sink in as you leave the place of worship, as you return to the world and circumstances of daily life? Are you aware of who you are by whose you are? What will you say of God as you go out among people – believers and unbelievers alike? What will others say of you through your living among them? You bear God’s name – does that bearing resonate with the grace it involves? Does it demonstrate the grace it declares?
How does it speak to you in the midst of the demands and at times the severest trials of life – that God is so invested in you, concerned and also committed to do you good? How does it impact your prayer-life, your reading and meditating on His Word, your fellowshipping with His people, your witnessing to His gospel?
As I said the Benediction itself is not a prayer, but it does form the basis upon which prayer is framed, the strength by which life is embraced, the hope by which death us faced.
As Drew Hunter wrote, ‘They Give Us God-Sized Expectations.’
Whilst arguably it is not the most precious moment in the worship service – I wonder where you might posit that to be – it is nonetheless a very precious moment giving encouragement and confirmation to the people of God of the truth of the promises which they had received from God.
‘When they hear the benediction at the close of the service, they should leave the special presence of God with their faith stirred toward his promises, knowing that they have been blessed and shall be blessed.’ (Ryan McGraw)
Together in Christ’s love and service,
John Your Pastor