A good pastoral benediction is a reminder, a command, a promise of blessing all wrapped into one. It reminds us of who God is—the One who is great and awesome and rightly deserving of our loyal worship; of what we are called to do—to walk humbly, dependently and dutifully before him; and what he will do as a result—bless our socks off. It is powerful and meaningful, and it bears repeating week after week as we leave the gathering of saints to go back into our respective worlds.
The Journey // Focus: Joshua 22:5-6
Be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went home.
I am not sure how you feel about your pastor’s benediction. Maybe you zone out when he or she gives the final blessing. Perhaps you treat it like the flight attendant giving you the safety speech before takeoff. Or maybe the blessing is code for “I better pick my lane now so I can beat the crowd out of the parking lot—don’t want to get stuck in the back of the buffet line!” It could be that your church tradition has no tradition of benediction—I have been in churches where the final word from the pastor is something akin to “well, see ya later!”
Or it could be that the blessing at the end of your worship experience is a very big deal to you. I hope it is. And if it isn’t, I hope from this point on you will stop, listen closely, and absorb those words as not just from your pastor, but as words of blessing from God himself. That is the intention of the biblical benediction. And if your church doesn’t have that experience, encourage your spiritual leader to offer the blessing you so crave from God through his or her formal blessing.
In a sense, Joshua was the proto-pastor. He was leading his people into battle, settling them into their new life in Canaan, establishing worship practices of the spiritual community, and getting them ready for a transition of leadership as he came to the end of his assignment. He had done his duty, and he had done it well. There was victory on every side and it was now time for Israel to settle into a season of peace. After he had finished dividing up the land, he now spoke to the tribes who had decided to take land on the east side of the church. They had faithfully done their part in helping their brother tribes conquer the west side of the river. Now Joshua was ready to dismiss them, and he did with this benediction—and it pretty well covered all the bases:
As you go, obey. Do what God has commanded. Love him with all your heart. Walk the walk of your faith. Trust the Lord completely. Serve him with joy and gladness. Do that and God will multiply his manifold blessings in your lives beyond your wildest belief.
Those words were a reminder, a command, a promise of blessing all wrapped into one. And that is always the case with a good benediction. It reminds us of who God is—the One who is great and awesome and rightly deserving of our loyal worship, of what we are called to do—to walk humbly, dependently and dutifully before him, and what he will do as a result—bless our socks off.
That is the pastoral blessing. It is powerful and meaningful, and it bears repeating week after week as we leave the gathering of saints to go back into our respective worlds. Not just as empty liturgy, it is to invoke the blessings of Almighty God for this particular week. Just like saying grace before a meal is recognizing our constant dependence on God for daily bread, so in the benediction, the pastor says, “God I commit this people to you again today. Bless with safety and provision as they go their way, and bring them back as the community of faith the next time we gather. Amen.”
And as I close this devotional blog, as you go your way, let me offer this benediction over your life today:
May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
By the way, when that benediction was originally delivered in Numbers 6, we are told that it was literally God himself who was pronouncing it upon the people through the spiritual leader who delivered it. That is still the case when you receive the pastoral blessing.
May God bless you!
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