New Year's Day
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
I cry at weddings. I don't know if that's true of others of you in the congregation, but somehow, that is a ceremony so packed with emotion and beautiful memories that it always brings me to tears. I even cried at my own wedding, not because I was sad, but because I was filled with joy. Usually, however, weddings are not occasions for tears. They are occasions for celebration.
Similarly, we do not often think of funerals as times for laughter. Yet, I have known persons who have gotten uncontrollable giggles at a funeral service. When they should be sad, they are laughing.
There are appropriate times to do or to say things. We probably all have had the experience of speaking out, when we should have been silent, or of being silent when we should have spoken, and of "kicking ourselves" afterwards for what we have done. Everything has its appropriate time, and that is what our lesson from Ecclesiastes is saying.
The book of Ecclesiastes is part of the Wisdom literature that is found in the Bible, and it shares the common doctrine of creation that is found in Wisdom writings. That doctrine holds that God has created certain orders in the universe -- customary ways in which nature and human beings behave. Those orders have been discovered by those who observe the world carefully, and if a person lives in harmony with such orders, that person is wise. But if a person will not accord with the orders God has established, that person is a fool and will not find a good life.
For example, God's order for marriage is that it be a faithful, lifelong relationship, but if one of the partners indulges in adultery, the marriage cannot be good or happy or lasting.
So God has given us the order of time, and part of wisdom is knowing when some action or word is appropriate and when it is not. There is even a time to kill, says our text -- perhaps when you discover a rat in your basement. And there is a time for war -- when a maniac named Adolf Hitler is killing six million Jews in gas ovens. There is a time to be born, and God has set the nine month schedule of that. But there is also a time to die, and that determination should also be left in the hands of our sovereign Creator, without interference from harried doctors or assisted suicide or extreme and futile medical measures. We are not the lords of life and death. God is. And there is indeed an appropriate time when we should give up our life to him.
But there is also a time, good Christians, when we should think about our deaths, and perhaps at the beginning of this new year, this is the time to do that. "So teach us to number our days," prays the Psalmist, "that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). As our text says, God has put eternity into our minds, although the author of Ecclesiastes thinks that we can know nothing further about that. But because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we know there is an eternal life beyond the grave. And perhaps as we examine our living at the beginning of this new year, we need to ask ourselves if what we are doing and saying will lead to that eternal life, or will it lead to the grave's extinction. We have set before us a time of decision -- an appropriate time -- a time to turn our lives around and to trust and obey our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we may inherit that good and eternal life that he has won for us. "O Lord, so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."
Lutheran Option--Numbers 6:22-27
According to the priestly writers of the Old Testament, from whom this text comes, priests in ancient Israel had many duties. They could judge a sacrifice to be acceptable or unacceptable. They could make atonement for the sins of the people. And, as here in our text, they could lay God's blessing upon the gathered congregation of worshipers. Thus, our clergy practice of blessing a congregation at the end of a worship service comes from a tradition that dates back thousands of years, perhaps to the time of Moses and Aaron.
But we have tended to trivialize that benediction. We rarely use the form that is given us here in Numbers, sometimes introducing benedictions that have very little to do with God and that simply assure the congregation that they can be happy. "May the Lord bless you real good." "God loves you and so do I." Such are the frequent well-wishes that we hear. To be sure, many of our blessings are quoted from the Apostle Paul, and given in the name of Jesus Christ, which is quite appropriate.
We need to realize, however, what we are doing when we bless the congregation. As our text says, we are rendering to the congregation the protection ("keep you"), the gracious favor ("make his face to shine;" "lift up his countenance"), and the peace granted by God. But those are not merely wishes. When the priests blessed Israel, the priests were the channels of God's active work upon the congregation. Not mere words were being said. Rather, the very vitality and action of God was being poured out upon the people. Through the priest's human words, God's power was being communicated to the gathered folk.
As a result, the ancient priests lifted up their hands over the people, because in the Bible, hands and arms are a symbol of power (cf. the story of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 17:8-13). To celebrate a victory by God, therefore, the Psalmist sang, "His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory" (Psalm 98:1). Thus the arms lifted up and the hands outstretched when we say the benediction are symbols of the fact that God is pouring out his power of favor, protection, graciousness, and peace upon the people.
I have often thought, therefore, that clergy should really throw themselves into the gesture of blessing. Two or three fingers held up do not convey the proper message. The whole arms raised and the hands outstretched are much more appropriate to that which is being communicated.
We should note carefully in our text, however, that there is nothing magical about the priests' blessing. Just because a priest says the proper words and performs the proper gestures does not mean that God is bound by those. Rather, God in his freedom must make the blessing effective, as we read in verse 27 of our text. And the Lord can choose to pour out his life on his people or withhold it. Nevertheless, the promise is there from God that he will indeed bless the people when the clergy pronounce God's benediction upon them, and we trust that promise. It is a holy and fearsome responsibility that we take upon ourselves when we utter God's blessing on his gathered folk.
Similarly, we do not often think of funerals as times for laughter. Yet, I have known persons who have gotten uncontrollable giggles at a funeral service. When they should be sad, they are laughing.
There are appropriate times to do or to say things. We probably all have had the experience of speaking out, when we should have been silent, or of being silent when we should have spoken, and of "kicking ourselves" afterwards for what we have done. Everything has its appropriate time, and that is what our lesson from Ecclesiastes is saying.
The book of Ecclesiastes is part of the Wisdom literature that is found in the Bible, and it shares the common doctrine of creation that is found in Wisdom writings. That doctrine holds that God has created certain orders in the universe -- customary ways in which nature and human beings behave. Those orders have been discovered by those who observe the world carefully, and if a person lives in harmony with such orders, that person is wise. But if a person will not accord with the orders God has established, that person is a fool and will not find a good life.
For example, God's order for marriage is that it be a faithful, lifelong relationship, but if one of the partners indulges in adultery, the marriage cannot be good or happy or lasting.
So God has given us the order of time, and part of wisdom is knowing when some action or word is appropriate and when it is not. There is even a time to kill, says our text -- perhaps when you discover a rat in your basement. And there is a time for war -- when a maniac named Adolf Hitler is killing six million Jews in gas ovens. There is a time to be born, and God has set the nine month schedule of that. But there is also a time to die, and that determination should also be left in the hands of our sovereign Creator, without interference from harried doctors or assisted suicide or extreme and futile medical measures. We are not the lords of life and death. God is. And there is indeed an appropriate time when we should give up our life to him.
But there is also a time, good Christians, when we should think about our deaths, and perhaps at the beginning of this new year, this is the time to do that. "So teach us to number our days," prays the Psalmist, "that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). As our text says, God has put eternity into our minds, although the author of Ecclesiastes thinks that we can know nothing further about that. But because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we know there is an eternal life beyond the grave. And perhaps as we examine our living at the beginning of this new year, we need to ask ourselves if what we are doing and saying will lead to that eternal life, or will it lead to the grave's extinction. We have set before us a time of decision -- an appropriate time -- a time to turn our lives around and to trust and obey our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that we may inherit that good and eternal life that he has won for us. "O Lord, so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."
Lutheran Option--Numbers 6:22-27
According to the priestly writers of the Old Testament, from whom this text comes, priests in ancient Israel had many duties. They could judge a sacrifice to be acceptable or unacceptable. They could make atonement for the sins of the people. And, as here in our text, they could lay God's blessing upon the gathered congregation of worshipers. Thus, our clergy practice of blessing a congregation at the end of a worship service comes from a tradition that dates back thousands of years, perhaps to the time of Moses and Aaron.
But we have tended to trivialize that benediction. We rarely use the form that is given us here in Numbers, sometimes introducing benedictions that have very little to do with God and that simply assure the congregation that they can be happy. "May the Lord bless you real good." "God loves you and so do I." Such are the frequent well-wishes that we hear. To be sure, many of our blessings are quoted from the Apostle Paul, and given in the name of Jesus Christ, which is quite appropriate.
We need to realize, however, what we are doing when we bless the congregation. As our text says, we are rendering to the congregation the protection ("keep you"), the gracious favor ("make his face to shine;" "lift up his countenance"), and the peace granted by God. But those are not merely wishes. When the priests blessed Israel, the priests were the channels of God's active work upon the congregation. Not mere words were being said. Rather, the very vitality and action of God was being poured out upon the people. Through the priest's human words, God's power was being communicated to the gathered folk.
As a result, the ancient priests lifted up their hands over the people, because in the Bible, hands and arms are a symbol of power (cf. the story of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 17:8-13). To celebrate a victory by God, therefore, the Psalmist sang, "His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory" (Psalm 98:1). Thus the arms lifted up and the hands outstretched when we say the benediction are symbols of the fact that God is pouring out his power of favor, protection, graciousness, and peace upon the people.
I have often thought, therefore, that clergy should really throw themselves into the gesture of blessing. Two or three fingers held up do not convey the proper message. The whole arms raised and the hands outstretched are much more appropriate to that which is being communicated.
We should note carefully in our text, however, that there is nothing magical about the priests' blessing. Just because a priest says the proper words and performs the proper gestures does not mean that God is bound by those. Rather, God in his freedom must make the blessing effective, as we read in verse 27 of our text. And the Lord can choose to pour out his life on his people or withhold it. Nevertheless, the promise is there from God that he will indeed bless the people when the clergy pronounce God's benediction upon them, and we trust that promise. It is a holy and fearsome responsibility that we take upon ourselves when we utter God's blessing on his gathered folk.
