Numbers 6:22-27 - The Trinity's Blessing Leaves You Lacking Nothing - June 12, 2022

There are certain occasions in each of our lives when we speak and we must – more than usual – mean what we say. When you were confirmed, you vowed before God and man to “reject the devil along with all his lies and empty promises” and “to continue steadfast in this teaching and to endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it.” If you are married, you again stood before God and man and promised “to be faithful [to your spouse] as long as [you] both shall live.” If you’ve ever been asked to testify in court, you swore to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” There are certain moments in life when we want everyone to know that we really mean what we are saying. There’s a problem though. Whenever we, as sinful humans, make a promise or take an oath or swear to tell the truth; whenever we speak – there’s always something lacking. Raise your hand if you’ve never doubted or wavered in your faith since you vowed to endure all things for the sake of Christ. Raise your hand if you’ve never been unfaithful to your spouse in thought, word or deed. Raise your hand if you believe you can ever really know the WHOLE truth. No matter how sincere we are when we speak, we are always lacking; lacking in commitment, determination or knowledge. In the end, our words are always lacking because we are fickle, sinful human beings. But the triune God is neither fickle nor sinful. When he speaks he always has the power to do what he says. And when God blesses you, he leaves you lacking nothing.  

I.                    The Father’s Providence

The words before us this morning are very familiar. In the course of the church year, you will hear these words dozens of times; with the result many of you have heard them hundreds of times, and a few of you thousands of times. There’s a danger in this familiarity though, isn’t there? The danger is that we might start to believe that these are just words; just words that mark the end of church; just words intended to give us a warm, fuzzy feeling as we leave God’s house. The law for today is this: if you have ever taken these words for granted or have found your mind wandering as these words are spoken or have left with this blessing but then allowed the worries and troubles of life cause you to forget them: repent. Repent for treating the blessing of the triune God as just empty words. Repent for failing to recognize that these words are God’s promise to you, his guarantee, his contract that he signs with his own name. Repent and be forgiven so that you may always treasure this incredible gift the triune God gives you as you leave his house.

These aren’t just words. God first gave these words to Moses and Aaron around 1500 BC as Israel was preparing to set out from Mt. Sinai for the Promised Land. At God’s command, Aaron and his sons were to speak this blessing over Israel every morning and every evening. For more than 3500 years God’s servants have placed his name on his children by repeating these words. Even though I’ve spoken these words countless times, I was reminded of something interesting as I was studying them this past week: these words allude to and spell out the work of each person of the Trinity. Not just in the threefold repetition of the name LORD, but in the particular blessings each part contains. The Israelites could not have seen this clearly, they were still looking forward to the fuller revelation of God in the person of the Messiah – but as NT Christians who have the fuller revelation of God in Jesus, we can see clearly how this blessing reveals what God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have each done and are doing for our salvation.  

The LORD bless you and keep you. In Hebrew the word “bless” means to bestow – to actually give – someone something. It’s more than a wish; it’s God the Father’s promise to act. We see an example of this in Genesis 1:28 where God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God blessed Adam and Eve – and what happened? They were fruitful – today their descendants cover the earth (almost 8 billion of them!). They ruled over creation – and today we have more food than we can eat. The point is this. When God speaks, it’s not an empty wish. His Word carries the power to do what he says. Maybe this becomes even clearer when you consider the opposite: God’s curse. In Genesis 3, God cursed the ground – and even now our gardens are filled with thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:17-19). In Genesis 19, God cursed Sodom and Gomorrah and all that remains of them is scorched earth (Genesis 19). When God speaks, things happen. When God blesses you, he is promising to provide everything you need for life – your body, your talents, your abilities, your health, your home and job and family are the result of this blessing. But the Father doesn’t only provide for you, his promise to keep you means that he will watch over you every day of your life. Everything you are and have, your past, present, and future are in your Father’s hands – and he promises to use every moment of it – the good and the bad, the joy and the sorrow, life and death – for your eternal good (Romans 8:28). God’s blessing leaves you lacking nothing and the Father’s special work is that he will provide for you and protect you. We call this his gracious, undeserved providence. Let us thank the Father for his providence by confessing our faith…

II.                  The Son’s Grace

I’m willing to bet that among the many communications you receive every week are at least a few requests for a donation of time or money. When you receive those requests, see that there are people in need and decide to help them without asking for or expecting anything in return – that’s called charity. That thought of helping someone in need comes out in part two of the Aaronic blessing. The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The first question is: God has a face? I thought he was a spirit (John 4:24)? This is called an anthropomorphism – that is, applying a human attribute to God. When you turn your face toward someone or something, you are giving it your attention. And that’s the point here. Even though our sins have separated us from God and prevent us from coming into his presence (Isaiah 59:2) he turns his attention to us. His gracious attention. When you hear the word grace you probably think of the classic confirmation definition: undeserved love. But the Hebrew uses a different word meaning “to grant a favor” or “help someone in need” [1] - much like you do when you give to charity.

How did the LORD most clearly demonstrate that we have his attention and help in our need? Here’s one place the classic Sunday school answer is the right answer: Jesus! We needed something and he provided it. We needed a perfect life to cover our absolutely imperfect lives; we needed the forgiveness of sins; we needed someone to save us from the fire of hell. We needed help, and Jesus was the only one who could give us what we need. When the virgin Mary conceived and gave birth to a baby boy long ago in Bethlehem (Luke 2:6-7), God made his face shine on the world. As that baby boy grew and learned and taught and healed and lived and loved –Jesus was weaving together the robe of perfect righteousness that covers all our unrighteousness. And when that grown man climbed Calvary and surrendered himself to the worst punishment that God and man could dish out, the Son of God paid the price for our sins with his blood. We were in need, we are still in need, and so as we leave God’s house we are assured that Jesus came and lived and died and rose again as proof of God’s attention and grace.

Too often when people think about receiving blessings from God they are only thinking of earthly, material blessings – in other words, our prayers tend to focus on 1st Article blessings. But when you set the first two parts of this blessing side-by-side, an interesting thing happens: you realize that the Father’s material blessings would be worthless apart from the spiritual blessings Jesus won for us. A job, a career, a steady income is a wonderful blessing, but no amount of work can earn the righteousness God demands from us. Only Jesus can. Jesus provided for our lack of righteousness by living a flawless life under God’s law as our substitute. A roof over our heads is a wonderful blessing; but it cannot shelter us from God’s wrath over our sin. Only Jesus can. Because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath on the cross his blood shelters us from God’s judgment. It’s certainly a blessing to live in a country where we can speak and worship freely, but neither the constitution nor the judiciary can free us from death’s prison. Only Jesus can. Jesus robbed death of its sting when he burst out of his three-day prison and rose from the dead. When God blesses you, he leaves you lacking nothing; and the unique work of the Son is to give you his undivided and undeserved attention and grace that frees us from the eternal consequences of our sin. Let us thank him for his grace by confessing our faith…

III.                The Spirit’s Peace

You know how whenever there’s a mass shooting or a natural disaster or a political scandal, people always act shocked and surprised – as if these things have never happened in our world? It’s almost as if people assume that peace is the normal status quo in this world. You don’t have to be a history major to recognize that this is not the case. Peace is not the norm; war, violence, corruption, terror is. If we have a moment peace in our lives, we should never take it for granted, because it is a rare and precious gift.

Given the way that many people seem to coast through life without ever giving a thought to God or repentance or forgiveness or judgment or eternity – you might get the impression that we are simply born into a peaceful relationship with God. On balance, this is a far more dangerous mistake. Peace is not our natural relationship to God; by nature we are God’s enemies who are in open rebellion against him and his Word (Romans 8:7-8). That’s why it’s so remarkable that in the third part of his blessing, God promises us the opposite of what we deserve: the LORD look on you with favor and give you peace. Our world has a warped understanding of peace. To the world, peace is having enough money in the bank to pay the bills; peace is having a family that always gets along; peace is the absence of crime and war; peace is looking on the outside the way you feel on the inside. The dirty little secret is that you can have all those things – and still not have peace. True peace, the peace that Jesus died to win for you is the peace of forgiveness, the peace of a clean conscience and a heart free from guilt, the peace of knowing that this fallen world is not your real home – in short, true peace is peace with God.

Jesus created true peace between you and God once and for all when he died and rose, but because you can’t go to the cross or the tomb to pick up this gift, they must be delivered. The Holy Spirit is the delivery man. He first delivered this peace to you when you were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. On that day, the Holy Spirit transformed you from God’s enemy into God’s child. As Paul writes in Galatians: you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ…And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-29). But the Holy Spirit’s work didn’t end there at the baptismal font. Daily and weekly the Spirit delivers God’s peace to you – in the words of absolution, in the body and blood of Jesus you receive in the Sacrament, in your own personal meditation on the Word of God – wherever and whenever the message of forgiveness in Christ is taught or offered or read, the Holy Spirit is delivering God’s peace to you – even (and especially) when your life is anything but peaceful. God’s blessing leaves you lacking nothing; and the Spirit’s special work is to deliver true peace; God’s peace, the peace Jesus earned, to you through simple human servants and the simple means of grace – the Gospel in Word and sacrament.

How can we respond to our God’s blessing of providence, grace, and peace? Before we close with Luther’s explanation of the third article I want you to take something to heart. How do we respond to the Aaronic blessing of our Triune God? With “amen,” a Hebrew word meaning “Yes, it shall be so.” Every Sunday, and every day for that matter, God promises to give you everything, leaving you lacking nothing, and what does he want in return? Only faith that believes and receives his promises. So whenever you hear this blessing, know that they’re not just words; they are the Holy Trinity’s oath to give you everything you need, so that you can sing and speak and live with the conviction that: “Yes, it shall be so.” Amen.

[1] Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p 302