Eighth Sunday of Pentecost
Reverend Mary Beth Morgan, preaching
Numbers 6:22-27
Blessing in the Midst of it All
Last week in worship, we considered, in the Book of Joshua, the stones that the people would set as markers of great visitations of God, visible reminders that God was with them. There was also a verbal way in which this awareness of the presence of the Divine was conveyed wherever they were. The “priestly blessing”, in Numbers 6, gave consistent words of grace given by God to religious leaders to say to the people. This blessing, which is still shared in both Christian and Jewish communities, begins with the words, “The Lord bless you and keep you”. And it includes a longing that the very “face of the Lord” would shine on them. This powerful expression means more than that “God smiles on them,” as some translations read. It means that the Lord looks upon the people of God with favor, and is blessing their very existence and sojourn in the world.
The stones became tangible reminders of the sacred memories held by previous generations, and passed down to new generations who were adding their own. This Sunday, in the Book of Numbers, we are going back (sort of a biblical “prequel”) to some of those previous generations whose stories and memories were poured symbolically into these stones. These memories included times of joy, immense sorrow, war, devastation and ordinary days.
Today, we are building our own collection of memories and blessings that we will hold, and future generations will inherit. For this Sunday’s worship, individuals and families were invited to share an image of a memory they will hold from this time of pandemic. Your photos and words were great in number and in thoughtfulness and grace. We will share these (in video form) in the worship service, which will also include inspiring music from our musicians and singers, a children’s moment, prayer and reflection, reading of the scripture from the Hebrew Bible (Numbers 6:22-27) from both Abby Brass (sharing a translation in English) and Aaron Comforty (sharing a translation in Hebrew with a brief reflection). The sermon title is “Blessing in the Midst of it All.” We look forward to worshiping together, on the livestream, this Sunday at 10:30am.