It's called a benediction, and it's what I referenced several times in worship this past Sunday.
The word is from the Latin word benedictus, which means good words, or to speak well-of. Traditionally, a benediction is offered at the end of a worship service and serves two functions: As a prayer of blessing and as a charge to the congregation to be God's People.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine reminded me of the blessing in the 1990s movie, The Cider House Rules. In that movie, you may recall the bedtime routine of an orphanage for small boys. After reading a chapter in a book, the caretaker stands up and proclaims: "Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England."
When the lights go out, and the room goes quiet, one of the boys whispers: "Why does he do that?"
"I don't know," another boy responds.
"Do you like it when he does that?"
"Yeah. I do," is the reply.
The benediction that I shared during Sunday's sermon belongs to Richard Halverson, the former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and a former chaplain of the United States Senate. For many years, he offered the same Benediction after each service.
"Wherever you go," Halverson would announce, "God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. God has a purpose in your being right where you are. Christ, who indwells you by the power of his Spirit, wants to do something in and through you. Believe this and go in his grace, his love, his power. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen."
These good words serve as a necessary truth that we need to hear.
More often than not, a benediction--or blessing--is a pronouncement of truth that may not be immediately recognizable to the one who hears it. In fact, we yearn for a blessing. As Myron Madden puts it in his book, The Power to Bless, the "blessing is a transfusion of life." The good words are life-giving because our soul yearns to know that we are created in God's image and that we are—at our core— good. The blessing enables us to see that we have been made for a great purpose.
The blessing has deep historical and biblical roots, of course. Blessings are worth manufacturing, seeking out, and stealing. Historically, the elder's blessing on a first-born, for example, became an economic pronouncement that had implications ranging from status to future prosperity. In our context, the blessing bestows empowerment, confidence, and love.
Richard Halverson's blessing is well-received because we want these words to be true. We crave the reminder that we are at an intersection of Divine purpose and opportunity. We desire to hear again and again that God's goodness in Jesus Christ is, in fact, deep within us. We are hungry to live a life where we claim God's purpose in our lives and that God will use us for good.
As an old pastor once liked to say, "We are blessed to be a blessing."
Receive God's good words so that the Word that God forms in you can be shared with others.