God's Blessing

What does it mean to be blessed by God? What does it mean to say to a friend, "God bless you"? What does it mean to say, "God bless America"?

The English verb bless is used for several different meanings from the original languages in translating the Bible into English. For example, a very literal translation is to bend the knee or to worship, praise, adore. Thus when bless is used of God (ie. Blessed be the Lord) we speak of worshipping God. Thus it would be appropriate to call on America to bless God.

When bless or blessed is used in relationship to men and women, the meaning is different. Here, as in the beatitudes, it means happiness because we are assured of the blessing of God. Thus we read in Matthew 5: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." To offer another the blessing God bless you is to give assurance of God's presence with them in good days and bad.

In the Old Testament the nature of God's blessing was often indicated by material prosperity while in the New Testament it is more often the faithful who are said to be blessed, especially those who suffer because of their faithfulness. Any sense of reward connected to this blessing of God is usually seen as something yet in the future. Thus, for instance, we read in Matthew 5:11-12, "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven...."

In the Old Testament the nature of God's blessing toward a people is given for a purpose. When God calls Abram to leave his homeland and go to a new land, God offers this blessing: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." Thus the new nation is not blessed in a special and unique way but so the nation in turn will bless all the families and nations of the earth. To say God bless America is not to request special and unique blessings from God, but rather to remind ourselves that we are to bless all the peoples and lands of the world in God's name.

This becomes more evident in the New Testament when the people of God are no longer limited to any one nation. God's people are in many lands and are sent out to all nations to continue the work of Jesus. The promise to Abram of a great nation becomes the Kingdom Jesus proclaims that transcends heaven and earth, as well as national and ethnic boundaries.

May the God of this Kingdom bless us all so that we may become a blessing to each other.

Herman

Herman Kauffman serves as District Pastor for the Northern Indiana District of the Church of the Brethren. Prior to assuming this position in November 1994, he served 20+ years as a pastor in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He has been married for over 20 years and is the father of two children.