#Blessed
November, a month epitomized by the transition from fall to winter, held together by the one day a year we must be thankful, and the ensuing week of rabid consumerism spending, is, for me, one of the most critical and overlooked months of our Christian year. The month begins on November 1st with All Saints Day, a day to celebrate the saints who serve and have served our church faithfully. Its axis is the Reign of Christ Sunday, a day to celebrate our crucified God who reconciles the world to himself through his death and resurrection. It concludes, then, with the beginning of our Christian year and advent, a time of preparation, joy, and anticipation. November, to Christ’s faithful, serves as an antithesis for what November has become in our own day.
I can think of no better place where this is epitomized than in the now-popular and oft-overused “#blessed.” In a May 2, 2014, article “They Feel ‘Blessed’” featured in the New York Times, author Jessica Bennett explains that the #blessed has now become synonymous with humble bragging, moments of luck, and shameless self-promotion. She writes, “Blessed has reached such heights of overuse that tracking it has become a virtual sport.” She cites fellow writer Danielle Thomson who says, “It’s almost as if the Internet now exists simply to voyeuristically hate-read all the ways everyone else in the world has been blessed. There is literally no other word that can simultaneously inspire such animosity and rapture. The overuse of the word has all but stripped it of its meaning. Another contributor, the comedian Erin Jackson mocks, “Now it’s just like, ‘Strawberries are half-priced at Trader Joe’s. I feel so blessed.”
What, then, is blessing and why is it important for us as a people to remember its true meaning? Blessing, in the Hebrew Bible, appears in three relational contexts: God to humanity, humanity to God, and human to human. All three forms of blessings appear with near equal frequency in the Bible. Timely rainfall, abundant harvest, full health, and success against enemies are all listed among the blessings Israel receives from God. The Psalms invite us to use phrases such as “May God be blessed,” and “Thanks be to God” to thank God for the blessings that have already been bestowed to us. In Ruth, Boaz’s greeting to his harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” is met with a hearty, “The Lord bless you!” This human-to-human blessing is a form of prayers for God to bless the other. By blessing another in the name of God, one implicitly acknowledges the sacred worth of another. Whether directed from God, to God, or to our neighbor, blessing is the relational experience of divine kindness, mercy, goodness, or favor.
The three forms of blessing in the Hebrew Bible suggest an intimate relationship between the one who blesses and the blessed. A blessing from God marks an intimate relationship between God and humanity, serving as proof that we find ourselves in God’s favor. When we respond to that blessing with a simple “Thank you God,” we recognize God’s favor in our lives and affirm the orientation of our faith. Far and away from humble bragging, a Christian understanding of #Blessed gives all glory and adoration to God. True blessing invites a posture of deep gratitude and thankfulness as we find ourselves as interconnected creatures in creation. Instead of feeling the compulsion to buy the latest and greatest iPhone 15 Pro, Titanium, because “everyone has it,” we can thank God for the blessings that we have before us. Instead of doom-scrolling social media and rage-watching the news, we can find appreciation for the gifts of October snow, cozy nights, and hot coffee. Instead of that false veneer of gratitude we limit to one day a year on Thanksgiving, we are called to enjoy the abundant blessings each day provides.
The benediction from Number 6:24-27 welcomes this posture into our community’s lives. “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.” This benediction is an invitation for us to welcome God’s abundance into our lives and an invitation to bring God’s abundance into the lives of our community. It is an invitation to put on the easy yoke of our faith in Jesus and cast off the exhausting burdens of our competitive, consumerist culture. As we close our Christian year, remember that we are a people who are blessed by God’s abundance known by the Saints in our midst, the person and work of Christ, and creation which sings our Creator’s praises. We are God’s beloved; thanks be to God.