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It is God’s promise, this covenant of blessing that gave Abram a new name, Abraham, which means “ancestor of a multitude.”

God promised Abraham to “make his name great.” And through Abraham, as we read in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, “all the nations of the earth gain blessing.” Abraham is considered the father of three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Biblical blessings, we learn, are life-changing affirmations.

But in our culture, it seems that “blessings” or being “blessed” are watered down. We bless people when they sneeze or cough. We say that we are blessed when we are wealthy enough to afford luxuries. And when good luck comes our way, we say that we are blessed.

But blessings are much more than that.

The modern English word blessing comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means "marked with blood." What? Blood? This may seem gory and barbaric, but that's not really so. Rather, it is part of our Christian heritage and our daily lives.

Abraham is blessed by God, and then that blessing, that blood mark, is passed on to his descendants. In an upper room, Jesus broke bread with his friends and disciples and offered a new blessing to all who believe in him.

When we gather in worship, we remember in our liturgy the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples. When we share in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, we are marked with Christ’s blood. As children of the new covenant in Christ Jesus, we are the inheritors of the blessing. We have been blessed with the blessing that has been handed down to us from Abraham to Moses through Jesus Christ.

But it doesn’t stop there. We cannot hold this blessing in; it spills forth from us because we can’t contain it! We are blessed, in order to pass on that blessing. When we leave our sanctuaries, we are renewed, strengthened, and re-energized to proudly wear this blessing mark.

With God’s blessing we are not lucky; we are chosen. To bless others is to pass on the goodness of God, the love of God, the sacrifice of God, the hope of God, the joy of God, the promise of God.

Through Christ’s blood we have been marked for the sake of the world. And with the Holy Spirit, we are inspired to pass on the blessing.

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Last winter, my children, ages 4 and 2, both contracted pneumonia. They were the ones who were sick, but the whole family was completely drained and devastated by their illness. Exhaustion is a vicious cycle, depleting you just when you most need your strength. And pneumonia is deceptive. During the day, the children seemed to be on the road to recovery, but then every night came hours of coughing, fever, and unending pleas and prayers.

Eventually they recovered.
That episode reminded me to be thankful for my children’s health and to appreciate the blessing of access to good medical care for them. I think about that when I catch myself complaining about a cold, and now I thank God when we're all feeling fine!

Another blessing we're likely to take for granted is presence.

We miss someone's presence when they're gone. Has someone close to you moved away? Has someone died? Has someone left you in some way or another? Presence is the ultimate blessing, given to us by the triune God; and we pass it on to one another.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you should say to the Israelites, ‘I AM sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14

This declaration reveals the core of God’s self: God was, is, and will be. God abides with us. This is the blessing of presence, and one we take for granted on a daily basis. If things are going well and you feel that life is mundane, you are ignoring God’s stabilizing presence.

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