I apologize for my slowness in posting pictures and stories from the past month of Travel Component. I promise that there is so much to share with you and I am working on it in the midst of all of my finals and papers... Yes, you guessed it, once more I am writing to tell you that soon updates will come. However, as I was searching the net tonight I stumbled across this article on Relevant Magazine's website on injustice and the idea of blessing challenges me and so I thought I would share this article with you as a precursor to some of the stories and thoughts that will quickly follow. Enjoy. I love you. Check up on the blog again soon... it's coming!!
In His Mighty Grip,
Your Kara Joy
To Bless or Not to Bless
-Brandon Andress
Link to Article in Relevant
How do you respond to injustice?
Just after typing out the question, I sat and looked at my computer for a long while. Isn't that the question of the ages? It's not like a little man sitting in front of his computer monitor punching away on a few keys can solve this question in a matter of a couple of paragraphs. Countries, kingdoms and empires have risen and fallen without ever coming to the realization of how to best answer the question. Hundreds of millions have been oppressed, tortured and murdered throughout history because, in many cases, humanity's answer to injustice is violence, anger, hostility and aggression. In a sense it seems as though we are trying to cure injustice and violence with more injustice and violence. It isn’t fixing the issue, but rather creates a cycle promoting the problem at hand.
Take, for instance, the account in Genesis where Jacob deceived his blind father Isaac into blessing him instead of his older brother, Esau. As a result of this deception and the fact that a blessing could not be revoked, Esau was given a curse by his father. Anyway you look at this account, it is injustice. In order to fully understand and appreciate the magnitude of the injustice, we need to understand the power of a blessing and the power of a curse in Hebrew culture.
There is a special power in a blessing and in a curse given by sacred people in relation to God. In ancient Hebrew culture a blessing was everything. Though there are many Hebrew synonyms for the word "curse", there is not one synonym for "blessing" or in Hebrew berekah. The word for blessing stood alone and was not considered a hollow word that could be used lightly. It meant something big and was extraordinarily powerful. Many believed that a blessing or a curse given by a sacred person had power to influence God for the benefit or the injury of the recipient.
In ancient Hebrew culture it was the Patriarchs, namely Moses, prophets, priests and fathers who had the power to bless and curse people. It was understood that these individuals were in close relation to God and as a result could extend this providential blessing or curse. In fact, fathers were looked at as the "priests" of their family, which meant that they had a close relationship with God and could pass along blessings or curses to their sons and essentially chart the course for their son's future.
So when Jacob deceitfully receives the blessing from his father and Esau in turn is cursed, we understand that something profound has happened. Something that has the power to completely affect each sons’ future has taken place. That is why we sympathize with Esau in his emotional despair; however, the way Esau chooses to respond to injustice is to avenge his brother through murder.
If there is power in a blessing and a curse given by sacred people in relation to God, and if the power of blessings and curses can affect individuals for the future, what does this mean for us? As Christians, we are described as a sacred people a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) that are not just in close relation with God but actually have God residing within us (2 Corinthians 6:16). As a sacred people, we can use our relation with God for the benefit or injury of others through our blessings and curses.
In other words, in the face of personal or societal injustice how are we, as Christians, called to respond? Do we continue the endless, repetitive cycle of injustice by cursing people? Or do we choose another option? If we are honest about the life and person of Jesus, we have no other choice than to pursue self-sacrificial love that blesses in the face of injustice. But what does a life transformed by the Spirit of God that chooses to stop the tired, worn-out cycle of injustice by blessing look like?
The beauty of a blessing is that it is never too late to begin. Twenty years after Jacob fled from his murderous brother Esau they are finally reunited in one of the most suspenseful accounts in the Bible. As the two brothers approach each other, Jacob believes that Esau is still mad enough to kill him. Rather, Esau runs toward Jacob and embraces him. It is never too late to choose to bless.
How now will you respond to injustice? Who have you previously cursed that you need to bless? Unless we decide that we are going to stop the cycle of injustice by blessing rather than cursing, the cycle will go unbroken.
Dig Deeper
Genesis 33:1-4
Proverbs 22:9
Psalm 41:1
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