“Bless you!”
Someone sneezes in a public place and suddenly someone else, often a total stranger, blurts out that wish.
Some have attributed the tradition to Pope Gregory I, who reportedly ordered everyone to say “God bless you” after someone sneezed in order to stem the spread of the plague. Others trace it back much earlier to beliefs that sneezing opened up an entryway for the Devil.
Whatever the case, the saying, “Bless you!” is a wish for good to come to someone in the face of impending tragedy.
But I have a question: What does it really mean for someone to bless someone else? Is it just a wish for someone’s well being? Or is it something more?
Biblically speaking, blessing someone is more – much more – than a mere wish. It means to guarantee the well being of another. A person has been blessed when he or she has been given life, prosperity, security, comfort and consolation. In the Bible, this is the way God blesses people. He guarantees their well being. In fact, God’s blessing is so valuable that Jacob and Esau fought over it. (Genesis 25:19ff)
But it’s not just God who blesses people. We become a blessing when we provide those same conditions for someone who doesn’t have them and can’t attain them on their own. We normally associate this kind of blessing with marriage and family. We bless our wives and children by providing for them, protecting them and loving them.
But God’s vision for us as believing men is to be a blessing, not just to our wives and children, but to everyone around us who desperately need it. “Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Paul reminds his readers in Galatians 6:10. The temptation for us is to limit the scope of our blessing to just our family.
But it’s not just tempting to limit the scope of our blessing, but also to dilute it. The needs around us can be overwhelming. We know our resources are limited, at least from our human perspective. And so we convert our blessing into a mere wish, “May you be blessed.” Translation: “I have no idea how this can or will happen, but I hope that somehow life, prosperity, security, comfort and consolation come to you.”
The Bible, however, ridicules that kind of blessing. Listen to James and John:
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16)
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18)
So there you have it. Blessing as a wish is fine for a sneeze. But blessing as a wish is not fine when we see a fellow believer (“a brother or sister”) in need.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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