The benediction
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Numbers 6:26
Read 2 Corinthians 13:11—13
I think tonight of all the times I have been blessed with the words that finish this little reading. They come at the end of a sometimes torrid letter, but all the apostle wants, after the difficult words have been said, is for those who hear them to be returned to the grace and love and communion of the Triune God, and to now be transformed and at peace. If correction has been needed, it has been for this to be the outcome. I have been blessed with these words often, after worship, after communion, maybe after a meeting where we had some difficult things to say to each other, sometimes after a funeral, in the time of grief. Or a wedding, the supreme joy. Or getting ready to hear the word of the Lord. Now let me know, as the day comes to its close, that God in grace, in love and in communion wishes me to draw down his blessing upon all I have met today and all I have done today.
Prayer
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be upon all I have met and all I have done today. May the love of God be within all I have met and all I have done today. May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest upon all I have met and all I have done today. If you were to withdraw your blessing this day would have no point to it. But in your blessing all can be redeemed and restored, put in order, and find its true peace.