Home Blessing
By Reverend Elissa Johnk
In most major religious traditions, the language used to describe heaven is that of home. We all know that homes can be broken places and hard places and bruising places. But at their best, at their very best, homes are the places where we glimpse the kingdom of God right here right now.
Indeed, in the Christian gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.
A properly constructed home is the metaphor he chooses for security, strength, courage, and fruitful living. We build homes together to build lives together; a family's, and our own.
And the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, in particular, spend a good deal of time talking about how these things are to be done. Pages and pages are dedicated to explaining the blueprints of important buildings. And I can only imagine what they would think of this building, and the thoughtfulness which has gone into it, the technical and ecological designs to be good stewards of creation.
So it is a special thing that we do this day.
At my church, just over the hill there, we do a lot of blessing. On the Sunday before school starts, we bless backpacks. The children and youth turn and face the congregation, holding up their backpacks, and we bless them. We bless them, so that their straps might not break, we bless them that the burdens they carry might be light. But most of all, we bless those backpacks, so that the children might know that when they go out into the world they do not go alone. We bless them, so that they might know their work is important.
A blessing is our way of saying that “this work you do, this life that you live, it is sacred, and important, and we are glad for it. We are glad for you. And you are not alone in it.”
So I'm going to ask you now to turn toward this land, and imagine your love and your hopes flowing into it. And let us, together, bless this land that has already been a blessing.
Let us pray.
Bless you.
Bless you, Habitat, for showing up.
For Debbie,
and the board,
For being willing to do the hard work, for having the tough conversations,
For being the careful stewards of our work
To make this possible.
This work you do is sacred. Bless you for it.
Bless you, volunteers, for your time,
For the scraped hands and sore muscles,
for the sacrifices you make,
so that all might have roofs over their heads,
And a place to call home.
Bless you, habitat and Vermont mutual, youth build and volunteers, for your hope.
For your willingness to work for what can be
instead of settling for what has been.
For working from a place of abundance not scarcity,
for modeling how, if we work together, we are, indeed, better.
And Bless you, Stephanie, Nick, and Amelie,
on this next endeavor.
Bless you for your willingness to partner with us.
Bless you for allowing us to be partners in your lives.
May the Foundation we lay be a strong Foundation to build your future together.
Bless you with strength for the long days,
Work that is easy, and a strong sense of humor for when it isn't.
Burdens that are light, and backs that are strong for when they aren't.
And, finally, we ask that this site be blessed with laughter, and love, good weather and good friends.
May the work we do together build as much character as callouses,
so that when we gather here again we will have built a home as much as a house.
One tiny plot of the Peaceable Kingdom, here on Earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
By Reverend Elissa Johnk
In most major religious traditions, the language used to describe heaven is that of home. We all know that homes can be broken places and hard places and bruising places. But at their best, at their very best, homes are the places where we glimpse the kingdom of God right here right now.
Indeed, in the Christian gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.
A properly constructed home is the metaphor he chooses for security, strength, courage, and fruitful living. We build homes together to build lives together; a family's, and our own.
And the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, in particular, spend a good deal of time talking about how these things are to be done. Pages and pages are dedicated to explaining the blueprints of important buildings. And I can only imagine what they would think of this building, and the thoughtfulness which has gone into it, the technical and ecological designs to be good stewards of creation.
So it is a special thing that we do this day.
At my church, just over the hill there, we do a lot of blessing. On the Sunday before school starts, we bless backpacks. The children and youth turn and face the congregation, holding up their backpacks, and we bless them. We bless them, so that their straps might not break, we bless them that the burdens they carry might be light. But most of all, we bless those backpacks, so that the children might know that when they go out into the world they do not go alone. We bless them, so that they might know their work is important.
A blessing is our way of saying that “this work you do, this life that you live, it is sacred, and important, and we are glad for it. We are glad for you. And you are not alone in it.”
So I'm going to ask you now to turn toward this land, and imagine your love and your hopes flowing into it. And let us, together, bless this land that has already been a blessing.
Let us pray.
Bless you.
Bless you, Habitat, for showing up.
For Debbie,
and the board,
For being willing to do the hard work, for having the tough conversations,
For being the careful stewards of our work
To make this possible.
This work you do is sacred. Bless you for it.
Bless you, volunteers, for your time,
For the scraped hands and sore muscles,
for the sacrifices you make,
so that all might have roofs over their heads,
And a place to call home.
Bless you, habitat and Vermont mutual, youth build and volunteers, for your hope.
For your willingness to work for what can be
instead of settling for what has been.
For working from a place of abundance not scarcity,
for modeling how, if we work together, we are, indeed, better.
And Bless you, Stephanie, Nick, and Amelie,
on this next endeavor.
Bless you for your willingness to partner with us.
Bless you for allowing us to be partners in your lives.
May the Foundation we lay be a strong Foundation to build your future together.
Bless you with strength for the long days,
Work that is easy, and a strong sense of humor for when it isn't.
Burdens that are light, and backs that are strong for when they aren't.
And, finally, we ask that this site be blessed with laughter, and love, good weather and good friends.
May the work we do together build as much character as callouses,
so that when we gather here again we will have built a home as much as a house.
One tiny plot of the Peaceable Kingdom, here on Earth as it is in heaven. Amen.