In the work of God’s Kingdom, the call to serve and bear burdens is not a problem, it is a privilege. In God’s final analysis of you, it won’t be how much you gained, but how much you gave; not if you have done great things, but if you have done things with great love. That is what truly honors the Lord of the Kingdom.
The Journey // Focus: Numbers 4:5-6, 49
When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin and spread on top of that a cloth of blue, and shall put it in poles. …According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were listed, each [of the clans of the Levites] with their task of serving or bearing burdens.
As we have come to expect from Leviticus and Numbers, God provided exacting, and from our modern, sophisticated perspective, strange details for everything from A to Z in the life of the Israelite community. They were a newly formed nation that had no previous track record for civil society. Moreover, they were not just any old nation, they were to be a people called to be the Lord’s own distinct people. And much of what God instructed them in was how to worship him in holiness. Even in that, details were given clear down to how the tabernacle was to be moved when the Israelites broke camp and moved on to the next location in their journey toward the Promised Land.
As we have said many times before in these intriguing chapters of ancient Israelite history, but what relevance do that have for the modern day people of God—followers of Jesus Christ? Let me suggest three practical lessons that this Old Testament moving day teaches us:
First, no one is greater than the next in the Kingdom of God, only God is great. I was struck by the fact that it was only Aaron and his sons who were allowed to go into the Holy of Holies on moving day to handle the ark of the covenant and the other holy instruments. Not even Moses, the greatest leader of all time, the man who met with God face-to-face, the guy who parted the Red Sea and brought down the Ten Commandments from the mountain, was allowed to go into the most sacred place on earth to handle the sacred things. Now who was greater, Moses or Aaron? From a human evaluation, Moses gets top billing. But what a powerful reminder that in God’s world, he only is glorious, and we who serve him, whatever our role, live and work for his glory alone. All are given a role to play, and greatness comes by playing that role, whatever it may be, big or small, very public or quite private, when we do it worshipfully and with great love.
Second, in God’s Kingdom, we are all given sacred tasks to carry out, and God expects us to run in our lanes. The Kingdom is not just an idea, it is a reality. It is not just theology, it is people living in community. And as such, it must function as God’s society, peaceful and productive. The proper and efficient functioning of the Kingdom is possible only through the gifts of the Spirit as they are faithfully administered through the lives of believers. In Numbers 4, for example, the sons of Aaron and the Levites broke down, packed up and carried the tabernacle of the Lord’s presence on moving day. And each clan had a very specific job to do. Likewise, in the body of Christ, each has a role to play, and there are no roles more important than the other. (See 1 Corinthians 12:14-26). Call it what you will, the Kingdom, the church, the body of Christ, God has given each of us very important roles to fill to move his people forward, and we must run in our lanes for that journey to be fruitful and fulfilling to all, and pleasing to the Lord. And, by the way, God takes this business of running in our lanes very seriously. If you don’t believe me, just read Numbers 4:15-20.
Third, the ministry we are each called to, whether great or small, exciting or tedious by human evaluation, is a privilege, not a problem. We tend to think of tasks that we are responsible for as burdens to carry. We typically recoil at the idea of serving, conjuring up images of menial work and demeaning servitude. If we do, we have it all wrong. The Lord called the sacred duties of breaking down, packing up, and carrying forth the tabernacle as “serving” and “bearing burdens.” Obviously, God didn’t think of serving and bearing burdens in the pejorative. Whatever job he gives to a person to do is a privilege, and when carried out in the right way with the right attitude, it promotes the health and welfare of his people. And when his people are living in a healthy and efficient relationship with one another and with the Missio Dei, God is glorified.
What does God’s moving day teach you? Simply this: you are important, you are needed, whatever God called you to do is a privilege, not a problem, and it is your opportunity to participate in the greatest, most rewarding activity in all creation—glorifying God.
Wow! How blessed you are.
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