Everyone Has A Job...Even at Church!
By Rev. William Dohle
It amazes me how many people it takes to put something good together.
At the movies...it takes thousands of people to create one flick. From the producers and directors and the actors to the bus boys and the caterers to the ones working behind the scenes in special effects and design. Costumers, sound technicians, makeup design. The list goes on and on. Try staying after the movie is over to count how many names you find in your average movie. You will be amazed!
It truly takes a village to create such a masterpiece!
It takes that many people to do just about anything worth doing in this world. From the ordinary work of building a house to the entertaining work of television and theater, more than one person is always behind everything you see!
Even worship! It takes a tribe to make worship happen!
It takes a tribe of people literally in the book of Numbers to attend to God's tabernacle. The tribe of people are called the Levites. And they received this assignment because, lets face it...
No one can do it alone!
I think that's what happened to Aaron's sons. The Bible won't say. The Bible says that Aaron's son, Nadab and Abihu, fell dead before the Lord "when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai."(Num 3:4)
Now what that means we are never told. But I think I know what "unauthorized fire" was. Aaron's sons were acting alone, trying to worship God without the community behind them.
I have no proof of this... But following this tragedy, God gives a command.
Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the Tent of Meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle. They are to take care of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle. Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him.(Num 3:5-9)Following this command, for two chapters in the book of Numbers, we are told what each section of Levites does to prepare for the community's worship.
Reading this, images of the movie production come to mind. Just as it takes a village to make a movie as great as Star Wars, it takes a village to worship God too! No one can do it all by him or her self. It takes people willing to step up and make it happen!
In ancient Israel those people were the Levites. In the Christian church today, they are you and me!
We are those people tasked with making worship happen. Each of us have been given different gifts to be used in the body of Christ. Some of us are extraverts...and do well introducing one person to another. Some of us are introverts...and can assist in more of the behind the scenes of worship. Some of us are artistic. Some not.
At our church, the obvious tasks we need help in are worship assistants, communion setup people, acolytes, ushers, greeters, sound technicians. But there are other jobs that need fulfilling like bulletin copiers, quilt makers, decorators, Bible study leaders, computer repair people, web site designers. The list goes on and on.
And participants! For, even when you just "show up" you are doing the work of God! You are bringing the best gift of all...your presence!
At our church, we have been blessed with new people working in worship. New communion and worship assistants. New ushers and greeters. New people trying out their gifts and doing the work of God. Together with those who've been doing it for years, these people demonstrate, in so many ways, that the work of the people is never just the work of the pastor. The pastor alone offers "unauthroized fire" and could very well burn him or herself out by doing everything!
But the pastor with the congregation assisting in every way, can worship God and carry the people of God forward, just as the Levites did for the Israelites.
The people of Israel needed a tribe to worship God. So do we. May God use our talents for the betterment of our faith communities that, in the end, the love of God is proclaimed throughout the world in word and deed.
Uniting God, bring us together with all our differences that we might serve you and the world in love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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