Joshua 21

What does it mean to be a Levite? Are you and I Levites in any sense?

Levites were descended from Jacob's son, Levi. Moses and Aaron, the first High Priest, came from that tribe. They were dedicated to the service of the Lord. We are all called to be servants of God, but some, like the Levites, have a calling to be dedicated to the Lord's worship assembly in a special way.

In the days of Joshua, this service involved care for the tabernacle, the traveling house of God, and all of the holy objects within that place of assembly. In our day, the word for “assembly” in the Bible has come to be translated with the word “church.” There are those in the New Testament order of life that pursue a calling of special dedication to the church.

When our church building was burning to the ground several years ago, the firemen came to me when they realized that they were not going to be able to save the building. They asked where we had our holy objects so that they could attempt to get those out before abandoning the building. I pointed to the brothers and sisters of faith next to me on the sidewalk who had gathered there to be with each other as their meeting house burned down. “These are our holy objects.” That kind of talk will win you a puzzled look from a firefighter, but it is a point worth making. Those who are dedicated in a special way to the assembly of the Lord today concern themselves with worship, teaching, sacraments, and evangelism; but they especially give themselves to the worshipers who are the Lord's holy ones, the “saints,” the members of the body of Christ.

Some people fight fires to the glory of God. Some, like the Levites of the Old Testament life, leave that kind of work to others. They plan worship services, write sermons, teach people the faith, and meet together to make plans for all these things; but most of all they care for God's holy ones as they seek to continue in the life of faith in a world where things fall apart.

All of us in the church give ourselves to the worship of the Lord, but some are set apart to a calling of oversight and service that may limit the energy and time they have left for any other job. They are pastors, elders, deacons, and other dedicated helpers. Some are retired from earlier callings. They have chosen this new life of service. Others are young men and women who see this calling to the Lord's church as the special focus of their entire lives. I think of a young couple our church is supporting who are praying now concerning which hostile field of service they will soon go to in order to give their lives away to Jesus there, helping to see His church further established in a place where it has almost no worshiping presence. Together, young and old, we are like Levites in the midst of the whole church of holy servants. Unless others supply us with food, housing, and pasturelands, we will not be able to live. God knows this, and He moves within the hearts of His people to supply our daily needs. The building that we love the most can never be destroyed. You who love the Lord are His tabernacle, and we want to serve you.

Thank you, church, for giving to the Lord.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving to all of us.

Jesus is our High Priest. His gift of Himself to us is the right motivation for every act of heartfelt service to others.

Jesus is alive. If He were not alive now, then what did His disciples see as He was blessing them going off in a divine glory cloud? He had already risen from the dead, and had visited among them for forty days. They knew He was alive, but now this alive resurrection man was going away in a divine glory cloud.

Where did He go? Even people all around us that don't read the Bible and that don't go to church know the answer. He went to heaven. Of course He did. There is another realm beyond this life. It is that realm above that rules this one here below. We who worship in assemblies here and who have to make decisions about buildings, music, church suppers, sermons, prayer meetings, and pastoral visits; have to keep at least one foot in that glorious realm, where Jesus reigns, in order to be of any use to people here. He went to heaven for us. We need to believe in Him and in His heavenly realm for one another.

I like our church motto. It was born out of suffering. “Nourishing souls in the hope of the resurrection.” Because Jesus is still serving us from a place where there are even better cities and pasturelands, we have power from on high to help prepare you for eternal life now as you farm your own lands and raise your animals to the glory of God.

If you stop believing in God and in heaven today, you place yourselves in a very small minority of the truly hopeless. I don't want that for you or for me.

You will not be able to keep serving the Lord from the heart for very long without hope. Don't give up. Keep on going. Pray, receive, and believe. Especially you Levites out there. Other people are counting on you.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me hope today. I know that your conquest of love is the best. Help me and all your church to know the power of that conquest and to live it out today. Amen.