“Others were assigned to take care of the furnishings and all the other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the flour and wine, and the oil, incense and spices.”
~ 1 Chronicles 9:29
Hi James and Ellen,
What do you think is the most insignificant job that a guy or gal can have? Do you think that having the job of being an airplane pilot is more important than having the job of being a baggage handler? Do you think that having the job of being a school teacher is more important than having the job of being a cafeteria cook? Do you think that having the job of being a church pastor is more important than having the job of being a pew sitter? What if an airplane pilot had to also handle his or her airplane’s passenger’s luggage or what if a baggage handler had to also fly the airplane that he or she had put on the airplane’s passenger’s luggage? What if a school teacher had to also prepare the lunch meals that his or her students would eat in the cafeteria or what if a cafeteria cook had to also teach the kids who ate the lunch meals that he or she had prepared? What if a church pastor had to also sit in a pew to listen to his or her own sermons or what if the pew sitters have to also prepare sermons that they have to preach? You probably are thinking right now that your grandpaa has gone really gorpy with his comparisons but . . . your grandpaa thinks that western societies have put jobs in a hierarchy. Your grandpa thinks that western societies allow pecking orders to exist that are based on the job that a guy or gal has that will give or take away a perceived status that the guy or gal will have in his or her community of guys and gals. A pilot may unconsciously be given a greater community status than what a baggage handler is given, a teacher may unconsciously be given a greater community status than what a cafeteria cook is given and a pastor may unconsciously be given a greater community status than what a church adherent is given. Because different jobs carry different levels of responsibility, do you think that a guy or gal should be treated differently in terms of respect and appreciation depending on what job he or she has? Do you think that the guys and gals who have jobs that are higher up on a scale that transcends cultures – with elected or ascribed public officials, successful business entrepreneurs and skilled medical professionals near the top of the scale and garbage collectors, car mechanics and subsistence farmers near the bottom of the scale, should be treated with more respect and appreciation than the guys and the gals who are near the bottom of the scale? After coming alongside a number of new missionary units – to help the guy and/or gal assimilate into a Latin American culture – such as in Bolivia and in Guatemala, your grandmaa and grandpaa have concluded that it is easier for a guy or gal to assimilate into a culture when the guy or gal is connecting or interacting with guys and gals who have a history of comparable environment conditioned life trainings and similar life experiences. A missionary – such as your grandpaa, who grew up in a rural, farming community finds it easier to connect with guys and gals who live in rural communities than he or she does with guys and gals who have only lived in an urban setting. A missionary who grew up in urban environs does not know how to instinctively relate with guys and gals who grew up in rural settings which means that an ideal ministry location for this missionary unit would be in an urban environ.
Don Felix was close to retirement when your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn arrived near the end of August of 1978 at the South America Mission mission base that is located in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Don Felix years earlier had made a decision of faith to pass through the faith/grace door to become a Christ-follower. After don Felix became a Christ-follower, don Felix took his family to meet with John Depue – a South America Mission field team missionary. John Depue was administrating South America Mission’s mission base at this time. Don Felix had each member of his family make a public statement of faith in front of John so that they could be Christ-followers, too. Because John needed someone to do the menial tasks on the South America Mission base grounds – such as using a machete to cut the grass and trim the plants, picking up messes that the guard dogs made, opening and closing the gate when guests arrived and left, etc., John hired don Felix to do all this. When the day came when it seemed as if don Felix had gotten too old to continue doing what he was doing – as a paid job, don Felix would still continue to show up at the South America Mission mission base to do what he had been doing for years. Don Felix did this because in his heart, he knew doing the same perceived menial jobs that he had done for years was the absolutely, most important job that he could do on planet Earth to further the kingdom of God through his life.
The chronicler in his Chronicle Book – in 1 Chronicles 9, scribed about genealogies and then he scribed about jobs. What the chronicler is scribing about in this chapter is the very recent return of Israelite people group guys, gals and kids – after God – as God the Father, had them exiled to the city of Babylon because of their defiant and abject unfaithfulness to Him, to the land of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. When these guys showed up back in the city of Jerusalem, Levi tribal clan guys took on the jobs of being gatekeepers and watchmen at the Tent of Meetings, guards guarding the rooms and treasury that was in the house of God – that was located in the city of Jerusalem, and caretakers taking care of the temple services. Verse 29 says, “Others were assigned to take care of the furnishings and all the other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the flour and wine, and the oil, incense and spices.” Other Levi tribal clan guys took on the baking of temple offerings and Sabbath day breads. Pulling a don Felix is knowing that each job that you have in your lifetimes is the job that pleases God the most – because God has assigned you the job.
1 Chronicles 9 (894)