Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service.”
(1 Chronicles 24:1-3)

“A dispute also arose among them, which of them was considered to be greatest. He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so with you. Rather, the one who is greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves. For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. “But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.””
(Luke 22:24-30)

The Levites were divided for service. Everyone knew their place, their order, and what they were supposed to do. Each member of the tribe had a job. They helped one another. Those who gave direct service (Aaron’s line) were supported by those who could not (the rest of Levi). Everyone worked together for the glory of the Lord and the enabling of the people to come to the Lord to worship. They were united.

The disciples were not united. When the spectre of one of them being willing to betray Jesus came up, their questioning of one another and their denials turned into an argument about who was greater. There were jealousies. There was ego. Jesus cut through them like a hot knife through butter. The Kingdom is not about aggrandizement because no one is greater than God. The Kingdom is all about service, because when you love someone you seek to do things for them. To bless them. This is how they were to approach the world. This was to be their identity: servants in love.

Summary

No one person is greater than any other. It’s why we were given dominion over this world and the animal life within it, but not one another. We are never meant to dominate one another. We are meant to serve one another. To be willing to go the extra mile. To be willing to be inconvenienced in order to make sure someone else gets blessed. We should never be asking what’s in it for us and always looking to see what we can do for others. Our love of others should be so great that for our love of God we want to do everything we can to be a blessing to everyone we encounter. That is the role we’ve been ordained into.