Obedient Priests, Who Would Have Thought?

The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7 NASB)

Not to make a theological mountain out of a Scriptural mole hill, but priests joining the church is at least interesting.  There are a few cultural things about this that make it more interesting than it might appear.  First, while these were of the tribe of Levi, these had special responsibilities in worship beyond the duties of Levites.   So their position was not guaranteed necessarily simply because they were "Levitical", and joining a group the elders and high priest and his groupies despised was probably not a good career move.

This bad career move was made by a great many priests.  Which indicates to me that this group, hated by the leaders of the people, was popular enough with the people to make joining them safe.  That is about to change with the next few chapters, but it remains the fact that at this point, it's safe enough.  What happens to the priests after the tide and popular opinion turn against the believers?  I'm not sure we're told (at least I'm not at that point in Acts yet).  I believe though that many of the many stayed with the church.  But that's just my opinion at this point.

So what do I take away from this?  Priests weren't the "movers and shakers" in the religious or political world, but they were on the fringe of all that.  They led worship with duties in varying degrees, responsibilities, and duties.  There was something in what they did and who they did it for that was not enough to keep them from Jesus.  In today's terms, these would be associate or assistant ministers in churches, priests without seniority, and so on; not the big cheese, but sample bite-size cheese wedges.  And these guys weren't satisfied.

I suspect that it might have been an existential sort of problem where what they did was no longer "authentic".  The motions they went through in their duties and responsibilities may have become empty and hollow by this time; out of step with the world events around them.  It was a beautiful temple, but it was built (or refurbished) by a non-Jewish leader (long story, and kind of sad).  They sacrificed as God had instructed Moses, but it was obviously a "business" rather than an act of worship.  How could they turn what they did back into the expression of the worthiness of their God it was intended to be?

The irony is that, once they accepted Jesus as the Messiah, these sacrifices could become even less meaningful.  They had been superseded by the immense self-sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God.  But there were more than just sacrifices taking place; the festivals took on new more full meaning. Yet it is possible that even the sacrifices could become commemoration of what Jesus did once for all.  Depending on how they viewed what they did, their activities could once again be filled with a deeper sense of meaning than they had ever experienced. 

This is the point of contact for me.  It is possible for me to participate in my local body of believers, with my fellow followers of Jesus, and the practices we participate in be filled freshly with meaning.  I'm not an associate minister of anything, and I'm good with that.  But when I go and attend worship, bring my family to join with other believers, can the songs we sing, the prayers prayed, and the words preached become new and alive to me?  Of course!  But only to the degree that I let Jesus, my Master, fill them with this meaning.  It's not so much about how or what we do in practice (although that's important), what church worship should be about for me is declaring loudly and proudly the immense value of my Master to me; declaring that to those around me and to Him.  It's impossible, but the attempt, regardless of the method used, is what transforms me, filling what I do with new, fresh, and powerful meaning.

Worship should completely reset my life for the coming week.  But worship should also be what I spend my time doing throughout the week.  Worship on Sunday should kick off the week, but also culminate the one I just finished.  What I have been doing all week should find final expression as I stand and sit with my fellow worshipers; getting filled again for the days to follow.  As I give my praise and expression of value to my Master, I receive power not my own.  That's true every day, but should be especially true on Sunday.  How refreshing.  I feel better already.  But I suppose a better question might be, how can I help the pastors and ministers serving my fellow believers and me sense and enjoy this refreshment too.  I want them to be those refreshed priests, faithful to Jesus as they work in the temple.  Well, I suppose the first thing I can do is not be a pain in the butt.  The second thing I can do is encourage them at every opportunity.  Hmm, it sounds like I have my marching orders for the day.

Returning to the House of God

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.  Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.  He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. (Genesis 13:1-4)

Abram has had a "close call" in Egypt where he seems to have nearly lost Sarai to the Pharaoh.  And now he returns to Bethel (actually Beth-El, meaning House of God), and sets up his tents where he built the altar before.  The text is very specific about him returning to the same place.  There he worships, where he worshiped before.  But this is not where the text says God appeared to him, that was in Shechem.  This is where he sought God.

I wondered if this was a place where he sought God for an experience like he had in Shechem, but was disappointed.  From this account, I would think he wasn't disappointed, but had a very meaningful experience with God, even if it wasn't what he was looking for. 

I have places like this, and in nearly every place I have lived, I have somewhere like this, where I sought God and had a meaningful experience of worship.  I have a lot fewer places where God sought me and initiated the worship, like Shechem.  Most of my places are more like Beth-El.  I haven't found one here though.  That needs to change.

For me, these places are outside, remote (or feel remote), and have a view.  In Idaho, this was easy.  In Texas, it was...not nearly as easy, at least not where we were.  In California I knew of all sorts of places near where I was raised.  But while they weren't hard to find, it was difficult to find "pure ones".  In some, I tainted them with something I had done wrong there as well.  So the number there is fewer than it should be. 

I think I need to find a place around here where I seek my Master in worship.  Not corporate worship, I already have a great place for that.  And not study because I have that as well.  My need is for prayer.  These times of prayer are what I need to loose the stuff and gain my Master; contemplative places.  I call on the name of my Master, and most times the experiences are just time without revelation. 

I think I know a place I can use, but it also seems used by others for other things.  Perhaps I can reclaim some land for my Master, call on His name, and empty myself for His filling.  Or maybe I'll just sit in His lap and be quiet.