REMEMBER GOD'S CHOSEN LEADERS

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“The priests, who are Levites - indeed the whole tribe of Levi - are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them.”

“This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls, and the inner parts. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord's name always.”

“If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose, he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.”

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As I look back on the spiritual road that I’ve traveled with the Lord, the road of my Christian walk…I can clearly see how blessed I have been to have awesome spiritual leaders and mentors, all who played an important role in making me the spiritual leader I am today.

It all started back when I was growing up in the very small western Pennsylvania town of Brookville. During my youth, my mother took me to the local Presbyterian church and the senior Pastor there was Reverend Darr Briggs. He was really someone that I looked up to as a young man trying to learn how to spell Jesus.

I remember that he never had a harsh word for me but always sought to encourage and edify in my faith and I think this is why I loved going to church so much, discovering gifts that God had blessed me with. At that time, it was playing the trumpet and I played with the choir, accompanying them on selected anthems. I also would serve as an acolyte, carrying a candle lighter/snuffer down the aisle to light and extinguish candles at the start and conclusion of services. To this day, my memories of time in church are more vivid than any others from my growing up and I hold gratitude in my heart for the blessing of my first pastor, Reverend Darr Briggs.

My next church involvement came after a nine year drought in my life. I had joined the Navy and left my beloved Brookville Presbyterian Church as well as Reverend Briggs, ending up stationed on the other side of the country in Stockton, California. Unfortunately, I never sought a church home there and as a result, my spiritual life became a dry wasteland. I didn’t lead my family spiritually and subsequently, my family fell apart. In 1989, after returning to the east coast and Norfolk, Virginia, my marriage ended in divorce and I hit rock bottom.

I vividly remember my heart attitude. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me because I was living the lie that so many non-believers live, convinced that I was a good person. After all, I didn’t drink or do drugs. During my marriage, I was completely faithful and dedicated to my wife and kids, never going off to do my own thing when I was home at the expense of spending time with my family. And while all these things were commendable, none of them was as important as leading my family spiritually. My allowing my relationship with the Lord to die on the proverbial vine led to a steep cost being paid. I found myself at the lowest part of my life but it was there that God - our awesome, loving God - came to my rescue and brought me “Amazing Grace”, both literally and figuratively.

For in 1992, I was working as a volunteer at a Norfolk elementary school when the Lord led me to the assistant principal, a woman by the name of Grace. On that day, we would speak for a few minutes about our plans for the weekend before she was called away to the office but in the moment, something told me this was no chance encounter. I felt a special push to get to know this woman more and little did I know at the time that it was the Lord doing the pushing.

And so I sent flowers to the school for Grace and asked if she would go to dinner with me. She accepted and from that first date, we began dating regularly. As we began to spend time together, I remember how she made it crystal clear that if we were going to be in relationship with one another, the Lord had to be first. I quickly told her I was good with that but inside, I was a raging ball of anxiety with many questions rushing to the surface of my mind.

“I haven’t been to church in years. How will God feel about that?”

”Will I remember the Old from the New Testament? And concerning that, where is my Bible anyways? I can’t remember the last time I used it.”

Well, as I would learn later, God was feeling anxious as well but it was a good anxiousness for like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), He was excited to welcome me home, wrap His arms around me, and show me just what I had been missing all those years I chose to walk without Him.

Well, Grace and I would marry and begin to our life together as one flesh on the sure solid foundation of Jesus Christ. We began attending Bayside Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and there I would be pastored and mentored by the Reverend Dick Keever. For the next 14 years, I would go on to learn so much from Dick as he developed me spiritually and groomed me for special leadership roles in the church. I began to teach youth Sunday School and then adult classes. I was selected and ordained as a church elder and served three terms on Session. And I would lead church worship if either Dick or his associate pastor were away. Indeed, the Lord truly blessed me with the Reverend Dick Keever who played a key part in making me the Christian leader and man I am today.

Grace and I felt called to move our ministry to a new church and we ended up at Bayside Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. Drawn there by the Holy Spirit, we were blessed by the leadership of Pastor Mark Pullen, probably the strongest preacher I have ever heard. His sermons were always true to the Word and I recall how he was able to preach without prepared notes. All he needed was the Lord to give him the words to speak. At Bayside Baptist, I began to teach youth and adults again, was ordained as a Deacon, and served as a worship leader with the church’s music ministry, using my gift of singing in the choir, performing solos when needed, and leading the congregation on hymn singing every other week.

Finally, the Lord had yet another move in mind right toward the tail end of the COVID era and we found ourselves at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, now renamed Crossway Church. The lead Pastor there, Ron Jones, is a dynamic preacher who Grace first heard on the radio under Something Good, a ministry he founded that is now also broadcasting on television. We have been blessed to be a part of this body of Christ where I am once again teaching adults and serving on the Counseling ministry, having recently gained certification as a Biblical Lay Counselor.

So why spend so much time and space sharing this with you?

Because I feel we don’t give our spiritual leaders enough credit or attention and they deserve better than that. As I am now ready to begin my latest calling from the Lord, Chaplain of the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, I am seeing first hand just how challenging it is for those who are leading spiritually at the highest levels. It’s definitely not for the faint at heart, that’s for sure.

As we look at our passage today, we see where quality spiritual leadership was important to God and if it was important to Him, then it should be important to us. To that end, here are three points of emphasis we find in these opening eight verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 18:

First, God chose His spiritual leaders.

We read where “…the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord's name always.” Indeed, these spiritual leaders were hand selected and we should note that not everyone is entitled to lead at the highest levels. Only those God selects and appoints are able to do so and this is why I am so thankful for the men God chose to lead me: Reverends Darr Briggs and Dick Keever and Pastors Mark Pullen and Ron Jones.

Going back to our passage today, given that spiritual leaders were chosen, the scriptures further tell us the following:

“The priests, who (were) Levites - indeed the whole tribe of Levi – (were) to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They (were to) live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire, for that (was) their inheritance. They (would) have no inheritance among their brothers” because “the Lord (was) their inheritance, as He (had) promised them.”

In other words, the Lord wanted the Levites to be fully focused on carrying out the work God wanted them to do. They weren’t supposed to worry about what they had or what they might receive from the world but were to rely on God for their provision.

Today, pastors are paid from the church treasury which is funded by the offerings and tithes of the congregation. The spiritual leaders of today still rely on God’s provision through His people in order to have what they need to live and this leads to the second point:

God expected the people to care for His chosen spiritual leaders.

Going back to the scriptures, we find these words from God:

“This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls, and the inner parts. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord's name always.”

The Israelites, God’s chosen people, were to ensure that His appointed leaders were properly taken care of. And notice that they weren’t supposed to just give the Levites their leftovers. No, our verses for today make it clear that the Levites were to receive the firstfruits from the people, their very best.

Then and now, God gives His best to His people and He expects that they will give their best back to Him.

With this, some questions comes to mind that should challenge us:

How well do we give back to God what He has first given to us?

Do we give Him our firstfruits or does He receive our leftovers, our second best?

Do we really give as we should to the church so that God’s chosen spiritual leaders are provided for properly?

I encourage you to seriously ponder these questions and respond accordingly, if need be. The Lord knows what we do and don’t do, that’s for certain.  

As I get set to close, one final point…

God called His leaders to go and minister wherever He chose.

Let’s go back to the Deuteronomy 18 passage:

“If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose, he may minister in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord.”

The Lord did and still does call on His spiritual leaders to move and continue their ministry work at the places He chooses. Speak with any minister who has been doing it for awhile and they will tell you about all the places they have been, sharing their own testimonies about their ministry experiences at each place they’ve been. Very few spend their entire ministry career serving the same congregation.

And so we should always carry a great appreciation for our spiritual leaders who consistently and persistently display and incredible dedication to serve the Lord and those He has given them to shepherd. As we appreciate them, let us also pray over them because they, like we, are always under spiritual attack from the enemy who would like nothing more than to take down every spiritual leader that God raises up.

In response to this message and the Word we’ve looked at, I hope that you will take an extra minute this Sunday or next to tell your pastor, the one God has chosen to spiritually lead you and your family, how much you love and value them and what they do in service to the Lord on a daily basis. Maybe you could also send them a nice thank you card with an added gift card to a restaurant or Christian book store if you can swing it.

The bottom line is that we should be thankful for our spiritual leaders and let them know it. If it was a priority for God, let it be a priority for us as well.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.