Go Sit Down

Mark 6:38-39 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five – and two fish.” 39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
 
DO you think the Christian life requires you to be busy with many tasks? After all, Jesus taught us to be active kingdom citizens, even to the point of sacrificing our lives. We also have the direct admonition from James 2:20 faith without deeds is useless. James even reminds us that Abraham, the spiritual founder of our faith, was rewarded for his supremely faithful response to God’s command: James 2:21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. As we learn, God stopped Abraham from slaying his son. But Abraham’s actions revealed his complete faith, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8)
   To obey Jesus’ command to be salt and light (from Matthew 5) requires we do things that make a difference in your own and others’ lives. When you belong to a church, you are asked, “How will you use your gifts?” And yet, we must know within the work there are good times to go and sit down.
   Jesus had just finished speaking to thousands of people. “Church” was done. Jesus and his leadership team had a quick meeting. The disciples essentially said, “There’s neither food nor money.” Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” What were they to do?
   Instead of sending the crowd home Jesus committed the work to the Father. He told his leaders to distribute the fish and loaves. The Son blessed the meal. The Father provided. The disciples faithfully did the work. The crowd received the blessing.
   The point here is to be mindful the church is a community of believers formed to bless and receive blessing. One of the Bible’s oldest and most used blessings is Numbers 6:24-26 The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. The fundamental meaning to this is that God’s people are to recognize God’s blessings when they are faithful to his commands. It’s easy to keep striving for more and believing we have more “salt and light” work to do. But the people on the plain that day would not have received God’s benevolent care and personal attention if they had stood up to search for food. Jesus taught them much about kingdom living that day, even to sit and await the Lord’s blessings.
   There are occasions when you diligent workers are to sit down. Your Father wants to bless your work. He wants you to see his face shining on you because he is pleased with you. Sometimes you are the leader to direct the doing. Sometimes you are the worker. Sometimes you go sit down, and you receive blessings of others’ work. That’s a good balance for a good Christian life.