Psalm 115
Numbers 8:5-22
Titus 1:1-9
What it must have been, to be a Levite, to have the community lay their hands upon them and to receive a blessing from God. It is strange to think about ordination, in which a congregation affirms a pastor's call and the pastor has hands laid upon him or her. Strangely, as the LORD set the Levites apart from the rest of Israel, I think God sets pastors not apart, but within, to serve the communities of faith. There is an intimacy, a closeness, and a sense that the work of the pastor lies not apart from the community, but more deeply within.
I wonder, though, if it is not that way with all of us. We are not so much set apart, but set within; we are not so much identified as individuals but identified in relationship. Our communities of faith, unfortunately, hold up some offices or situations in life or vocations as more holy than others. We forget that we have been created for relationship - with God, with the earth, and with each other - and that we have been created to crave and need that relationship with those around us.
To be set apart is not necessarily to be separate or distinct, but to be given an identity set within a community of faith. It is through living out these identities, bringing all that we are and all that we have, that we walk forward with the humility and grace to realize that, whatever our station, whatever our vocation, whatever our calling, it is a gift. It is in laying our hands upon each other and praying for each other that our communities are forged; it is in mutual support and encouragement that we develop our wings; it is in drawing out each other's deepest self that we learn to fly.
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