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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Joseph
Slife,
lay leader August
7, 2005 Today
I want to talk with you about one
verse in the Bible -- a obscure
verse. Obscure in the sense of
not easily understood -- and
therefore it is largely
ignored. That
verse is 1 Chronicles 26:18 --
and here it is in the King James
Version: "At Parbar westward,
four at the causeway, and two at
Parbar." Anybody
know this verse? Have it
memorized? Is this anybody's life
verse? Let me read it again: "At
Parbar westward, four at the
causeway, and two at
Parbar." Well,
this is what I want to talk to
you about today: "And Two at
Parbar." Now,
I know the King James Version can
be a little tough to grasp at
times, so let me give this verse
to you in the New American
Standard Bible. Here's what it
says: "At the Parbar on the west
there were four at the highway
and two at the
Parbar." Doesn't
help much? Well, don't worry,
because I looked up the actual
Hebrew. And
you know what I discovered? Do
you know what the actual Hebrew
word is where the translators
have used Parbar? Ready for this?
It's "Parbar." What's
a "Parbar"? Well, that's what
makes this verse obscure. The
original text has this word
"Parbar" in it, but nobody knows
what it means -- so they just
don't translate it. Now
in the NIV and some other
translations they translate it
"court" or "colonnade" or
"courtyard." Some
scholars think Parbar may be the
name of a suburb of Jerusalem.
But still most translations have
a footnote at the bottom saying
they really don't know. All
anybody really knows is the word
is "Parbar." Now,
the conundrum here is this:
Second Timothy 3:16 tells us all
Scripture is inspired and "is
useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in
righteousness so that" -- what?
-- the man of God, the woman of
God "may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work." Well,
if that's true -- and it is --
just how does it equip us for the
good works that God has called us
to do to know that "As for Parbar
on the west, there were four on
the highway and two at
Parbar"? There
is an answer, a good answer -- an
answer that I think will help you
put one foot in front of the
other day-after-day, as you
continue your walk with Jesus
Christ. To
find that answer, we have to look
at the context of 1 Chronicles
26:18 by going back 4
chapters. King
David has been told by God the he
will not be allowed to build
God's temple in Jerusalem. The
job was going to fall to to
David's son, Solomon. Here's
what we find in chapter 22,
starting at verse 5: And
when the Bible says "extensive"
here, it means extensive. King
Dave raised the money and hired
workers, of course. But he also
went so far as to appoint the
priests, and appoint singers.
And, Laurence, he even appointed
treasurers for the whole
thing. And
we get to chapter 26 -- our
"Parbar" chapter -- and this is
about those chosen and appointed
as gatekeepers. Now,
all of those who were appointed
-- as priests, singers,
treasurers, and gatekeepers --
were Levites, that is, they were
from the tribe of Levi. Levi was
one of the 12 sons of
Jacob. In
the Old Testament, it was
required that all the priests had
to be Levites. But that didn't
mean every Levite was a
priest. But
King David acts to make sure that
every Levite had a
ministry. Some
Levites were appointed to
priestly duties-- but some were
appointed to the choir, some were
to take care of the money, and
some were to guard the gates and
the areas around. And
it's here in chapter 26 that we
find out where these guards
served. Some served east of the
temple, some on the north, some
on the south. Some at the
storehouse. And according to
chapter 26, verse 18, "At Parbar
on the west, there were four
[serving] on the highway,
and two at Parbar." Now,
as I said, we don't know what
"Parbar" is -- but we do know
that men were serving there. We
do know that that place was their
place of ministry, their
assignment given to them by the
King. They
weren't priests. They weren't
singing in the choir. They
weren't entrusted with the care
of the vast sums of wealth that
had been gathered for the temple.
But they had a place of service,
an important ministry. I'm
going to echo something I told
you two weeks ago when I stood
here -- because it is a key truth
of the Kingdom of God. Not
every one who serves in the
Kingdom is called to a prominent
place -- or even to what
we
think of as a place of great
responsibility. In
fact, most of us are appointed by
God to the places at Parbar or on
the highway. And
because we're not in a prominent
place, we can begin to think that
what we're doing isn't all that
important in the great scheme of
things. But
suppose the gatekeepers at Parbar
and on the highway didn't show
up? Suppose they didn't fulfill
their ministry? The
king sent people to those places
because it was important, for
reasons of security. The airport
screener may not seem as
important as head of the FBI, but
let me assure you that he
is. I
think it was Dr. Bob Jones Jr.
who used to say that although the
great chandelier may get the most
attention, it's the small 4-watt
night light that keeps you from
falling and breaking your neck
during the night. This
is why the service of every one
of us is important. And
it's important not just for what
our service gives to the body,
but because of what we receive
from our service. Someone
once described football as "22
men running around on a field who
desperately need rest, watched by
80-thousand fans who desperately
need exercise." It
isn't enough to sit and watch.
All of us need to "get in the
game" -- to get the exercise we
need to be spiritually healthy.
It
is in serving that we grow. It is
in serving that we mature in the
faith. It is is serving that we
see God "show up" and minister
through us in ways that
strengthen our faith. Several
weeks ago, Pastor Jerry talked
about "not wanting something from
you, but wanting something for
you." And
that's what I'm saying here. Yes,
when you serve, you benefit the
the church Body, but at t he same
time you are growing more and
more into the person God wants
you to be. When
that happens, you benefit the
Body even more. And that benefits
you even more. In
nature, this is called a
symbiotic relationship. When you
serve, the Body gets healthier
and you get healthier -- and that
makes the Body healthier, and on
it goes. Service
is also a great honor. Who
appointed these guards to serve
at Parbar? The king
did. Well,
the One who appoints you to serve
in the Body of Christ isn't just
the king. He is the King of
kings, the Lord of
lords. Put
your imagination in gear for a
moment and suppose President Bush
or Governor Perdue called you at
your house this afternoon and
said, "I have a job that needs to
be done, and I believe you're the
person for it" -- what would you
say? Well,
you might hem and haw a little
bit and say, "Well, sir, I don't
know if I'm really the person" --
but, boy, you sure would feel
honored, wouldn't you? What
about when God calls? He might
says something like: "I have a
class that needs a teacher; or I
have small group that needs a
leader; or there are things I
want someone to pray over -- and
you're just the person for the
job." Well,
now, you might be able to tell
the president or the governor
that you're not really the one
for the job, but what are you
going to say to God? "Lord, you
really don't know what you're
talking about." How
can we say that to the One made
us a knows us better than we know
ourselves? If
you are a follower of Jesus
Christ, God has gifted you to
serve in some way. Not just for
the benefit of the Body, but for
your benefit -- and it is an
honor to serve Him. Now
listen to me carefully. Gateway
Church - Athens Georgia. We're
not First Baptist-Atlanta, we're
not Moody Church in Chicago,
we're not Saddleback in Southern
California or Church of the
Resurrection in Kansas
City. We're
not a mega-church or a historic
church or even a well-known
church in our
denomination. But
we are a place where the king
says: "I need some folks to serve
there." Listen:
This is an important place, you
are an important
servant. When
we think about great heroes of
the faith, we tend to think about
the Apostles, the teachers, the
preachers, the leaders. But what
about the widow with the two
small coins? What
about the person who leads a
small group or who teaches a
Sunday school class? In
1981, I was a relatively new
graduate student at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. I had been there a
few weeks, taking a class during
the summer, and was about to
begin my first fall
term. On
my way out of the registration
area, there was table staffed by
some folks from InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship -- and they
were inviting folks a free picnic
later in the week. Being far away
from home and not having ready
access to free food anymore, I
signed up. But
in the press of all the stuff
going on in connection with
starting the fall semester, I
forgot about the
picnic. That
is, I forgot until my phone rang
the the evening before the picnic
was to take place. "Hi,
Joseph, this is (somebody) from
InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship. We're glad you're
coming to the picnic. Are you
sure you know how to get
there?" If
that person -- to this day I do
know who it was -- if that person
had not called, I have no idea
where I would be
today. I
went to the picnic, and met there
a sweet young thing who's now
sitting right there. And I got
involved in a InterVarsity Bible
study that radically altered my
life. I
met Jesus and Joye because
somebody was faithful in a small
thing -- picking up the phone and
making a call. Seems
insignificant, doesn't it? But,
you see, only God knows how
important, ultimately, our
service is. So
don't ever say: "Well, it doesn't
really matter what I do or don't
do." You have no way of knowing
why God has appointed you to do a
certain thing. And
y'know what? The Bible suggests
that our faithfulness in
fulfilling our assignments here
-- not our prominence but our
faithfulness -- will determine
the positions we hold in the
eternal Kingdom. Jesus
says this in Matthew
24: Let
me say it again: This is an
important place, you are an
important servant. I
believe that what happens at
Parbar -- the place that we are
called to serve -- is far more
important that any of us realize,
not only in this life, but in the
life to come. (*I
am indebted to an article by
Dr.
James
Borror
for the idea for the sermon. His
article, "And Two at Parbar," appeared
in the Winter 1985 issue of Kindred
Spirit, a publication of Dallas
Theological
Seminary.)
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
And
two at Parbar
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
But I think it has something to
say to us today.
Digging
deeper
This
has to mean
something
What's
going on here?David
said, "My son Solomon is young
and inexperienced, and the
house to be built for the LORD
should be of great
magnificence and fame and
splendor in the sight of all
the nations. Therefore I will
make preparations for it." So
David made extensive
preparations before his
death.
Important
service
We
gain by giving
What
an honor!
More
important than you
think
A
bit of faithfulness, a big
result
An
everlasting impact"Who
is a faithful and wise
servant, to whom the master
can give the responsibility of
managing his household and
feeding his family? If the
master returns and finds that
the servant has done a good
job, there will be a reward. I
assure you, the master will
put that servant in charge of
all he owns." (Matt.
24:45-47)
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Please specify tape number 050807a:
And Two at Parbar.
©
2005 Joseph M. Slife*