staying with the baggage

Warm-up: 1 Samuel 30:1-25

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. (1 Samuel 30:21-25 ESV)

Battle or baggage.

Glory or mundane.

Adventure or backwater.

This story reminds me that we don’t give the Medal of Honor to the guy who drives the rig or the guard at the crossing or the clerk at the supply depot…unless they somehow end up on the front line and do something spectacular. We live for the stories from the front lines, don’t we? The ones from the cutting edge of the fight. We showcase the heroics, we celebrate the daring do’s where the fight is the hottest.

And then Jesus points to the widow and the clinking of her two mites which made a louder noise in his ears than all the other shekels dropped in combined. He highlights the cup of cold water quietly shared, the bearer “by no means losing his reward.” He celebrates those who pray and fast quietly in the closet over those clamoring for the photo op, the press conference, or the feature spot on the evening news.
And David honors the baggage keepers.

“’As his share who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall all share alike.’ And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.”

It is fitting to acknowledge the sacrifice and sufferings and achievements of those who slug it out on the front line. But we have a gentle reminder here not to forget or slight or patronize the one who makes the front line possible – and also not to feel called to the latest trumpeted “front line” ministry/service/calling/opportunity et al if that means abandoning the place that God has already called us – or if we we go there because “that’s where the action is.”

In God’s kingdom, there are no little places.

There are no insignificant tasks.

And his VIPs are usually emptying trash cans before an audience of One, after the “heroes” are long gone home.