Barry Scott Will

There is a man in the Bible most people have never heard of. His name is Mattithiah, which in Hebrew means “gift of Yahweh.” He appears in only one verse, 1 Chronicles 9:31: “Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with making the flat cakes.” That is his entire biography. Who was he? Mattithiah was a Levite, part of the tribe God set apart for service in his house. His father, Shallum, helped guard the temple gates, and Mattithiah was given a different but equally important job: baking the flat cakes used in the temple offerings (Leviticus 2:4–5; 7:9). That might sound small, but it mattered. His work made worship possible. Every offering required care, purity, and faithfulness, and Mattithiah provided that. This baker in the temple did not have a glamorous job. He was not a prophet or a king or even a priest. He was not someone who spoke to crowds or led armies. He was a man who quietly served. Yet the Holy Spirit saw fit to record his name in the Bible for all generations. That tells us something about how God sees service. In the community of faith, there are no trivial people. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12:14–18 that every member of the body of Christ is vital. Some serve in visible ways, others serve quietly. Both kinds of service matter equally to God. When you serve in your congregation, whether by cooking meals, sweeping the floors, teaching children, greeting worshipers, or praying, you are doing holy work. Like Mattithiah, you are a “gift of Yahweh” to the people of God.