A couple of months ago, we took the youth group out to a massive youth rally in Pittsburgh. All in all, it was pretty well done, if a little over the top. There was a solid gospel message, and a good worship band. And then there were three more bands. And dancers. And a two-act play complete with massive sets. And video screens the size of my house. You get the point. It was massive.
Now, we have some smart kids, and this rally set them to thinking. Why, they asked, doesn’t our church have lasers and fog machines? At the very least, one of them suggested, I could liven up a sermon by shooting off a fire extinguisher.
Well, maybe. But probably not. One of the things that’s really struck me as we’ve been working our way through the book of Exodus is how particular the Lord is about his worship – especially the regular, public worship services of his covenant people. If you want to see what I mean, pick up your Bible, starting with the Ten Commandments at the beginning of chapter 20, and count the chapters that deal with what we ordinarily think of as the meat of the Old Testament – these moral and spiritual laws regulating the life of God’s people. And then count the number of chapters that deal with the minute details of worship – how the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to be built, for example, or what the priests are supposed to wear. Now this is just a rough estimate, but I count four chapters of moral and religious law versus seven chapters of instructions for worship.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that God believes that the color of the priests’ robes is more important than idolatry, or murder, or adultery, or any of the other commandments. All the silk curtains in the world weren’t going to mean a thing if the people of Israel refused to humble themselves before the Lord and obey his commandments. “The sacrifices of God,” the 51st psalm says, “are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart.”
Mind you, empty ritual may not please the Lord, but here in Exodus we discover very clearly that he does care about how and where his people worship him. For Israel, at least until they were settled in Canaan, that place was the Tabernacle, this portable temple that they were supposed to carry with them wherever they went. And in chapter 35, beginning in verse five, we find out that his particularity about the details extended right down to the fundraising campaign for the Tabernacle’s construction:
“Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ‘This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord…”
Now, like I said, this is detailed stuff. It goes on to list exactly what’s supposed to be collected, from acacia wood to leather to gold to jewels. In all honesty, it’s easy to get lost in this. But I’d like to take a few minutes to point out a few things I hope you’ll notice about the collection for the Tabernacle, and along the way to suggest how they might apply to Christians today when we think about our worship and service to God.
The first, and probably the most obvious, is right up front in verses four and five: God intends to provide for his work, whether we’re talking about worship or service, through the free offerings of his people.
“Whoever is of generous heart,” he says in verse five, “let him bring the Lord’s contribution…” Keep in mind that Moses was more than just a holy man. He was Israel’s political leader and her commanding general, too. It would have been no problem for him simply to announce a new “Tabernacle tax” and be done with it. Or, alternatively, the Lord could simply have caused goat skins and gold bars to fall from the sky the same way the Manna did. On second thought, that may have caused more damage than it was worth, but you get the point.
Instead, Moses was commanded to take up a freewill offering. Every once in a while, when I think about the things that Christ has commanded the church to do – things like feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, helping the sick and the needy, providing for public worship, preaching the Gospel of salvation in his name at home and around the world – I really do wish he had given us some kind of trust fund. But he didn’t. Instead, he called us to share what we have. This is why we can’t tax you, or hold a draft for Sunday School teachers. We can’t Shanghai you to work in a prison ministry or help with the clothes closet. God expects his work to be supported by the free offerings of his people. It’s messy sometimes, but he’s always been faithful.
The second thing I want to point out to you is that God isn’t simply concerned that his people support the work of his kingdom. He wants them to do it for the right reasons. I’m not going to list them all, but I will tell you that seven times here in chapter 35, he talks about the state of his people’s hearts: “Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution…” That’s verse five. In verse 20, it says “everyone whose heart stirred him,” brought an offering. And so on. Not all of these are obvious in every translation, but they’re there.
You see, the point is that this offering isn’t really about collecting money, or raw materials, or the services of skilled craftsmen. Neither are the offerings that we take here every week. They’re about obedience. They’re about handing your life over to God, the things that he’s given you, acknowledging that it all came from him anyway, and that it all belongs to him in the end. Maybe you put money in the plate just so don’t look stingy. Maybe you volunteer for things hoping that you won’t be asked the next time. I don’t know. But I do know this: The only offerings acceptable in the sight of God are those made freely, trusting in him for all things, in humble thanks. What God really wants is your heart. Once your heart is in the right place, the offerings, whether we’re talking about silver and acacia wood, or your tithe, flow freely.
With that in mind, I want to point out something else about this offering, from verse 10. It’s not just a matter of money. Yes, the people are commanded to collect gold and silver and ivory and all sorts of other things. But there’s more to it than that. “Let every skillful craftsman among you come,” Moses said, “and make all that the Lord has commanded.” And he goes on later to describe what kind of people he’s looking for – carpenters and seamstresses and goldsmiths and jewelers and so on. Their services are just as important to the construction of the Tabernacle as the raw materials. Maybe more. And that’s not to say anything about the priests, who would make the sacrifices, or their helpers, or any of the other people who were called to use the gifts that God had given them in his service.
I think this is a really helpful reminder to us. Over the last fifty years, the church in America fell prey to a very dangerous lie. It was that if we sat in a pew and wrote a check, we’d done our part. Pick up your Bible, particularly in the Gospels, and tell me if that matches what you find there. Unless I’m mistaken, Jesus never said, “If anyone would come after me, let him take up his pen and write a check to the City Mission.” He said, “let him take up his cross and follow me.” That means more than Sunday morning, and more than your money. It means all of you.
You know what Jesus wants from you. I don’t have to tell you. He wants you to share the Gospel with the world. He commands you to provide for public worship, to encourage one another in faith, to pray for one another, to feed the hungry, to care for the sick and the poor, to serve the needy, to look after those who can’t look after themselves. And before you say it, these are not the things that you pay the preacher to do. They are your calling. They are your work. Not everyone is called to do everything. Here in Exodus 35, Moses doesn’t ask the carpenters to sew, or the seamstresses to tan leather. But everyone is called to do something. And everyone is given some gift or another – whether it’s prayer or evangelism or a servant’s heart for the poor – to do the work of the kingdom.
I admit, sometimes it takes time to figure out exactly what you’re supposed to do. And sometimes you never do figure out for sure. But you are called to serve in any way you can. Money is the least of it.
The last thing I want you to notice about this offering in Exodus 35 is something that we’ve seen again and again in this congregation. When there is a need, and when the hearts of God’s people are open to his call, then the collection itself is no problem at all. Later, in chapter 36, it says that Moses collected more than enough materials for the Tabernacle even before everyone had a chance to bring their offerings. He commanded them to stop. In chapter 36, verse 6, it actually says that the people were “restrained” from bringing their offerings.
When God gives his people a job – even these incredibly difficult jobs that Jesus gives us – he always makes sure that the resources to do it are right there at hand. You see that pretty dramatically here in Exodus. Think about it: these people were slaves. Slaves, by definition, have nothing. And yet when the word came, they suddenly produced all of this stuff. Where did it come from? The only answer is back in chapter 12, where it says that God caused the Egyptians to give the Israelites gold and silver and cloth as they left – material that later became part of the Tabernacle. That was months earlier. Likewise, back in chapter 31, he named two men, Bezalel and Oholiab, who would serve as foremen for the project. He made sure that all of the necessary craftsmen were in place. The whole collection was provided for long before it actually took place.
Here’s a simple rule, that’s worth remembering: If God has given you a task to do, he will give you everything you need to do it. Trust him.
If God wanted, he could accomplish his will a hundred different ways. But in his grace, he chooses to use you – your skills, your willingness, the resources that he’s given you. Make sure that you’re ready to respond. Open your heart to him. Trust him in all things. He’ll do the rest. Amen.
