Many buildings are erected worldwide in the "name of God" and many lives also profess to be temples to the glory of God. If God could say something about them, what would He say? I invite you to share my thoughts on a few verses of the Scriptures and then, we will all appraise our lives, service and church.
Ex 25:1-2, 8, “The LORD said to Moses, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering… And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”
Let them make me a sanctuary. The local church is not the business of one man or one family alone. It is the responsibility of every soul that must/will benefit from the Temple. Everyone should put their hand on the plough. GOD did not say: let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell in it. No. He rather promised to dwell among them. He dwells among those who involved themselves and who are involved with the construction of the temple. You can visit a church at the beginning; but as soon as the LORD convinces you to stay, you must wet your shirt. Don’t be an eternal visitor: the church is not a hotel.
That they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. Everyone is invited to build, but only a few are qualified to do it –many called, few chosen. Paradoxically, this qualification has nothing to do with any expertise whatsoever: it is primarily a matter of the heart. ALL the children of Israel are invited to bring an offering, but it is only those given from free, willing and generous hearts that are accepted. One Commentary of the Torah says that GOD’s presence dwells in a place of charity, when people are willing to give and to give of themselves. In other words, when people give by force or manipulation, God withdraws. When the Bible tells us to offer the members –which cause us to sin- as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to GOD (Rom 12:1), if we do not decide to offer our tongue to the LORD voluntarily and wholeheartedly in order to stop lying, or our hands to stop stealing, or our sexuality etc., GOD will not come to dwell ‘in our own midst’ to empower us to stop misusing our members/i.e. stop sinning.
After the invitation, people brought all sorts of offerings: gold, silver, bronze, yarns, fine twined linen, goats' hair, tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and frankincense and precious stones (vs. 25.3-7). Others also provided their muscles and joined the team of workers. So, the people brought in their possessions and their talents to build the sanctuary. The precious stones and dolphin skins (according to some translations) were not more important than the oil, the spices or goats’ hair. EVERYTHING was indispensable. The ESV reads: “that they take for me a contribution” instead of offering. I like that. It means that if you can bring a chair, bring it. If you can bring a paint brush or a tin of paint, do so. If you can’t bring those but you can paint, give your church –the place of your blessings- a day and come paint the walls with the paint that someone else has brought. You can’t paint? No worries. I am sure you can clean and tidy. Who likes to worship in an untidy room? Who doesn’t like fresh and clean toilets? Instead of waiting for someone else to do it, take the matter at heart and love your local church. Don’t think that all you have to do is to show up on Sundays and sign checks. God is not a beggar, and neither is the church. More than our checks (or coins), God wants our hearts first; He wants a true engagement/involvement on our part. This is why Paul commended the Macedonians who had contributed beyond his expectations because they had first given themselves to the Lord and then by the will of God to them/the local church and the mission (2Co 8.5). We should also be able to say: "I must be in my Father's house… The zeal of Your house has eaten Me up." (Lk 2:49, Jn 2:17)
God bless you and we’ll continue this next week.
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