Thursday, January 29, 2009

Enough Already

Exodus 35: 30- 36:7

Remember our old friends Bezalel and Oholiab? Moses takes this opportunity to out them as inspired (literally) craftsmen. He lists many areas of expertise of Bezalel's handiwork. He tells them he's gifted with abilities working with gold, silver, bronze, stones, wood, and "all kinds of artistic craftsmanship." Plus he and Oholiab are gifted as teachers. They can also do work with yarn and linen embroidery, designing, and weaving.

So this newly trained troop start to build the sanctuary.

There's a lot of repetition here. We talked about it earlier and you can remind yourself of it by going here: http://chiphall.blogspot.com/2008/09/oh-holy-ab.html

What follows, though, is pretty cool and I think new. The offerings keep coming. Morning after morning there's new stuff being brought for the work. Finally, the workmen go to Moses and say, look we've got plenty- in fact more than we need to get the job done.

So Moses decrees- no one else is to bring anything else for the sanctuary.

Interesting. No locked doors until we get enough. No final desperate plea to close out the pledge drive. No guilt trips or shameful sanctuary plugs to get the last few shekels. They had more than enough offered- and had to be stopped from bringing more.

Cool challenge. Can I give enough (financially or otherwise) that someone has to stop me and say... we dont need any more. Can I invest so fully in a need that the need goes away? Can I care enough about anything that my focus, my strengths, and my resources go to it until the job is actually done?

May our lives be filled with completed sanctuaries.



Wednesday, January 28, 2009

But Do I Have To?

Exodus 35: 4-29

And once again we're in reruns...at least mostly. Moses tells the Israelites to take up a collection for the temple. They are looking for gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, hides of sea cows (and who doesn't have those laying around?), acacia wood, olive oil, onyx stones, and other gems. Moses specifies that these items should come from anyone who is willing.

But he doesn't stop with just getting material things from the Israelites. Next we need skilled laborers to donate some labor. Come make...oh just a few things... the tabernacle, the tent..."covering, clasps, frames, crossbars, posts and bases; 12 the ark with its poles and the atonement cover and the curtain that shields it; 13 the table with its poles and all its articles and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand that is for light with its accessories, lamps and oil for the light; 15 the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils; the bronze basin with its stand; 17 the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard; 18 the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, and their ropes; 19 the woven garments worn for ministering in the sanctuary—both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests."

I mean really... how long could that take?

So the Israelites withdrew and thought about it. This seems like a pretty amazing undertaking. I would guess that once you committed, your life would virtually be on hold. This would become the bulk of your day, the way you filled your time. Congregated with other devoted laborers or by yourself creating for God. Some of the work could be done individually, but it would seem the larger tasks would require collective effort. Did this time together bring them closer together? Did it make them appreciate each other more? Did they feel closer to God as a result?

Whatever the result, they did it. All who were willing came and brought materials and the skilled who were willing made it all happen...spinning, mounting, building, creating. Many created and brought their creations as offerings. None of this was coerced- Moses describes it as freewill offerings.

But how do you say no to Moses? Yeah- we appreciate the whole deliverance from slavery thing...but there's this book I've really been wanting to read... and the Oscars are next week- I've got some movies to watch.

Easily. The same way you say no to Jesus today. You keep your checkbook to yourself and your time in isolation- except for Sunday when you wave to people from your car pulling out of the church parking lot.

And nothing is created. Not even relationships.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Moses in Syndication

Exodus 35:1-3

Moses gathers the Israelites together and proceeds to... tell them exactly what we've already read about God telling him to tell them. So essentially it looks like we may be in reruns for awhile.

Here, Moses repeats laws about the Sabbath- work for six, rest on the seventh. You work, you die. And do not light fires in your dwellings on the Sabbath.

This is at least the third time we've gone through variations of sabbath laws which makes me wonder... why do we need so much repetition. It's certainly not to make the prose more compelling. In the film version, at least one of these sections gets left on the cutting room floor.

I understand why Moses had to tell them, why does he have to tell us... again?

Is it to stress the importance of these sabbath laws? Maybe- except that it looks like the other laws are about to be repeated too.

Is it to give these Israelites ever opportunity to learn these laws? Third time's a charm. Preview statement, body, review statement? Perhaps, but it seems like only Moses is privy to all of these tellings (and retellings).

Is it to show Moses' faithfulness? God told him to do these things, and here he is doing them. Go Moses.

Or is Moses just not a good writer? We get all the content that we need to understand what's going on, but he's not getting into the Pushcart collection this year. And maybe our culture's view of narrative is different than that culture's. While it may not fit our desired plot development- we do see Moses' faithfulness, we are reminded of the laws, and we aren't left wondering if the Israelites ever got the word.

However, I'm ready for the new season to start... and for sweeps week.