Today’s Scripture Reading
(September 17, 2018): Exodus 38
J. M. Barrie in
“Peter Pan” writes that “Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough.
You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.” In
this case, the sacrifice is more important than the wish. Unfortunately, most
of us live in a culture that does not value sacrifice. We want what it is that
we want, and we want it now. We will pay the bill later. And we do. The reason
why most of us are low on cash and live with credit cards that are maxed out is
because we have never valued sacrifice.
Everyone has the potential to be a millionaire and to retire as a multi-millionaire, even if we have never had six-figure
incomes. But that eventuality is dependent on whether or not we are willing to sacrifice.
Others
have sacrificed wealth to participate in
a career that pays us in other ways. But no matter our choice, often what we
are willing to sacrifice has a lot to do
with where we end up.
Our
faith requires sacrifices from us as well. Sometimes that sacrifice comes in
the form of attitudes and behaviors. As followers of Christ, we believe in
loving others even when we do not feel like loving them. We believe in racial
equality, no matter what the opposition might say. I believe that the Bible
speaks very plainly about gender equality, even though there exist people
within the church that might disagree with me. These are some of the very real
sacrifices that we make for God. And our actions hopefully portray our
sacrifices.
And
we make monetary sacrifices as well. We give the church offerings so that they can carry out the work of Christ in our
communities. I am encouraged when the church uses its financial resources to
reach out beyond the walls of the building to make a difference in the
community. But sometimes, I admit that I struggle with churches who spend
enormous sums of money on ornate decorations and additions for their buildings,
while the needs of the community are ignored.
For me, the building is only a tool to be used to accomplish the directives of
Christ in our communities. The church
building needs to be kept in good condition, and that in turn becomes part of our
testimony. But, how ornate we make our churches sometimes remains a painful
question.
So
I struggle with passages like this one. Setting a value on something like the
gold that was used in the building of the
tabernacle is a hard thing to do; we have
no idea of the value of gold in the antiquity. But the metal was precious. And
part of the reason why it was donated was that
the people wanted to give their best to God. And gold was “the best.”
According
to our modern standards, the amount of gold used on the Tabernacle was about
2,030 pounds or about 920 kilograms. With the price of gold as I write this,
that amounts to almost 40 million dollars (USD). The people sacrificed so that
they could build a tent for their God that was just as majestic and the Temples
their neighbors were building for their gods. And while people like me might
have questioned the expense, it was the best that the people could provide, and
they wanted to sacrifice to give of their best for their God.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 39
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