Today's Scripture Reading (January 28, 2022): Deuteronomy 27
In the church's main sanctuary,
just outside my office, hangs a series of banners. The banners, there are
more than just the ones that are currently hanging in the worship hall, are intended to be changed according to season.
Each banner was lovingly created by a talented seamstress in the congregation. And I believe that making these banners was part of her act of worship.
Other craftspeople have created
other items around me.
A bench in front
of the church was made by a family in the church, and artisans created a plaque that lists the people who have passed away
from the congregation, signs, posters, and beautiful poetry, every one of these things has been created by talented and gifted people. Some
of the creations are signed, but not all. But each one of them is a gift beyond
value because they were lovingly created as someone's act of worship.
And I believe that the offerings of these
craftspeople rival those of the craftsmen that built and maintained the
Tabernacle during the days of Israel's desert wandering. The items that these artisans had created to aid in worship were on display. Included in this list of creations
were the panels of the Tabernacle itself along with all of the poles and
fasteners, then extending to all of the items used inside the
Tabernacle in the day-to-day activities of the priests. God had provided the
necessary people with appropriate giftings to create everything that was needed. For these gifted artists, making the Tabernacle artifacts was an act of worship, an act of creation that was joyfully given to their God.
But as Israel prepares to cross the Jordan, God
issues a different command to Moses and the people of Israel. Once you have
crossed the Jordan River, build an altar of stones. This altar was supposed to be made with large rocks that the people would discover in the fields. They
were field stones, and these stones were to be whitewashed, which likely means
washed in lime, but other than that, they were to be left in the original form in which
they were found; no iron tool was to be used to shape the stones in any way. While the various craftspeople of Israel
had been kept busy making other significant things used in the worship of God,
for this altar, they had been ordered to stay away. This altar would
use the natural shape of the field stones in its construction. The beauty of
this altar was to remain unenhanced because all of the worship of the people as
they entered the land belonged to God; it could not be shared with even a talented craftsperson.
The danger was that,
when the altar was completed, there might be a temptation to glorify the
builder over the creator. And as Israel moved into the promised land, they
needed to have their eyes fixed on God and not on a human messenger of the one
true God, regardless of how talented that messenger might be.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 28
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