Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter of our faith. In Exodus 35, we read about Israel building a tabernacle. As they did so, God wanted them to keep their stewardship and their worship in close connection. We've learned about a community project, a volunteer project, and a worshipful project.
Today, more aspects of this combination. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We are now in part four in a series on managing God's gifts, specifically how worship happens. Pastor, I think many people view worship as something done in church, not something you would do in an ancient day Habitat for Humanity effort.
You know, Dave, the Bible is very clear that all that we do, whether in word and deed, it be done to the glory of God. And that also, of course, is worship.
Now there is a place for corporate worship. and worship specifically is to give thanks to God, to honor and praise Him, but yes, we can do that in our work as well.
So from that standpoint, all of life, really, can be lived under the banner of worship. I'm so glad for all those who have joined us today because I believe that this message is going to be instructive, I think it's going to be helpful, and also I want to stress that we are coming to the end of the month, and this is a very special month because we have a matching gift offer. What that means is, any gift that you give will be matched. What an opportunity And In return, we also want to give you a thank you, and I'll be mentioning a special premium for all those of you who contribute. Yeah.
The idea of approaching God with an empty hand It was unthinkable. I mean, you're coming into the presence where God dwells in the Old Testament sanctuary. You're coming where the cloud of glory has come and you have nothing to bring to God. Unthinkable.
Now of course here at the church, as we mentioned a moment ago, we do not expect those who are visiting to give or those who are our guests. But for those who are a part of what God is doing and Moody Church is your church home, I want you to know that giving is not only a privilege and an opportunity, it is an act of worship. It is me saying, God, this is the gift that I present to you today. In fact, I've served in churches or preached in churches where always when the offering was taken, the ushers would come down the aisles and then they would lay the offering plates on the altar.
Now, we don't do that here. It's a little inconvenient given the number of offering plates. But symbolically, in our minds, that's what we should be doing. What we're saying is, God, this is my gift to you today. This is my worship to you today.
And this is my heart to you today. Here it is. East Texas, in a little church, I read about a Little place where the ushers were taking the offering, and there was a woman near the front. elegantly clothed. decked out in beautiful jewelry and finery, and the offering plate was passed by her, and she gave nothing.
So this deacon, being a little braver than most of us would be, passed it down the same aisle again. She still didn't give anything. And then he passed it down a third time, and she still didn't give anything. And then he leaned over and whispered in her ear: he said, Either put something in or else take something out because it's for the heathen anyway.
Well That was putting it a little strongly. But what he was saying is that you come to God and you have nothing to give and obviously you're a people of means and you're coming empty-handed.
So it was a worshipful project. Could I say also, number four, It was a generous project, very generous. Here we look at chapter 36 and I pick it up in verse 3. They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring free will offerings mourning.
After morning. That's remarkable. They'd go home and they'd say, Well, I've got something else to bring, or what shall I bring today?
Well, they need more brass. They need more linen, all right? What we're going to do is we're going to bring more linen. They need more wood.
Well, we're going to bring more wood. Whatever it was, they kept doing it morning after morning.
So, all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work of the Lord that has been commanded. Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary. And so the people were restrained from bringing more because what they had was more than enough to do all the work.
Well, this past week I was reflecting on my ministerial career, shall I say. I was thinking of being the pastor of a Baptist church for five years, being at the Moody Church for 20, just once in my career. Just once. Just once. I'd like to be able to say to the congregation: stop!
Giving. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? Maybe I'll say that someday. We have more than enough.
Now why is it that the people were so generous? It's because God opened their hearts. This was the spontaneity of joy saying, it came from God, we give it to God. And there were people who were so committed.
Now, I need to tell you this: there's a little nugget of truth in the 38th chapter. It talks about the labor that was made, and it was made of brass.
Now, in those days, they did not have glass, so they didn't have mirrors like we do today. And what the women would do is they would take polished brass, and they would polish that brass so well that they could actually see themselves as a mirror. Those were their mirrors.
Now, listen to what the text says. They made the bronze basin that held many, many gallons of water, by the way. and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. I hope I can get by with this remark. I'll try it and see later how I do.
My dear friend, if you have women giving up their mirrors, This is a God thing. This is a god thing. And they were willing. to give that up. Because they were saying, This is for God, this is my offering, this is my experience.
of worship.
Well, we've learned that it was a community project, a volunteer project, a worshipful project, generous. project, but oh how glorious it was.
Now, those of you who are following in your Bibles, if you want to turn to the last chapter of Exodus, That's Exodus. Chapter 40. And I'm reading verse 34. This is after it's finished now. It's all done.
In fact, verse 33 says, Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And Moses finished the work.
Now, he had a lot of help. A lot of skilled people were involved. It says in verse 34, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Oh, wonderful. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it and the glory of the Lord filled.
The Tabernacle. What does that sign of glory mean? What God was saying is: first, I approve of what you've done, I am pleased. Is there a more blessed thing that might be possible? Then God sang, should we finish the project that we as a church have undertaken.
that God says, I am pleased. You say, well, why doesn't the glory cloud still come like it did in the Old Testament? The reason is because Jesus Christ has come. And because Christ has come, it says, the word became flesh and tabernacled among us. That's the tabernacle now we sing at Christmastime, veiled in flesh, the Godhead See.
The glory of God, the cloud of glory, was veiled in Jesus Christ. It broke forth on the Mount of Transfiguration.
So we don't have that today because Christ has come. But I can imagine the same approval of God, the same blessing of God, the same leading of God, the same presence of God as God says, My glory is descended and I am pleased. with what you have done. What are some lessons we can learn from ancient Israel? We've given five principles, but now two concluding lessons that hopefully you and I shall not forget.
First of all, God gives people the ability and the resources to do His work. He gives them the resources. I mentioned at the beginning of this message, God could have just created it for them, but He gives them the resources. Where did all this stuff come from? Here they are in the middle of the desert.
And they have all these personal items. If we took time to read the jewelry and the linen and the silver and the gold and yes, the mirrors and everything else thrown in, where do they get it?
Well, you know, there's an interesting text. In the book of Exodus, chapter 12, and I shall just read it to you. It says this. As they are leaving now, we're talking about Passover night, the Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. And the Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for.
So they plundered. The Egyptians. Let's just imagine it. It's Passover night. You go into the home of an Egyptian.
An Egyptian comes and says, Here's some silver, and here's some gold and here's some linen. And you say, Well, why were they doing this? First of all, because God put it in the heart of the Egyptians to do that. But part of it was they were so anxious to see Israel go, they said, We'll just pay you if you leave. And number two.
This was payment for the 400 years of slavery where the people obviously were horrendously underpaid, and God was making up for that. But now what I want you to do is to visualize that you're one of those Israelites. It's Passover night. And the Egyptians are giving you all of these articles that are very, very valuable, even in those days. And you've got more than you can carry.
And you're putting it in your tent, and you know that you're going to have to move, and you're carrying it with you as best you can. What are you thinking?
Well, you're thinking to yourself, you know, this is really wonderful. I mean, it was the ancient equivalent to winning the lottery. You're saying, this is really unbelievable that we're getting all this stuff and they're giving it to us, and we are actually plundering them. That's what the Israelites were thinking. Let me ask you a question: what was God thinking?
God was saying You're thinking that this is for yourself. But I have a tabernacle in mind. In fact, I already know its dimensions. I know how big it's going to be. I know how much gold it's going to need.
I know how much silver. I know how much brass and how many linens it's going to have. And so, what God was doing, you see, is while they were thinking this was just for personal enrichment, God was saying, I have a tabernacle. in mind. You know, as I think about this, Perhaps I speak to people today who 20 years ago you made an investment.
Some of you, perhaps 20 years ago or 30 years ago, or 10 years ago, you had a business in which you took some risks and it turned out well for you. And you say to yourself, how fortunate it is that God has given me all of these resources. And what you didn't know was down the line, God was saying, Moody church, I have a building. in mind. I'm thinking about that building.
And you didn't know. That those resources generously given to you by God were for this moment, for this hour, for this project. In this Wonderful city. God gives people the ability the ability to do his work. Let me give you a second lesson.
And that is the connection that there is between willing givers and willing worshipers. You see, in the Old Testament, there is a tight connection between worship and giving. That's why in the Psalms you read things like this: Worship the Lord, bring an offering. We think those are two separate things. We say, well, you know, we worship the Lord when we sing, and then we also bring an offering, maybe.
In the Bible, that was the way you worshiped. We already mentioned that you did not go into God's presence. empty-handed. And consequently, what we have in the scriptures is a recognition that you bring something to God, not just the praise of your lips, which is also worship. But you also bring part of yourself, part of what God has given you the privilege of earning, part of your resources.
That also is an act of worship in the sight of God, an indispensable act. You say, well, is there that kind of a connection too in the New Testament? We can see it clearly in the old, but is there that connection in the new? The Apostle Paul is. saying to the people of Philippi, he's thanking them for gifts.
And he says this: He says, Nobody else helped me except you folks. Not that I am looking for a gift. But I am looking for what may be credited to your account. He's saying, um. I don't really need the money, but I'm sure glad you're giving it because of what the giving is going to do for you and the pleasure that God is going to have in your giving it.
He says, I have received full payment and even more. I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.
Now notice this, they are a fragrant offering. an acceptable sacrifice. Pleasing to God. You have all the imagery of the Old Testament offering system where God was pleased with what people were giving. And the offerings were a sweet savor to God.
He enjoyed it and he was pleased. Paul said to the people at Philippi, New Testament. that when you gave your sacrifice was this aroma of blessing and worship. In the sight of God. Yes, of course, of course.
There is a connection between worship and giving.
Now, of course, people can give and not worship. We have that all the time. In fact, in the Old Testament, God was displeased because there were some people who said, well, you know, we're giving and therefore we're worshiping. And God says, no, you aren't, because you give me things, but your heart isn't in it. And so that becomes an important point.
People were sacrificing lambs and so forth, but they'd always go to the lamb with a broken leg. They'd say, well, this one has a broken leg. Let's have this for God. And what they were doing is giving God always the leftovers. And God says, I'm not pleased with that because you don't really love me.
And that's where that willingness again comes in. You have to love him, and when you love him, you become generous with him. But everyone can worship. in bringing a gift, everyone.
Now I was brought up in a very small church out in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. If we ever had 60 people show up, we'd have to bring in extra chairs. In fact, I remember times when we had a rally and maybe we had 70 or 80 people and they were sitting out in the back lobby or the back porch as we called it. And the pastor blessed him every Sunday before the offering, he used to pray this. He'd say, Now, Lord.
We pray that you will bless those who can give and bless those who cannot give.
Some of you have heard prayers like that. Have you ever noticed that I don't pray that? I don't pray for those who cannot give. Because everybody can give something. In fact, in the Old Testament, What you find is that God didn't say the only thing that all accept is a lamb.
There are some people who didn't have a lamb. Therefore God says to the poor, you bring some pigeons. Or you bring some turtle doves. That's what the parents of Jesus did when they brought him into the temple. They didn't go into the temple empty-handed, but they were so poor they just had.
These birds that flew around everywhere, they were very plentiful. And God says, Hey, if you're poor, you just bring that, but bring something. Every one of us can give something.
some more than others. But we can all come. And we can say, Lord. If we had time, I'd go through the text and show you how often it says in the passage that we read: they did it for the Lord, an offering for the Lord. You give to a project, you're going to be disappointed because you're going to say, well, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it, or they didn't do what I think should have been done with it.
No, don't don't give. You give to the Lord. You say, Lord, this is my offering. This is my act of worship. This is a token of the way I really do love you.
Okay. Frederick Wilheim, one of the Prussian kings in 1813 was in debt. He was fighting many different wars, if you know anything about Prussia. you know that it was a very militaristic state. But he needed money.
And he didn't know where he could get the money, so he challenged the women of Prussia and said, Look. Would you bring me all of your jewelry? Bring me your gold and your silver, because we can use this. This is good money, so that we can continue our projects and win our wars. And in exchange, I'll give you some iron.
And on that iron will be inscribed: I exchanged gold for iron. In 1813.
So you had thousands of women responded. They took their personal items just like they did in Old Testament times and they brought them and they gave them. to the king and to his enterprises. And as a result of that, you have the Order of the Iron Cross. And women proudly, many women in Prussia, refused to wear any jewelry at all because they had given it all to the king.
And they just simply wore the iron cross that says, I gave. to the king of Prussia. In 1813.
You know what we really need, not just at Moody Church, but around the world, we need a whole army of people. who say to themselves that sacrifice for me is a way of life. Giving up that which I could have to do it not for the king of Prussia. Not for the President of the United States, not for me, not for the leadership of any organization or any church, but I have given this up. for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
And have the order. of his cross. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, before which we humbly bow and before which we receive the eternal life that makes us children of God and therefore delightful children, because we delight. to give. God makes a connection.
between what we give, who we are, and how we worship. Will you join me now as we pray together? Our Father, our hearts are so gratified and so pleased that in your sovereign grace, You put it in the hearts of people thousands of years ago to be generous. And we thank you for all those thousands of willing givers. We pray that you might do the same in my heart.
The heart of the staff and the elders, the leadership, the executive committee. All Father, who are connected, help us to ask only one question: What will you, O Lord, have me to do? And with that gift, let us worship you. In spirit, And in truth, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Yeah. And you know, my friend, that's exactly the question that we have to ask is, Lord, what will you have me to do? Of course, this story that we've been emphasizing, the story in the wilderness, is a story of sacrifice. And these people who received silver and gold from the Egyptians now gave it, as an act of worship to build the tabernacle. And you know, even here at Running to Wind, we are so mindful of the fact that the continuation of this ministry is dependent upon people just like you.
I sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because in a moment I'm going to be giving you some contact info. But first of all, I want to stress that this is a very special month. The month of August well, it's the month in which we double all contributions that are made to us. What that means is, any gift that you give is doubled. Of course, you can do the math.
$10 becomes $20, $25 becomes $50, $50 becomes $100. What an opportunity to invest. And just like the Israelites there in the desert who invested to build a tabernacle, we also desired to build a tabernacle, a different tabernacle, and that is a place in which the gospel of Jesus Christ goes around the world. Very quickly, here's the contact info. Go to rtwoffer.com.
Of course, RTW offer is all one word. RTWoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-1888. 218-9337. And by the way, As our thank you, Will be sending you a copy of the book Christ Among Other Gods so that you will be able to defend Jesus Christ. Against a host, of other options.
Okay. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Running to win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. You've heard Erwin Lutzer concluding How Worship Happens, the third in a six-part series on managing God's gifts. We've heard about two principles of stewardship, which are also principles of worship.
Next time on Running to Win, we turn to our pocketbooks and focus on myths about money. We'll meet some generous Christians in a place called Macedonia. Plan to join us. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister.
Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
