02.15.09 Sunday Sermon

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Gracious God, Still our minds and quiet our worries; open our ears and hearts so that we might truly hear your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING Exodus 25:1-9
The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. 3 These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; 4 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 5 ram’s skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; 6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breast piece. 8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

INTRODUCTION
I love lists. There is not a day that goes by that I’m not making a list about something: a grocery list or a list of things to take to church on Sunday. I especially love “to do lists.” I get nothing accomplished if I don’t have a to do list.

Now, I guess I should qualify this statement—“I love lists”—by saying that I love MY lists. I don’t so much care for reading someone else’s list, like the lists my mom used to leave of things I needed to have done before the weekend or I couldn’t go out with my friends.

There are A LOT of lists in the last thirteen chapters of Exodus; lists just like the one we read together, but usually much, much longer. Thirteen long, repetitious chapters about building materials and fabrics and decorations.

Now, those of you who are builders, at first you were probably interested in visualizing what this tabernacle must have looked like. And for all the seamstresses out there, you were probably trying to figure out a pattern to make the priestly garments. Interesting, but 13 chapters?
C’mon, we’re likely to say. Thirteen whole chapters that are just like the 9 verses we just read?
Is it really that big of a deal? Just ask the average person in the church, and they’d say no, it’s not a big deal.

BUT. . . if you asked God, He would say, “YES! Yes! This IS a big deal! Why else do you think I told Moses to spend 13 chapters about it?!”

So, it would seem there is something important about these 13 chapters. And it is our task to uncover just what is so important about the tabernacle to involve 13 chapters of lists.

MOVE #1
Up to this point in time, as far as the Israelites were concerned, God lived high up on a mountain. He seemed to be distant and aloof. No one dared to approach Him other than Moses—even then He had to invite Moses up to meet Him; Moses didn’t just wander up for a chat.

In most ancient Near-Eastern religions, the gods always lived up in the mountains. The gods were always separate from the people who worshiped them. In Greek mythology, the gods looked down from the mountains, controlling the people at their whim and for their amusement.

The Israelites lived down the mountain on the land below, far away from the God they worshiped. They felt far away from God when they were enslaved in Egypt, forced to make bricks and to build large storehouse cities called Pithom and Rameses. And they felt farther and farther away from God each time Pharaoh denied their freedom each time Moses asked. They felt far, far away from God.

I can identify with that. I have gone through times in my life where I feel far away from God, when I have strayed from the narrow path and wondered away from Him. And there have been times when God has felt very far away from me, when I have looked for Him and couldn’t see Him.

We all know what it’s like to feel like God is far away. We have all been though those times. We know exactly how those Israelites must have felt during that time in slavery and the time they spent wandering through the wilderness. We know what it’s like to feel like God is up on the mountain, far away from us.

MOVE #2
But God said to Moses, “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” . . . . “I will dwell among them.” This is why the tabernacle is such a big deal. Instead of living high up on the mountain, God will dwell among them in the tabernacle. Instead of having to go up the mountain to be in God’s presence, now they just have to walk around the corner. Our God came down to dwell among them.

The Israelites are in the middle of their wilderness wanderings, moving from place to place. And now, God can go with them. They can fold up the curtains, pick up the poles, and take God with them wherever they go. No longer do they need to feel like God is far away from them. God came down to dwell among them.

Did you know that the Judeo-Christian God is the only god who comes down the mountain to his people? Our God is the only one who comes down to us. All the other gods people created to worship stayed put, high up on that mountain. But our God came down to dwell among them.
Think back to those days right after the fire here at the church. I don’t know about you, but God sure seemed pretty far away. I had come to associate God with this church, and while we were away from the church, it seemed like God was far away.

Now remember how it felt to be back in this church once again. Remember how grateful you were to be home? That’s what the tabernacle meant to the Israelites; it meant that God came down to dwell among them.

MOVE #3
Does that sound familiar? God came down and dwelled among them. It’s what we just celebrated at Christmas—God came down, in the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, and dwells among us. It’s called incarnation—that God came down and dwelled among us the fully human, fully divine Jesus the Christ. Incarnation is a big fancy word, but it’s an important word for us to remember.

Jesus was incarnate: he ate meals, just like us; he cried, just like us; he was lonely, just like us. He was happy and sad and disappointed and excited, just like us. In every way, Jesus was one of us. Yet he was also God at the same time.

Even after Jesus “ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty,” God came down to dwell among us in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, given to the disciples at Pentecost. And the Holy Spirit still dwells among us; he dwells inside us—in our hearts.

Friends, YOU are a tabernacle. God’s presence lives inside you. Your body is a tabernacle, so present yourselve as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom 12.1). You have a treasure in a clay jar—God came down and dwells within you, a treasure living inside a fragile clay jar (2 Cor 4.7).

CONCLUSION
The book of Exodus tells the story of God taking the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and freeing them for service to God. Under the Pharaoh, they were controlled and subdued; under God, they are free and liberated. God has freed them from restrictions and limitations.

The whole Bible tells the story of God taking His children from slavery to sin and freeing them for His service. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God came down and dwelled among us, freeing us to be a tabernacle of God. Wherever we go, he goes with us. Whatever we do, he is right beside us. And he is calling us to use our freedom to serve others, to share the incarnation with our neighbors. God came down and dwelled among us and to him be all glory and honor, now and forever, Amen.