San Williams, Presenter

Exodus 35:1-22

"Willing Hearts"

When my grandmother learned something new, she often said, "I won't have to get up at midnight tonight."  Once I asked for an explanation of this oblique comment, and she explained the principle behind it.  "We should learn at least one new thing each day," she said, "and if we fail to do so, we have to get up at midnight." 

Well, the capital campaign that we're launching today is proving to be such a learning experience, that I’m not going to have to get up at midnight any time soon. I'm learning about myself, about my own attitude toward giving and what the Lord requires of me. I'm learning about the congregation.  Capital campaigns, quite apart from the money raised, reveal much about the character of a congregation.  Already I've been amazed by the skills, talents and commitment that have surfaced in this campaign.  Another thing I'm learning—something I never really noticed before—is the abundance of biblical material related to giving in general, and capital campaigns in particular.  We're going to be looking at some of these biblical capitol campaigns the next few weeks.  One of these, the first capital campaign in the Bible, is the one we read this morning. I’m referring to the episode in Exodus, in which God commands an offering to build the Tabernacle.  

The first thing we learn about this capital campaign is that it is commanded by God. Moses assembles the congregation, but he makes it clear that the initiative for the offering comes from God.  Three times Moses declares, "These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do." 

As you know, we've tagged our capital campaign, "God's Plan, our Hands."  We're building on the biblical insight that God takes the initiative and we respond.  Admittedly, there's the danger of a subtle—or maybe not so subtle—strategy of manipulation. It's tempting to take our human plans and desires, and coat them with a religious veneer.  If you're like me, something in you recoils when you hear someone speak too easily about how "God told me this," or "God wants you to do that." We Presbyterians insist that God is sovereign, which means, in part, that God is always more than what we humans can conceive.  God's thoughts, God's plans, are far beyond what we can imagine. 

And yet Christianity is called a revealed religion, meaning that God condescends to reveal God's self. In the witness of scripture, and especially in the person of Jesus, God's nature and plans are made known.  For example, Jesus reveals to us that God's plan is to feed the hungry, right? Therefore, we're making space for just this ministry in our renovation. Further, God has made it plain that we are to practice hospitality.  Romans 15:7 "Welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you."  Every part of the Master Plan aims to make our space more accessible, welcoming and hospitable. And isn't it God's plan for us to study God's word and grow in the knowledge and love of God?  Accordingly, we've designed improved and new classroom space for nursery through adults. Surely, it's God's plan for us to worship God, and that's why we've conceived of new worship space that is especially appealing to university students. There's so much we can learn about a capital campaign from biblical precedents, and the first thing we learn is the most crucial: God is the initiator, the inspiration and the power behind the offering.

And here's another thing we learn from this early capital campaign. Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai. He has God's instructions for building a tabernacle and God's command to collect an offering.  For Moses, it's Launch Sunday.  So what does Moses do?  He tells the congregation to rest. He reminds them of God's command to keep the Sabbath.  When there is so much to be done, why does Moses begin the campaign with a command to keep a holy Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord?  Perhaps Moses has learned from personal experience.  Recall that Moses has just come down from Mt. Sinai where he has been alone with God for 40 days.  From personal experience Moses has learned that discerning God's will, and catching God's vision requires that we slow down, quiet our hearts and seek to listen to God.  

On your way out of the sanctuary this morning you'll be handed a packet of information to take home.  Included in the materials is a daily devotional guide.  I consider it the most important of all the materials we've produced for the campaign.  Its purpose is to incorporate a season of preparation wherein we can quiet our hearts and seek to discern what God is trying to do in and through us.  The benefit of this slowing down goes far beyond this particular campaign.  It's actually a principle of Christian living.  Whenever something is required of us, some decision is pressing upon us—buying a new car, remodeling the house, changing careers, choosing a college, making a health-care decision—if we intend to do God's will, to bring God into the decision, then we need to create space in our lives for the Spirit to work.  The Gospels record that, every time Jesus was at a turning point in his life, he withdrew to a quiet place to pray, to rest in order to discern God's will. That's what we're encouraging every member of the congregation to do:  Before any decision about the offering is made, set aside time to reflect, to pray, to be silent before God.  Let's learn from our forbearers in the faith:   First pray.  Then act.

Now something else we learn from this first capital campaign is the importance of everyone's being involved.  We read this morning how everyone was encouraged to give from his or her resources.  In the list of items people were to bring, we find the standard items we would usually expect: "gold, silver and bronze, fine linen, acacia wood, onyx stones, gems, and goat hair."  Goat hair?  You see, not everyone had gold or its equivalent.  But everyone had a goat, and if that's all a person had, all that had been given him or her, then he was invited to bring the hair of a goat, which could be woven into cloth.  In order words, people contributed as they were able, but everyone contributed.

This principle is already at work in our campaign. The children and youth are discussing ways they can contribute.  The elementary children are bringing toys, books and children's clothes, and they will run the Courtyard Sale on May 5. Youth and children will help with table decorations and entertainment for the celebration luncheon.  The Campus Ministry is publicizing the campaign among the students and students plan to contact alumni of the campus ministry program inviting them to participate. The success of the capital campaign is not merely measured in money collected.  It's measured by the involvement of the entire congregation. 

But the key verse in this account of the first capital campaign comes at the end of today's reading, "And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord's offering."  The people gave because their hearts were stirred and their spirits were willing. This is the heart and soul of every campaign that seeks to be faithful to God's plan.  Notice that there is no compulsion, no pressure, no arm-twisting or guilt-tripping.  Paul picked up on this fundamental principle of Godly giving when he wrote, "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 

Last Saturday at Mo Ranch, we had an opportunity to talk about the Master Plan and the capital campaign to those who were attending the retreat. Craig, our Executive Director, spoke with such passion and conviction that everyone was moved.  Hearts were stirred.  My wife Jan told Craig that she was on the brink of tears.  "I was ready to give it all if we had it to give," she said.  (I was grateful that we hadn't brought our check book to the retreat).   But that's the spirit in which everyone is to give.  Not because we have to—we don't have to—but because our hearts are willing, and because it's such a joy and privilege to give to something that furthers God's peace and purposes in the world.

Friends, none of us will have to get up at midnight tonight. We've learned a lot from the first capital campaign recorded in scripture.  We've learned that God is the source, inspiration and purpose behind the offering.  We've learned that we need to include a period of preparation in the campaign, a Sabbath of rest and prayerful reflection.  We've learned how important it is that all the people participate as they are capable.  And we learned that we are asked to give, not under compulsion, but with willing, love-filled hearts.

And in case you're wondering just how the capital campaign to build the tabernacle turned out, the results are announced to Moses in the very next chapter.  He's told:  "The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do."  In fact, they bring so much that Moses has to restrain them, declaring, "What you have already brought is more than enough to do all the work."

But that kind of thing doesn't happen in the modern world. Or does it?