Sept. 4 – Exodus 36:1-7

 Bezalel and Oholiab and everyone skilful to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.

2 Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and everyone skilful to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work; 3 and they received from Moses all the freewill-offerings that the Israelites had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill-offerings every morning, 4 so that all the artisans who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed, 5 and said to Moses, ‘The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.’ 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.’ So the people were restrained from bringing; 7 for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.

God gave instructions for how the tabernacle – the place of God – was to be built. God also gave people the skills to do the work needed in building the tabernacle. Two of those people are named – Bezalel and Oholiab. (Interestingly the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem is considered the premier art school in Israel.) But there were others as well – “everyone skillful…to do any work of construction” (vs. 1 and 2). The construction of the tabernacle included a wide range of trades – carpentry, metal work, work with fabrics, weaving, work in precious metals.

Not only was the skill given by God, but also “everyone whose heart was stirred to do the work (vs.2)” – that is, was given the desire to do the work, those in whom the Spirit of God urged them to do the work. God gives both the skills and the passion to do the work God has for us. For both are needed. It is not enough to have the skills, the desire has to be there as well; it is not enough to have the desire, the skills need to be there. God is the giver of both. 

But work is only possible if there are the resources to do the work. The people of God, the Israelites, gave more resources than were required for the building of the tabernacle. God provided abundantly for the work, through the gifts of God’s people.

Those who gave resources, those who used those resources, became participants together in what God was doing in the world. As we give resources, as we use the resources given, as we use the skills we have been given, as we follow the stirrings of the Holy Spirit, we join our work to the work that God is doing in the world.

PRAYER:

God of grace, we rejoice that the Holy Spirit stirs up in us both the desire and the ability to do the work, your work in the world. Move us from lethargy to energy, move us from denying the gifts you give to joining you on your mission in the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Sept. 2 – Exodus 20:8-11  

8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

God worked in bringing the creation into being, then God rested on the seventh day. In God’s being there is the rhythm of work and rest. Both are also essential to human existence. Work and rest are part of our lives as human beings.

In the contemporary world of 40-hour, Monday to Friday work weeks, we have equated work with making a paycheck, and if people don’t receive a paycheck, then they are not working. Work in the world of the Bible is having something to do. A task or tasks, a purpose, a something to do. Thus, making meals – as happens a great deal in the Bible is work, as is leading the army into battle, as is being among the town leaders at the city gate deciding on the legal matters of the day, as is singing songs of praise, as is fishing and shepherding, as is working in the media of wood and metal and cloth. All those things and many more are work recognized in the Bible.

Work may being a cheerleader for those who are called to tasks within the body of Christ, the church, or within the wider community. Work may be to pray, in conversation with God about the issues and needs of the day and the community. Work may be connecting with the isolated and the alone, being a listening ear and a caring shoulder.

And just as there is work, there is rest, stopping working. There is letting God carry the load, the responsibility, the task, for it is only in God that there is any possibility that our work will be productive. The Sabbath one day a week, the stopping, reminds us that we are not the saviours, we are not the ones who bring about the results of the work – all of that belongs to God and God alone. The one day in seven that we do not work, reminds us that we are participating in what God is doing in the world, not that God is joining us in what we are doing.

In adopting the rhythm of work and rest, we declare our commitment to joining God in what God is doing. For it is God’s work.

PRAYER: 

God of work and rest, we rejoice that you have built the rhythm of work and rest into our lives. Teach us to rejoice in the gift of work, and to trust you in our times of rest. In Jesus’ name. Amen.