Thank You, But We Have Enough

Exodus 36: 3-7 They (the craftsmen) 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 freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work 5 and said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done."

6 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, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

Let me repeat just a portion of that, “because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work (Ex 36:7).” I came across this verse this morning and began pondering it. How did that happen? How did the people of Israel give more than enough to do the work that God commanded? To me, there are two separate attitudes at work here. One is the attitude of the people, and the other is the attitude of the leadership.

Maybe to understand the attitude of the people, we need to back up a few chapters. The short version of previous chapters of Exodus goes something like this: Moses goes to Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord; he is gone “too long” and the people make and worship a golden calf; Moses returns to find the calf and, in anger, breaks the stone tablets containing the law; the people repent so Moses returns to the Lord to beg for forgiveness for him and the people; Moses returns from the second trip to the mountain with new tablets of the law and a whole host of regulations on how to build a temple for God. That pretty much brings us up to speed.

So, now we come back to the attitude of the people. So many times when I read the bible, I know what is going to happen next. Israel does something bad, they repent, God forgives, they do something bad, they repent, God forgives, repeat, repeat, repeat. That little voice in the back of my head often wonders if they truly repent or if they just repent to make their own lives a little easier. Exodus 36 shows me that in this instance, the people repented with their whole hearts. They had already offered jewelry and coins to make the heretical golden calf; how much more should they offer to worship the One True God? They saw the error of their ways, and came together to build the temple, the dwelling place of the Most High. They ALL give with such a joyous heart that the craftsmen are literally flooded with more than what they need to complete the task at hand. Praise Adonai! How I would love to be in a place where my giving is not with a thought to what it will cost me, but to fulfilling the needs that God has made me aware of.

Now, how about the attitude of the leadership? THIS is where the revelation struck me. Who ever heard of a church leadership saying to the people, “Thank you, but we have enough.”? I can’t say that I have ever heard that in all the years I have attended churches. What a biblical model to put forth for consideration! “We, as the church leadership, know what our role is and what we need to accomplish this role. Please give as you can until this need is met, and we will let you know when we have enough.” I have always thought to myself that the more the church has, the more they can do with it. Maybe this isn’t the case. Maybe the church needs to know what their role is, and seek only what they need to fulfill that role. With leadership willing to say they have enough, the people will be more willing to give because they know that it must be needed. How about that for God choosing the foolish things of the world to shame the wise?

Now, I’m not saying that we need to do away with weekly/monthly/yearly tithes and offerings. That isn’t what this portion of scripture is referencing. This is a special project, a one-time expense that the Israelites gladly gave towards. To me, this is akin to raising all of the money (and more) for the new building project prior to breaking ground. Then, instead of adding on a new wing with the extra money, the church informs the people that it has what it needs and builds what they originally planned for. This could be a revolutionary way of thinking where church finances are involved. In a culture of materialism and “bigger is better”, learning how to recognize what is needed and what is enough can bring the peace from striving for more that we are all looking for.