Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Feel Like an Outsider at Church? | Torah | Exodus 35:1-29

Episode Date: July 26, 2022

Do belong in church? Do you feel the need to clean yourself up on Sunday mornings? Are you involved in your church? In today's episode, Tanya looks at the characteristics of the people God calls to build the tabernacle in Exodus 35:1-29. Do you have these three characteristics? Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Exodus 35:1-29

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth and right now we're in the book of Exodus. I was getting off a plane at JFK on a rainy day and I pulled my jacket tighter as I stepped outside with my friend to find our Uber or a car that was going to take us to a hotel. But just in front of us was an older man and woman and they were dressed head to toe, tropical prints, knee high socks, comfort sandals, the whole gear. Not only did they stand out in the weather, but their flamenco print shirt stood out in the New York sidewalk where, you know, everyone tries to wear some combo of gray, beige, or black.

I wondered, are they just coming back from Anna Maria Island? Did their plane get diverted? Are their plans changed? In a city where everyone tries, however unsuccessfully not to be a tourist, why are they dressed like that? I wonder if that's sometimes how we feel about the church. Like, everyone knows we don't belong there, or that we don't feel comfortable. there. Or like people are talking about us and talking about how they think we don't belong. I wonder if we feel like we're carrying around on our slaves that we're outsiders instead of locals.

Here's the good news I have for you today. Well, two things. First, we're almost done with Exodus. It's been a long ride, but a good one. And second, Exodus actually ends on a pretty high note. So if you're looking for a feel-good episode, maybe today's your day. So here we are in Exodus 35. and the stone tablets Moses broke in anger over the calf, well, they've been restored. And the people who have done everything they could think of to threaten the covenant with God, they weren't able to destroy it. God is willing to transfer his presence to an earthly tabernacle the people will build, and he's going to effectively be in their midst just as he promised Moses.

So the people are assembled as a congregation with Moses as their leader, and he gives them instructions. for the second time to construct a tabernacle, and they're going to use their contributions and their gifts to enjoy the presence of their holy Lord. Now, I want you to remember that this is take two for the tabernacle construction. Between take one, when God told them how to build it, and now, we took a giant intercession or interlude while the people built a golden calf,

Moses interceded, and God responded. And now it's like God is saying that, wait, where were we the tabernacle? Oh yes, let's continue with my story. So this in Exodus 35 is a picture that foreshadows what our churches are today. It's a literal and figurative body of Christ, where God's presence dwells in us and among us, where he's glorified and made known to the world. So let's look at the kind of people who made up this Exodus 35 church, because they're the same kind of people that make up our churches today. Now we're going to look at three characteristics of the people, the Israelites, who made up

this congregation, if you will, and look at how that applies to us today. So, number one, the first characteristic of the people who called, called to build this tabernacle are those who have messed up. Now, the way God has been describing them the last few chapters of Exodus is stiff-necked and full of sin. The last time they were together as a congregation, their purpose was to reject God and construct a golden calf. And how did they do that? Well, let's look at it this way. If you think about marriage or equality friendship,

you know there are certain things a spouse or a friend will try to avoid if they know it really upsets or angers or even irritates the other person. But they usually have to learn these things and figure them out. They do try to learn them. And most good friends or spouses try to avoid doing those things because they truly love the other person. Now, in their relationship with God, he made it easy for the Israelites.

He gave them a list up front of the things he didn't want them to do. A list of 10 things that angered him went against His holiness. And at the top of that list was to look for love and glory anywhere but in him. And that's kind of the first thing the Israelites did while the ink on the commandments was still wet, so to speak.

We were created to love the Lord with all our hearts and souls and minds and glorify him with our words, thoughts, and deeds. But we choose instead to dishonor him by chasing rabbits and doing things to get people to tell us how good we are. These are the people God told the Biddle Tabernacle for the first time in Exodus 25. And these are the same people who get the same instructions again in Exodus 35. The difference is the interlude. They messed up, but God didn't remove his. his presence from them after Moses interceded, but he gave them what their hearts truly were created to crave his own glory. And this glory transformed them. Paul describes it pretty well in 2 Corinthians

318. He says, and we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. These are the people who make up your church, people who are sinful and stiff-necked, but transformed by the glory of our holy Lord. Now, that doesn't sound so intimidating. Okay, the second characteristic of the kind of people God calls to build his church are those who have a heart for obedience. Now, I'm not saying they're people who are obedient, and that's why God calls them. But they are people who want to be obedient because of what God has done for them. Have you heard what Jesus did for Peter in the New Testament?

How just before the crucifixion, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. And just after the resurrection, Jesus went straight to Peter, and Jesus asked Peter three times, do you love me? He didn't do this to make him feel bad. He did it to restore him. The exact number of times Peter denied Jesus was the exact number of opportunities Jesus gave Peter to profess his love. Much the same, God is giving the Israelites the exact same instructions

to build the tabernacle that he gave them before the goal. golden calf. In fact, if you're just quickly reading through your Bible, you might wonder, have I read this before? But the words must have landed on them differently the second time. After God threatened to remove his presence from them for their transgression, he was repeating his instructions and affirming his willingness to be with them. How much more meaningful it was now that they were aware of his holiness and their sin, which threatened to separate them from him. these are the kind of people that make up our churches. They're people who want to be obedient because they've experienced God's mercy.

They're people who will come alongside you and help you in your same struggles because they know what it's like. One of the most beautiful things I've seen in a church is when someone a little further ahead in something like addiction or pornography or eating disorders or marriage struggles comes alongside someone else to walk the road with them. They know the path well. They might still be trying to navigate it.

but they've experienced the presence of the Lord with them, and they're so moved by it that they want to share it with others. Okay, the last characteristic, people that God calls to build up his church, or the last one for today, is that they are those who have willing hearts. Now, the offerings that Israelite people gave this time are described in such quantity

that they eventually had to be told to stop because there was such an abundance and a new problem was going to arise on what to do with it all. willing and eager hearts are mentioned seven times in this Exodus 35 passage and it includes everyone so male or female whether you're good with people or making coffee or running a video camera or building a set or teaching scripture you're invited to do it the evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence in you is your willingness to do it I love watching a friend who teaches statistics at our university around the PowerPoint slides at church I love watching another friend who lobbies at the state capitol play Legos with third graders. This is the kind of church you're invited to build. Not just join, but build. You not only belong, but you're supposed to be an active part in making it the church. In fact, the church isn't what it's supposed to be without you. How have you seen God use your

past struggles to glorify him and build up his church? Are there ways you could be using them that you haven't yet? And is your heart willing to use your gifts and your skills to build up the church? Do you respond when you hear needs in your church? It's hard to know what comes first. Sometimes we do things and then we come to love them. And sometimes we do things because we already love them. Either way, God desires people with willing hearts and he's also the one who makes people's hearts willing. Maybe you just need to step out and ask God to help you when you're doing it. Probably if you're thinking about it, your heart is already willing and your brain is just trying to catch up. You've probably heard the funny phrase, if you thought your church was perfect, it's not now that you're there.

Let's do our part to make our churches the most imperfect, God-glorifying places on this planet where people experience the love and fellowship of our amazing and risen Savior. Before you forget, sign up for the brand-new TMBT newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will be help you beat the midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.