From Scarcity to Abundance: Embracing Faith and Generosity

Moses' request, did you notice, it's very simple. Let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord's offering, or another translation says everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering. And so notice Moses' fundraising technique. I mean, there is no guilt trip here. There's no four weeks of teaching on tithing. [00:03:07]

Just a simple appeal to those who wanted to respond and respond. They did. Everyone whose heart was stirred, everyone whose spirit was willing. They brought gold and silver and bronze and yarns of blue and purple and crimson and fine linen and precious stones and fragrant spices and oil for the light, which is another way of they say saying they paid for the electric bill. [00:03:27]

because remember this was a group of people that previously had been operating from a viewpoint of scarcity because even though god had delivered them out of slavery in egypt with all those miracles and provided all these things every time there was a bump in the road they freaked out and got anxious there's no water god gives them water there's no food god sends manna how are they going to get there god sends a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night and then god gives them the original [00:03:58]

Ten Commandments in full view from Mount Sinai and establishes that they are His covenant people and still they were so anxious and full of fear that when Moses is gone for 40 days, getting the further instructions on the law and all the plans for the tabernacle, they freak out again. They get anxious. They build the golden calf and start worshiping yet. And now this is different. [00:04:31]

They have moved out of fearing with scarcity into believing with abundance. And in that movement, they participate in an extraordinary outpouring of generosity. [00:04:56]

Walter Brueggemann says that this is a moment of new beginning for Israel, as fresh and new as new creation. Brueggemann says, in that moment, nothing impedes generosity, nothing qualifies extravagance. The only compelling motivation for generous stewardship is an awareness that life is pure gift and that gratitude is the answer. [00:04:59]

only fitting posture for life love that quote in gratitude they they stepped out of their fear of the unknown they left behind their worry about not having enough they remembered god's goodness over the long haul and they brought their offerings gift of their precious and most beautiful things to moses and so the rest of chapter 35 and into chapter 36 a little bit we hear the details of this because they kept on bringing and those with skills and craftsmanship they gave of their time and the gifts [00:05:25]

just kept coming and coming and coming on coming until watch this picking up with a chapter 35 verse 3 the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning so all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses the people are bringing more than enough for doing the work of the Lord the work the Lord commanded to be done then Moses gave an order [00:05:57]

and they sent this word throughout the camp. No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for this sanctuary. And so the people were restrained from bringing more because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. [00:06:28]

Did you hear the last part of that story? They kept bringing freewill offerings until someone, I think it was the trustees, told Moses they had to stop. They said, the people are bringing much more than enough. We already have much more than enough to do all the work. Can you imagine? [00:06:44]

What if this Sunday afternoon after the offerings counted, that Amy Watts came to me and said, Dave, we don't need any more money for the rest of the year. We have enough to pay all our bills and pay off all the mortgage and pay for even buying new stained glass windows if we want. And then what if I were to come to you and say, you know, you've got to stop giving like this, because what you've given is more than enough. [00:06:54]

But that's what happens when we move from fear and scarcity to faith and abundance, understanding that in God there is more than enough if we would but open our hearts to that kind of generosity that God always supplies more than enough. Now, it took the Israelites a long time to get to this point and central to them getting here was becoming a community, a nation whose God was the Lord. And even so, [00:07:27]