Dave spoke last week from Mattjew 9:9-13, the calling of Matthew as a disciple of Jesus. Matthew (Levi), a hated tax collector, was called by Jesus to follow Him. When this happened, he put down his pen, didn’t even finish the form he was working on, pushed back his chair, got up and just started walking after Jesus without once looking back over his shoulder. He left behind everything he had been doing, everything that had given his life meaning up to that point and started following this itinerant rabbi from Nazareth who had suddenly walked into his life and said that He wanted him with Him. Jesus did not wait for Matthew to come to Him, He called Matthew.

With that call there came the convicting power of God upon this man, and he was instantly changed. The same power that raised a little girl from the dead, that healed the sick, that released the demon possessed, brought salvation to a despised sinner. The result was that Matthew left his job and made restitution to all of those he had robbed. The call of Jesus brought salvation and repentance to this man.

Matthew then invited Jesus and His disciples to dinner at his house. But he also invited his fellow tax collectors and other sinners. Matthew was so overcome with the change in his life that he wanted all his fellow partners in crime to experience the same change. So, he invited them all along to meet Jesus, probably in the hope that they too would be saved. The Pharisees were not so impressed, believing that Jesus was consorting with sinners. But Jesus came for the benefit of every one of us who need Him.  The irony is that the Pharisees needed Jesus as much as anyone, but their religious pride causes them to miss it.

We do well to learn from the mistakes of the Pharisees.It is possible to be so active in the service of Christ that we forget to love Him. It is certainly possible to be so busy in the service of Christ that we forget to love our neighbour. It can be so easy to come to church out of habit and to forget the One we come to worship.

In this incident we see Jesus as the one who moved from the comfort and security and power of being at God’s side, to being among us, as one of us, and suffering and dying as one of us, living out the message of the gospel. This is what He calls us to do as well. How will God answer our prayers for the lost in this world, how will people come to be blessed on account of us, if we do not leave behind our righteous judgements, our undoubtedly true judgement of a situation, and venture out to where it is most uncomfortable, and show mercy? We have to leave our cosy routines and our comfort zones to meet others as Jesus did. We are called to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20. Nothing else will do.

One of the defining moments in history was when God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. Tonight, Garry got the children to re-enact this Biblical story.

We had Pharaoh and his henchmen in their ‘chariots’:

We had an angel leading the way (and then protecting the Israelites) and Moses holding forth the staff:

The Red Sea parted to let the Israelites through, but the waters came back upon the Egyptians, drowning them all. Our Israelites rejoiced just as much as the real ones at this event!

We also had a birthday to celebrate:

Two of my favourite Bible characters appear in the story of the building of the Tabernacle: Bezalel and Oholiab (Ex 31:1-11, Ex 36:1-7) Bezalel and Oholiab were the artists who would turn the detail of God’s commandments into reality. God appointed these two artists to do everything He had told Moses needed doing, They possessed a range of skills: they could work with gold, silver and bronze; they could cut and set stones; they could work in wood; they could engage in all kinds of crafts. This reminds us that there is a role for each one of us in God’s great plan. God gave Bezalel and Oholiab and other people the skill and the ability to know how to do what He wanted them to do. ‘So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded. (Ex 36:1)

I love these two characters because they remind me of the value of the arts and show how we need not only people who can announce the ‘bigger picture‘ but people who can turn these visions and dreams into reality. One of the strengths of the church is that we are not all the same. We do not all have the same gifts, personalities and calling. Moses’s job might have been to receive the instructions about the Tabernacle and all that was to go into it, but he did not have to make all those items himself. That was the work of Bezalel and Oholiab and their team of craftsmen. It’s vitally important that we do not expect square pegs to fit into round holes. It’s vitally important to know what our calling and gifts are and to work with God in these areas.

The Tabernacle could not be built by one person; it required teamwork. It required people to give generously and to work tirelessly. We read about this in Ex 35:10-19, and see that willingness and generosity are hallmarks of people who are keen to follow God in the specifics as well as in the general. Paul reminded the Corinthians that ‘if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.’ (2 Cor 8:12) There is no place for coercion, manipulation, shaming or guilt-tripping in Christian leadership. What works is when a leader like Moses can communicate a God-given vision to people and then people respond, giving what they can, doing what they can. This kind of teamwork gets things done and shows us that we all have a part to play in God’s kingdom!

This morning in our series looking at ‘The Miraculous & The Mundane’, we saw how Moses was given the task of building the tabernacle, a place where God’s glory would dwell. These detailed instructions (Ex 25-40) show us that God is interested in every aspect of our lives, giving Moses instructions about:

1. an ark of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which would form the chest that would carry the Ten Commandments, complete with carrying rings and poles for ease of transportation (Ex 25:10-17)
2. a cover for the ark (Ex 25:18-22)
3. a table of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, complete with carrying rings and poles and golden plates and dishes to be used in services (Ex 25:23-30)
4. a lampstand with seven lamps which would represent God’s light (Ex 25:31-40)
5. curtains that would form the covering for the Tabernacle, which was essentially a tent, whose dimensions and manufacture were explained carefully (Ex 26:1-37)
6. a bronze altar and different utensils which were to be used in all the offerings prescribed by God (Ex 27:1-8)
7. a courtyard (Ex 27:9-19)
8. oil needed for the lampstands (Ex 27:20-22)
9. the priestly garments to be worn by Aaron and the other priests, including an ephod (a type of apron), a breastpiece and other garments (Ex 28:1-43)
10. how to consecrate the priests (Ex 29:1-46)
11. how to make incense and anointing oil (Ex 30:1-38)

We might not feel such things are particularly interesting, but Heb 8:5 and Heb 9:24 remind us of the heavenly aspect of this sanctuary as well and show us also that God cares about the details. Fortunately for Moses, he was not required to do this by himself; God gave him Bezalel and Oholiab as helpers and the willingness of the people in giving and in helping in practical ways all meant that the vision became a reality.

This reminds us that teamwork and diversity are essential in God’s kingdom (see Rom 12:4-8). We are all different and all needed. We may feel our contributions are insignificant and unimportant (decidedly mundane!), but the truth is there is nothing more miraculous than being the people of God, in whom He lives by His Spirit. As we serve God faithfully, our mundane is turned into the miraculous. Let’s do what Paul says: ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Col 3:17) That way, we will know the blessing of God and the presence of God with us daily.