Building a Holy Altar
Exodus 31: 1-11
We read a couple of weeks ago in Genisus 1, how God made humans in his image and gave us “Dominion” over all the earth. God calls us to holy work. How do we know we are performing holy work? How do we know we are acting on God’s calling? How do we know we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a “Co-Creator” with God? These questions are both complex and very simple. In my early 20’s, post college, after a couple of jobs and some volunteer experience, I wanted so much to know the best direction for my life. This inflection point felt like a great weight, and I struggled deeply with trying to find the intersection of my gifts, my interests, and the world’s needs. I wanted a clear direction to pursue my next career steps. What I received was perhaps one of the clearest and simplest “words” from God of my lifetime. In reading, praying and discussion with friends and mentors, I heard, “Love God…and love your neighbor.” It pissed me off! Really God? Duh! I was looking for something a little more specific about my career path.
In today’s scripture, Exodus 31: 1-11, I read a couple of stark differences from my own calling experience and one deep similarity.
First the differences: We read about a much more specific calling, and it is a delegation command from God in chapter 31. God tells Moses to delegate these specific tasks in order to build a specific altar. In the previous chapters of Exodus, we read of specific rules for the community and the calling of the leaders, the priests. Here, God specifically tells Moses to delegate this work on the alter to Bez’alel and Oho’liab. The commentary about these two men says that Bez’elel came from a tribe highly respected and Oho’liab, from a less respected tribe. These people were appointed because of their gifts and talents and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
“I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you.”
“I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.”
I find it interesting that God doesn’t call Moses to design and build the artistic gold and silver, nor to cut stones for the alter. Rather God calls him to pass this work on to others. Perhaps God knew this type of work was not a strength of Moses. Perhaps God wanted to included other in the Co-Creation work or maybe God simply knew of the gifts and talents imbued in Bez’alel and Oho’liab. I have known and worked with people like this. We have a man I work with and anytime a job is challenging in how we design, cut, build, or repair something, everyone in our organization thinks, ‘let’s ask Jason.’ He is clearly gifted in a manner that I am not, and it seems obvious that these jobs should be given to him.
The similarity between the calling I experienced in my 20’s and this story is a bit of a nuance, maybe a stretch, but the observation jumped out at me as I read this scripture and the next chapter of Exodus. In Chapter 32, while Moses is still up on the mountain listening to God, the people get impatient, convince Aaron, and decide to employ very similar gifts to build a gold object to worship. A very similar project to what God commands of Moses, but not quite… Building an Altar. Artistic work with Gold. The difference is that they are not listening to God. Their project is not loving God, nor loving their neighbor. They are impatient, they are not trusting God. Same work, different purpose. Moses understood work to be for the purpose of loving God and obeying God. The crew in chapter 32 is just making a cow.
I believe we all are called to so many kinds of important kingdom work. Some of us might receive a very consistent, specific calling or, for others, the vocation we are drawn to might take a meandering path that changes and lacks clarity. Although it was frustrating to me back in my 20’s, the message from God was more important than the specific work I was to do. In hindsight, I recognize that the important message was, ‘whatever you do, do it for me, do it for the purpose of loving your neighbor.’ Just like God was saying to Moses, ‘build ME an altar,’ God was saying to me, ‘do your work for ME.’ We can do the work for Kingdom purposes, or we can just build a cow.