“It’s offering time.” “Praise the Lord.” Years ago, fellow ministers and I attended a retreat in another city. At the moment of the offering, the pastor said, “It’s offering time.” The congregation enthusiastically responded, “Praise the Lord.”
Moses took up an offering in the desert. Remember God had provided bountifully for the Israelites as they left their slave masters in Egypt. Moses resisted Pharaoh when he tried to get the Israelites to leave without their possessions. “We must make an offering,” he explained. The time had come. Why did they need to take up an offering of materials and money in the wilderness? God wanted them to prepare a sanctuary where he might dwell among his people. This tabernacle, built out of their offerings, would be a holy place.
Later, in a shared service with our sister church, the historic St. John’s Baptist here in Houston, my pastor friend T. Grant Malone said, “We have not worshiped until and unless we have given something to God.” These words reminded us that worship is not so much about “what we get out of it,” but about what we give to God. Paul would later write, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1).
What if our offering becomes the sanctuary itself? I do not speak of our beautiful building with the story of the scriptures commemorated in stained glass. God does not finally dwell in buildings made with human hands. When we “get in the plate” and offer God our whole lives as holy sacrifices, he makes us his sanctuary where he dwells. As we give our whole lives to God, setting ourselves apart for him, he fills us with his Spirit as he filled the tabernacle in the wilderness. What time is it, friends? It’s offering time. Praise the Lord!
