April 23rd, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Sacrifice and Light

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Opening Prayer

Lord, You are the Great I Am, the first and the last, the Good Shepherd. I rejoice in being Your child.

Read Exodus 27:1-21

[1] “Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. [2] Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. [3] Make all its utensils of bronze-its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. [4] Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. [5] Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. [6] Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. [7] The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. [8] Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain. [9] “Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, [10] with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. [11] The north side shall also be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. [12] “The west end of the courtyard shall be fifty cubits wide and have curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. [13] On the east end, toward the sunrise, the courtyard shall also be fifty cubits wide. [14] Curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, [15] and curtains fifteen cubits long are to be on the other side, with three posts and three bases. [16] “For the entrance to the courtyard, provide a curtain twenty cubits long, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen-the work of an embroiderer-with four posts and four bases. [17] All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands and hooks, and bronze bases. [18] The courtyard shall be a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, with curtains of finely twisted linen five cubits high, and with bronze bases. [19] All the other articles used in the service of the tabernacle, whatever their function, including all the tent pegs for it and those for the courtyard, are to be of bronze. [20] “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. [21] In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“When he came there was no light, but when he left there was no darkness.” (Epitaph of a missionary who brought the gospel to a tribe in the New Hebrides.)

Think Further

The altar was central to the religious life of the new, liberated community. There they brought their deepest needs to a God who promised to listen. There they expressed their gratitude, the ascending smoke of their offering “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” There they could dare to seek God’s forgiveness for breaking the covenant; there the priest would sacrifice their offering; there the priest would “cover” their sin; there they would be forgiven (Lev. 4:31, 35; 5:16). Access to God did not depend on wealth or status: those who couldn’t afford a lamb could offer two birds and if even that was difficult, a scant handful of flour (Lev. 5:7, 11). We no longer offer these sacrifices—their time passed away with the all-encompassing sacrifice of Jesus—but our need to make our offering to God remains. We are a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1), like Paul who not only saw his life as a sacrifice, but also his death (2 Tim. 4:6). All we can offer may seem a mere handful of flour, but by God’s measure we should never feel that the more talented or wealthy can make offerings more acceptable to God than ours.

Light was offered to God in the dark hours. The tabernacle was never darkened, never invisible. Anyone wakeful at night could look to its glow and know that God was present. Keeping the light continually burning required the cooperation of people (20) and priests (21). It is human work which provides the light. Today, God’s presence should never be rendered invisible in our communities, either. As Jesus said, we are in danger of hiding it (Matt. 5:15). The evidence of God’s presence in the life of our churches still requires daily effort and the cooperation both of lay people and leaders.

Apply

How well does your church reveal God’s presence to your community? Is its witness sometimes less effective because of tensions between people and their leaders?

Closing prayer

Lord, I acknowledge I often sing words way beyond my devotion to You. May my love for You be genuine, transparent and obvious to everyone.

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