'And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up,
and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they
brought the Lord's offering to the work....'
--EXODUS xxxv. 21.
This is the beginning of the catalogue of contributions towards the
erection of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. It emphasises the purely
spontaneous and voluntary character of the gifts. There was plenty of
compulsory work, of statutory contribution, in the Old Testament system
of worship. Sacrifices and tithes and other things were imperative, but
the Tabernacle was constructed by means of undemanded offerings, and
there were parts of the standing ritual which were left to the
promptings of the worshipper's own spirit. There was always a door
through which the impulses of devout hearts could come in, to animate
what else would have become dead, mechanical compliance with prescribed
obligations. That spontaneous surrender of precious things, not because
a man must give them, but because he delights in letting his love come
to the surface and find utterance in giving which is still more blessed
than receiving, had but a narrow and subordinate sphere of action
assigned to it in the legal system of the Old Covenant, but it fills
the whole sphere of Christianity, and becomes the only kind of offering
which corresponds to its genius and is acceptable to Christ. We may
look, then, not merely at the words of our text, but at the whole
section of which they form the introduction, and find large lessons for
ourselves, not only in regard to the one form of Christian service
which is pecuniary liberality, but in reference to all which we have to
do for Jesus Christ, in the picture which it gives us of that eager
crowd of willing givers, flocking to the presence of the lawgiver, with
hands laden with gifts so various in kind and value, but all precious
because freely and delightedly brought, and all needed for the
structure of God's house.