A few months ago a good friend of mine took a class at a nearby church.  This class was designed to be an introduction to the Church and a membership class.  Part of this, a large part, was a discussion of the Spiritual gifts.  Each person took a Spiritual gifts test to determine where their gifts might lie.  My friend got a bit depressed about this, because for whatever reason in this test and in further conversations nothing stuck out, and she was worried that she had no role to play.  A lot of other people I've met feel similar -- even if they have something to offer, they seemingly don't have a place to offer it in church.  She is a wonderful, talented person, and it frustrates me that this was the type of thing she was told.  She is a Christian, she has been saved by Christ, and is filled by the Holy Spirit -- yet she was made to feel that she had no role to play, that basically in the body she was an appendix.  That really bothers me.

            You know, everyone turn, and look outside.  Really look.  What do you see?  Ivy growing, wrapping itself around the building.  The sun, creating light and shadows that dance in the summer breeze.  Multitudes of birds… have you ever sat and looked at how many different kinds of birds Fuller Seminary hosts.  Doves, Crows, woodpeckers, I even saw some wild parakeets one afternoon.  Outside that window is infinite creativity, nothing is the same.  Even the blades of grass are different when examined.  Each is a marvel if you look at it, together right outside that window is beauty and creativity beyond our comprehension, because the God who created it is beyond our comprehension.  And that God has given us his Spirit, to guide and direct so that we too can reflect the beauty and creativity that God so values.

            Towards the end of the book of Exodus  Moses was brought to Mt. Sinai, and told exactly what it meant to become and remain the People of God.  He was given laws to clearly define how these people were to live.  He was even shown, in excruciating detail, how the worship of God was to take place, including the right sacrifices, and the right place to perform the sacrifices.  The priests were to wear a special garb, and a special place was to mark the presence of God in their midst.  This place was called the Tabernacle.  Within it were to be placed all the special items, tools, equipment to be used for the people to come before the Divine one.  It was to be a representation of God's dwelling here on earth, and was indeed to be where God dwelled among his people. 

            In Chapter 31 of Exodus, Moses is given more details, not about what is to be done, but rather who is to do it.  God has no intention of Moses himself being in charge of the actual construction of the tabernacle and accompanying articles of worship.  For that he has already called and inspired others to do the work that Moses was called to lead.  A few chapters later in 35 we find the people starting the vision that Moses was given:

            Read Exodus 35:30-36:6

            God told Moses what he and the people were to do, and to become.  And he equipped them to actually do it by choosing some within their midst to not only do the duty, but to be amazingly capable and skilled in doing it.  God himself gave his Spirit, equipping the people to do the work, and in equipping them revealed himself to them through the structure of the Tabernacle and his presence within it.

            What is fun for me is to read about the emphasis that creativity played in this.  Yes, God gave detailed instructions on what was to be made, but this work was not able to be done by simply following the directions.  The Spirit filled Oholiab and Bezalel, giving them insight into God, deep calling to deep.  This depth reflected in these two men that which God required for the task, and this task required beauty, skill, artistry.. creativity.    The God who made that which we see outside, does not resort to shoddy, boring works through his people.  The Spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were given great wisdom, skill, and intelligence to make wonderful things, things which were to reflect God and enhance the worship of the people.  This marks the first time in the Bible we are told specifically that the Spirit of the Lord came on anybody to do anything.    The purpose of this anointing was not to prophesy, to lead, or to make war, rather the purpose was to design, to create, to reflect the creator by the work of the hands of the people.  .

            With the vision and leadership of Moses, the people were given a framework for participation.   Yet, Moses was not in charge.  He had a role, yet when it came to building the Tabernacle others were given the inspiration.  It is impressive how Moses simply stepped aside and let them lead.  He was not there for the sense of power, or to prove his own capability.  He knew his position as leader of the community came itself from a call from God, and in this he was subservient to the broader vision that God was communicating.  Could Moses have directed the creative aspects of the building?  Probably, yes.  But he was not called to do so. 

Having created and aggressively fought for the right context, Moses allowed  others to step in and complete the tasks in a way which not only was successful, but beautiful and wonderful.  The Spirit working in Bezalel and Oholiab not only gave skill, but inspiration, with one of the words in the text literally meaning they were watered, with the Spirit showering upon them like a waterfall, refreshing all of the people of God. 

            God, through his Spirit, equips us to do that which he has called us to do.  But not just us, he equips all of his people to be necessary participants in what he is doing.  The result of the Spirit working not only toward completion, but also celebration, an overflowing of bounty which causes needs to be met and more so.  Moses had to tell the people to stop contributing, because they had given too much.  What a wonderful problem to have in the community, too much contribution and participation!   

            Now, certainly, we do not have need for a tabernacle, at least the kind we read of in Exodus.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:9.  “We are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.  Each builder must choose with care how to build on it."  He continues in verse 16, saying, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple God will destroy that person.  For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."

            We no longer need a physical Tabernacle as did the Jews, but we still have a Temple that is in need of skilled craftsman and artisans.  The skills and talents of these artisans are used for the same purpose-- to build up God's Temple. 

We are to construct each other, weaving within each other beauty and glory, empowered by the Spirit of God.  Not just those of us who are becoming ordained ministers, but everyone filled with the Spirit, the Spirit of creativity and artistry.  Imagine if Moses, in his desire to take control after the incident of the golden calves decided only he was able to hear from God and properly orchestrate the building.  It could have been built, probably, but those whom God had specially ordained for the purpose would have been left out, and in leaving those people out, an understanding of God would have been left out, and the whole people of God would have been impoverished and uninspired. 

One author writes, "I have long felt that Christians who leave the church nowadays do so to a significant extent out of boredom.  In church, you can count on finding some pretty good people and ditto fellowship, and some fine initiatives on behalf of the growing multitude of the disadvantaged, but no amplitude of purview, no ecstasy, no theoria -- in sum no sense of participation in God, no mysticism."  He continues by saying, "The inner affinity with the Mystery in whom we are alive and move and have being -- Father, Son, Holy Spirit-- can grow on us only in the experience of God as 'the all', the God of each of us at the expense of none of us, the God who never comes alone but always with the entire cosmos and all of humanity."

            The Spirit teaches us the hidden things of God.  But no one person has a monopoly on that, rather we each have a part, some as leaders, some as prophets, some as evangelists… you get the point.  But we all have been called and given a special role -- sadly though, the roles that are allowed to participate in the church are limited.  

Pastor Tom Dunn, an accomplished artist and pastor of Foothill Vineyard in San Dimas noted that many artists reject the church because when they come and want to offer what they have been inspired to do, they are given the option of becoming greeters or Sunday school teachers as ways of expressing their roles in the church.  We need greeters and Sunday school teachers, yes, but that's not all we need.  The beauty of the Church body comes in the creativity of expression, creativity that means no single church will be alike in its worship or expression because no church has the same group of people. 

The fullness of God is not in anything I could say up here in front of this pulpit, no matter what official documents I may possess.  It is only a part.  It's when the whole people of God participate, offering up their myriad of different gifts, and being allowed to become in the church that which they have been called to be by the Spirit, whatever that may be, however that may look… It's when everybody participates in creative ways that the beauty of the fullness of the presence of God really becomes evident, so that the work of the Church overflows with bounty, the ministries of the church overflow with participation, and the world sees in the Church a reflection of the God who indwells the Church. 

            It's not up to us to tell people how they should fit within our church.  It is up to us to listen to God, and discover how he wants each person to be used within his Church, as Moses listened and let Bezalel and Oholiab construct the Tabernacle.  He has called and anointed and gifted every person that walks through the doors of every church building to participate in the wonder of building up a community of his people. 

When this happens, we will see in the church that which we see when we look outside that window.  Beauty, bounty, unlimited marvels and infinite creativity.  Oholiab and Bezalel were used by God to lead the people in creating a physical place for him to dwell, and they, with the participation of all the people of God, created a place where it says later in Exodus: “The Glorious presence of The LORD filled it.  Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the LORD.”

            When you next walk into your church, think of the God who makes the trees, the birds, the flowers, and the mountains,  Who is infinitely creative and indeed a lover of beauty.  Look with those same eyes on his beloved people, and marvel at the wonders that the Spirit can do in our midst should we take full advantage of the wonderful creativity and gifts that each person brings.  As those created in the image of God, we worship and understand the creator through our creations, our creativity, celebrating God through the use of all our gifts, letting the fullness of the Spirit teach us through manifold ways the infinitely complex truths that pertain to the Three-in-One. 

To restrict the expression of this is to inhibit ourselves, and to inhibit that which God is wanting to communicate to all people.   God made some to be teachers, some to be prophets, some to be greeters, some to be pastors… but we find in Exodus that he also made some to be artists, some to be weavers, some to knit, some to make beautiful designs. He has given a multitude of gifts, of all varieties, to help communicate who he is and who he wants us to become.

 Imagine the effect on the world if everyone saw in the Church the same beauty and creativity that is seen outside that window.   The same God that made that -- point --  is in our community, seeking to build and create a reflection of his presence in us to reflect to the world.   What a beautiful, creative place the church can become if we simply listen and let the Spirit work wonderfully and creatively in our midst.  May you all be inspired by the beauty of all of God's creation, and work to reveal this beauty and wonder wherever your ministry may lead you.