In our Exodus reading today we see that as the people of God give generously God's work is done. The generous giving is not the result of Moses' pleading but of the Spirit of God working in and through the people. And what is this work? It is not the work planned by the early church growth people. It's a work which is according to a plan our Lord has given. It is a work of setting God's servants apart for service. It is a work of providing access to the Lord's gifts of forgiveness and life. It is a work which brings people safely to the God of glory in accordance with his command.
I have belonged to six different congregations in my life. Every one of them has, at one time or another, usually frequently, made urgent appeals for funding. We need to enlarge our parking lot. We need to build an additional wing onto the building. We need to decorate the building in this way or that way. I've also heard that we need to bring freewill offerings to meet the outreach obligations our budget specifies, so everyone needs to bring something extra. While I suppose we do need to be a little bit pragmatic - it was kind of bad when visitors to the church got stuck in the mud in the parking lot - we want to remember a few important issues from this passage.
1) God moves people by the Holy Spirit to provide for the genuine needs in His earthly kingdom. We may be instruments he uses to announce and publicize the need but there is no need to twist people's emotions and bind them to give.
2) God's priority as shown throughout Scripture is to provide people with access to Him, coming in repentance and receiving forgiveness.
3) Access to the Lord comes through the means He has appointed in Scripture, the living and present resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
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