Unstoppable Devotion

Exodus 36:5-7

[Ex 36:5-7, NIV] 5 and said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done." 6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: "No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary." And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

Exodus chapters 35 and 36 stand in stark contrast to the preceding 'Golden Calf incident'. They illustrate how 'voluntary devotion', rather than 'coerced exploitation', changes the course of history. If the previous sermon (Chapter 33) focused on the restoration of 'God’s presence', this sermon highlights 'the response of those overwhelmed by that presence'.

1. An Unprecedented Command in History: "Stop Bringing Offerings!"

Beloved, when in the history of the church has a pastor stood at the pulpit and cried out, "Please, stop bringing your offerings! We have no more room to store them!"? It is likely a scene unfamiliar to us. Yet, in today’s text, Exodus 36:6, Moses had to command the people: "No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary."

This is a miracle. How did the greedy hands that were fashioning a golden calf just moments ago transform into 'holy hands' pouring everything they possessed into building God’s dwelling place? It was because they were overwhelmed by grace, not the law, that their devotion simply could not be contained.

2. The Stirred Heart

The catalyst for this miracle is found in Exodus 35:21. "Everyone who was stirred and whose spirit moved him came..."The Hebrew word for 'stirred' here is nasa, which means 'to be lifted up'. Just as the wind catches a sail and lifts it, the wind of the Holy Spirit lifted their hearts toward God. True devotion begins not with human will, but with the 'stirring of the Holy Spirit'.

When they made the golden calf, they gave out of 'anxiety'. They gave because they were terrified: "If we do not have this god, we might perish." But when they built the Tabernacle, they gave out of 'gratitude'. The 'thrill of grace'—knowing that God had forgiven wretched sinners and promised to walk with them again (Chapter 33)—opened their wallets, or rather, their very lives.

3. Work as Worship

Devotion was not limited to material wealth. Look at Bezalel and Oholiab in Chapter 35, verse 30 onwards. God filled them with 'wisdom and understanding'. Scripture does not divide the spiritual (preaching, prayer) from the secular (craftsmanship, construction).

As they held their chisels, wove the threads, or melted the gold, they felt a tremor of awe: "This is the house where God will dwell." Your workplace is your sanctuary. The reports you write at the office, the meals you prepare at home, the problems a student solves in a workbook... all of these become holy offerings when carried out with the wisdom of the Spirit. Do not do it half-heartedly. Like Bezalel, offer your very best to God with Excellence.

4. More Than Enough: Overflowing Grace

Ultimately, Chapter 36, verse 7 records: "What they already had was more than enough to do all the work." This is the economics of the Kingdom of God. The world constantly cries out, "It is not enough! There is a shortage!" But where God’s grace is present, there is always an 'overflow'.

Even in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, twelve baskets were left over. Giving to God is never a waste. As the missionary Jim Elliot famously said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." The Israelites realised in the wilderness that clutching onto gold was not their security. They understood that their true safety lay in the building of God’s house, and so they gave until it overflowed.

The New Testament offers a similar scene: the woman who broke her alabaster jar of perfume. The disciples were indignant, asking, "Why this waste?" but Jesus looked at her heart. To her, the perfume was not too precious to spare. The Lord’s love was so vast that even breaking her entire life, let alone the jar, felt insufficient. This was the very same heart shared by the Israelites in today’s text.

5. Is Your Devotion Flowing?

I shall conclude. The miracle of Exodus 36 did not happen because the people had 'plenty of money'. It happened because 'grace was so great'. How is your walk of faith today? Are you asking, "Do I really have to tithe? How much of the Sabbath must I strictly keep?" These are questions of the law—a calculating heart trying to fulfil a duty with the bare minimum.

However, those who have truly encountered the love of the Cross do not ask such things. They simply pour. They give until it overflows. They find it an immense honour that their time, talent, and treasure are used for the Kingdom of the Lord.

Dear brothers and sisters, God does not need your money. The entire universe belongs to Him. What He desires is your 'heart'. Break your alabaster jar. Move from a devotion of obligation to a devotion of unstoppable joy. I pray in the name of the Lord that your lives will be filled with the testimony that there was "more than enough to do all the work."