Bringing God's Kingdom Alive

Good morning!

Richard is away today and he is away playing his tuba!

Now I need to tell you something about Richard and his Tuba. He has ALWAYS played the tuba. You know how you have friends you’ve known all your life and there is something about that person which just really stands out and makes them THEM? Well from my earliest memory of Rich at school, he was the guy who shamelessly would be seen carrying this gigantic tuba case around with him. Obviously he didn’t carry it all day every day, but often we would catch a glimpse of him carrying it in or out of school, I guess dropping it off in the music rooms. Then after school Rich had this tiny metro. Do you remember metros? Those tiny little boxy cars. Well I remember the boot of that metro seemingly always having this gigantic tuba in the boot somehow.

We like to tease Rich about the tuba mouthpiece collection he has. For most of us we would think one mouthpiece would be plenty right? Like how many different mouthpieces does one person need in order to make parping noises? Well it seems you need a lot! And if we really want to tease rich we get him to talk about the mouthpieces he has and explain to us why they’re different from one another. It’s his happy place. And it’s ours too, because it’s funny that he thinks we care! But it’s also lovely seeing this passion in him.

Having a passion for something I think is part of what makes us human. Without passions in life we die a little bit. With a passion for something we really come to life … even if no one else really gets it.

But this talk isn’t about general passions in life. This talk is about having a passion for serving God … and through that passion also blessing others.

This talk is abou each of our own call to be involved in revealing and sharing in the beauty of God’s kingdom.

For me, my equivalent to Rich and his tuba would be the stars. We used to go away on these things called “houseparties”. Not the type with booze and 80’s rock music and wild scenes in someone’s house. No. Our houseparties involved about 120 people heading to a venue or a long weekend each Easter and worshipping Jesus, playing games, studying the Bible, being silly, praying, brilliant teaching, food, … and just loving one another. We also slept in dorms of 5 or 6 people. My friends who shared a room with me would say things like “Evan, tell us about that book you’re reading” and it would be a book on the Large Magellelanic cloud - a region of space … And I would start telling them about something I was excited about and they would fall asleep to my recounting of this geekery!

I went on to do a degree in Astrophysics and Rich went on to play in the Royal Albert Hall! I went on to become a planetarium presenter later in life and Rich went on to tour Europe going parp!

But you know I have also used my passion for space to talk to people about Jesus and the wonders of the Universe and God’s creation, and I’ve been able to speak about science and faith and lead people who were sure that science had all the answers they need to be an atheist … into a direct relationship with Jesus and help them open their eyes to see the world in a different and more beautiful light. Rich has used his tuba playing to glorify Jesus in churches up and down the country. When I was a vicar I hired Rich and his band the Kairos Ensemble to lead us one easter in their beautiful jazz evening helping the hundreds who came to connect with the Easter story in a totally new and brilliant way. The things we hold as passions can be used by God to bless others.

Now that may or may not excite you terribly.

But here’s the thing …

We live in a world where we are surrounded constantly by OTHERS doing amazing things on the telly, on social media, on the internet. We passively watch “influencers” and celebrities … people who are passionate about doing their thing … for their own glory … or for the amusement of their adoring fans or casual vaguely interested viewer. They get fame, they get money, and we lap it up and switch over to watch the next thing … then we fall asleep. This is not what we were designed to be or to do. The more we engage in this the more passive we become and the more tired of ourselves we become as we think “Oh, I would love to be able to do that … “ and then we don’t do that. We slowly become more and more convinced of our own pointlessness and uselessness.

It can be momentarily entertaining and then ultimately depressing.

We’re looking at the tabernacle being built today. I want to give you some background. We are in that period of time where the people of God, who would become known as the Israelites, had fled captivity in Egypt and were now wandering around in the desert for 40 years.

But remember, this was a people who had been held captive in Egypt for generations, and where in Egypt they had been used to work as slaves but not just mindless drones - they were used as skilled craftsmen, artisans, carpenters, stone masons, weavers, embroiderers, musicians, … They were a highly skilled people … but people settled and you can imagine an infrastructure of worskshops, tools, supplies … everything they needed on hand and in a stable environment to get the job done. Now they were fleeing on foot in a nomadic survival colony of people. Sleeping at night and walking by day in a huge convoy of people. Worried all the time about the Egyptians coming after them. Heading for goodness knows where. Just seven weeks after fleeing Egypt in that mass Exodus event with the plagues and the parting of the red sea … Moses gets given the ten commandments. Then shortly after that Moses is given instructions by God to build a Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is a collapsible place of worship. You can set it up and take it down, like a tent or marquee. Only not a tent or marquee … it’s more than that. It’s a courtyard made of fabic walls and poles giving the outer boundary, and then inside that space an actual tent like structure which is the holy of holies. In the outer court, surrounded by the fabric walls and poles are other bits of important furniture made from bronze and gold. Giant pieces of heavy cast metal.

Now think about the process of making this thing. You’re not in Egypt anymore. You don’t have workshops. You don’t have supplies. You don’t have logistics or resources. You’re just a large group of people wandering in the desert and God says “Hey now, what I’d like you to do is make me this amazing Tabernacle thing!” … and your first question might be “Oh wow - a Tabernacle? Erm … What’s a tabernacle?” … and then moses says “No problem, God’s given me all the plans … first we need about a quarter of a soccer pitch worth of woven fabric made from the finest linen and expensive threads with the most precious form of dyes possible.” … and people start to look over at the fabric makers, the sheep sheerers, the dye makers, the weavers, the embroiderers and they all look down at their feet nervously and you can hear several hundred people gulping and looking somewhat terrified! Then moses seeing their nervousness says “Don’t worry about it … you’ll do great … Now let me tell you about the exciting plans for the gigantic metal altar, fire braziers, vast water bath … all made from the finest and most precious metals … “ and the metal workers, the forge masters, the blacksmiths all now quickly lose the smug smirks which had spread over their faces when they heard about the many many yards of fabric being made … and now more audible gasps and gulps can be heard. And everyone is looking around at the barren landscape of the desert and wondering if Moses has completely lost his marbles!

And the ark of the covenant … That legendary thing of antiquity which was to contain the ten commandments on stone tablets … And let’s be honest … those stone tablets … probably the ONE thing stone masons would have had an easy job doing in a desert landscape … finding some rock and chiseling it … Well yeah, God actually did that one himself!! They weren’t even needed! But no, the ark of the covenant was made from wood. Think about the process of finding some trees in the desert, chopping them down, drying them out so they’re not full of moisture and likely to warp, splitting a solid tree trunk into flat planks, getting them all the right thickness, making saws and chisels to work the wood, cutting and joining the planks to the right size and shape and contruction, making wooden pins to act as nails, making this things with no glue or screws or hinges, or a trip to B&Q … and then finishing it with equisite carvings … All while you’re in the desert, with no workshop and no resources and on the run!

I mean come on God! Are you sure about this? But here’s the thing … They did it! And according to the timeline in the Bible they not only did it, but they did it all in about six months from start to finish and they did it so well that we read in this excerpt we’ve read today that Moses had to tell them to stop doing it because they did too much!!

Everyone had a role. Everyone had something to give. Something to bring to the table … or the tabernacle. When everyone did a little bit of what they could do they nailed it! Literally. they joined together as a community and they worked hard, and they did something collectively with a passion. they did it for God, and they did it for one another. And that is where these people wandering in the desert became something amazing. The metalsmiths didn’t weave anything. The carpenters didn’t make metal. The sheep sheerers didn’t carve. The gem stone workers didn’t stoke the fire for the forges. The tree cutters didn’t dye fabric. Yet each of them did something according to the gift God had given them and according to their own passion. Together something incredible was made.

And I’m sure there were times when those working with wood looked over at the seamstresses and thought they had it easy or thought “I wish I could do that!” … and I’m sure there were tempers which flared, and grudges held, and exhaustion levels reached, and plenty of times when people grumbled and wondered whether they should even be doing this thing. But they did it! And they achieved a legacy and something of legend.

And who in the world cared? The only people who knew what they were doing and the only people who get to see their hard work … were themselves! AND GOD!

We can’t all be viral influencers in life. But each of us can achieve great things and conjur up beauty. We can each live and work with a passion for God, for no greater glory than the knowledge we have worked hard at something, with love, passion and a sense of community with others. And it is in that space that we receive the greatest reward of all. It’s there that we discover we have a life meant for purpose and glory. that is the beauty of God’s kingdom. Leaving Exodus behind for a moment let me just wind this up with our new Testament verse today:

 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Just as much as God wants us to be useful for his purposes, it is actually OUR PURPOSE to be useful. To give ourselves to doing good works together like this is not to lose ourelves and give up on our own ambitions and plans, but it is to find our true selves. You don’t take a violin and use it as a hammer. Neither do you make a beautiful violin in order for it to be left in a case gathering dust. No, a violin is designed and made in order to be played by a skilled musician … a musician who once was not skilled, but through hard work, repetitive practice and endless hours on their own … they become skilled and beautiful. It is a tireless and selfish experience really, but ultimately one whose purpose is to bless others … and for the violin a purpose which releases that violin’s full potential.

We are each violins in a case. If we are used for the wrong purpose we will break. If we are taken out of the case and played by the Holy spirit we will make beautiful music and bless others.

What is your unique purpose in life? Are you a saw? Are you a weavers loom? Are you a football? Are you a violin? Are you a toilet brush even? What is your unique gift … perhaps one that hasn’t been discovered or unleashed yet.

Whatever it might be use it selflessly in the service of God and the service of others and great things together will be achieved.

In all my years of leading churches I never once encountered a church where there weren’t numerous people who said either “I have no use!” or “I am more important than you!” … Both are wholly wrong. Everyone has a purpose and everyone is equal. We each are called to serve purely for the glory of God’s kingdom for others to experience what being part of the kingdom of God is like … to sample its beauty, its love, its peace. If you are serving not for service but your own glory, or your own control of something, or your own reputation … stop that! If you are sitting back because you have nothing to offer … stop that too! Let us be like the Israelites and see the enormous challenge in front of us, wonder how it could ever be done and then each bring our own unique offering to the point that Richard has to say to you “Ok, stop now… we’ve got too much!”.