Torah portion: Exodus 25:1-27:19
Our weekly studies of the Torah bring us to the portion called T’rumah. It’s an interesting Hebrew word that means an offering, gift or contribution, often through sacrifice. It’s about service.
T’rumah comes from the root r-u-m, meaning to elevate. It’s an offering raised up to God, wherein the giving elevates the giver.
True Service
The context here is the materials required for the construction of the sanctuary in the wilderness, as God brought His people through the desert. They included wood, metals (gold, silver and brass), linen, animal skins, dyes, oil and jewels; with all manner of workmanship. All these were gifts offered willingly to build the Tabernacle as service to the God of Israel: a place where He would dwell with His people.
We recall that His command to Pharaoh was, Let My people go that they may serve Me (the Hebrew word abad also means worship - Ex 8:1). Their service was part of their worship of the living God. Our service is the same: to build space and time in our lives as a sanctuary to worship Him, and acknowledge His presence.
Voluntary Giving
The essential feature of these offerings is that they were to be a voluntary service – first, that materials were given willingly, and second, that each gift was to be the best of its kind, not just spare things.
Mandatory obedience was good (like obeying God’s instruction, direction and guidance - His Torah). For us it’s like obeying STOP signs or speed limits (sometimes!); we do it because we want to be law-abiding. But willing, voluntary service is like going the second mile - it’s from the heart. That’s the service that God looks for, and it leads to true worship (in spirit and in truth, not just a legal requirement). It raises up God and it elevates the giver.
For Israel, their choice was a thank-offering for freedom from slavery, and also a choice to undergo training in the wilderness to trust in the God of Israel. Do we also learn to trust Him through His training in our desert places? Remember His promise to be with us always (including in our desert places of loss, illness, fear, rejection or misunderstanding - Matt 28:20).
Jesus’ Advice
There is a quote on service by Mahatma Ghandi: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. But I think Jesus puts this better. He said, The best way to find yourself (your true self) is to lose yourself (your self-life) for Me and for the Gospel (that is, in the service of God). It’s good to serve others, but it’s better to serve and worship our Lord Jesus and share the good news of the Gospel. In this we become more like Him, who did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28). Then we find who we really are - His children.
Service to God is never oppressive. When we raise Him up in our lives through willing sacrificial offerings, for Him and for others, we too are exalted; we cannot out-give God. God looks on the heart, and its willing offerings and service. Let us follow King David’s example and offer our service and worship willingly, with a perfect or complete heart (1 Chron 29:9), in the freedom and peace God has given us through our Lord Jesus.
Author: Greg Stevenson
