Women’s Mirrors

Reading: Exodus 37-38; Psalm 19; Acts 11 Bezalel made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (Exodus 38:8 NLT) The skilled craftsmen under the direction of Bezalel got started on the construction of The Tent of Meeting and all its equipment and furnishings. They used 1900 lbs of gold, 6,437 lbs of silver, and 4,522 lbs of bronze. They didn’t go to a mine and dig this metal out and haul it away in wagons, they didn’t go to a metal store and buy truckloads of gold, silver, and bronze. They simply collected an offering of little gold earrings, gold bracelets, and necklaces, silver candle holders and dishes, bronze knives, and even the bronze mirrors of the women’s work group. They were nomads in the wilderness. Everything they collected and used was small enough that someone was carrying it on his or her person. Then they gathered all the little items and melted them down and poured the molten metal into molds to make the Tent of Meeting items and furniture. Then they made it all portable, except that now it took teams of temple servants and assistants to carry the items – four for the Ark, four for the table, four for the altar. Teams carried the long cross-bars and poles and folded fabric panels. It took teams. I saw such a clear application to the life of the community of faith in this story! Everything needed to build what God wants built is in the hands of the people, in bits and pieces. No one person has enough to do it all, but all together we have what it takes to do it. Everyday items that by themselves have small value or little meaning, when put in God’s hands, become priceless instruments of service and worship to God. Each gift and each giver matters, but when they’re all put together, the impact is bigger than the individual gift or the person who gives it! So big, in fact, that it requires teamwork to carry on the service of worship and ministry! Prayer: Father, Help me to recognize the things in my ordinary life that I can give to build your Tent of Meeting, your place of worship and ministry, the centerpiece of our community of faith (…not talking about a building here!). Help me to willingly give my part to build and to willingly carry my part of the load when it all comes together. Amen.