On reading through Chris Wright’s commentary on Exodus, he cites an enjoyable portion of a sermon preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1874, on Paul’s teaching that, in every area of life, we serve Jesus (Colossians 3:24).
As Chris Wright notes, ‘Spurgeon draws heavily on the imagery of the tabernacle and priesthood and applies it to the Bezalels and Oholiabs [see Exodus 31] of today’s world – however humble their calling and labor’.
‘To a man who lives unto God, nothing is secular – everything is sacred! He puts on his workday garment, and it is a vestment to him; he sits down to his meal, and it is a sacrament; he goes forth to his labor, and exercises the office of the priesthood; his breath is incense, and his life a sacrifice; he sleeps on the bosom of God, and lives and moves in the divine presence! To draw a hard and fast line and say, “This is sacred and this is secular,” is, to my mind, diametrically opposed to the teaching of Christ and the spirit of the gospel!
Paul has said, “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself.” … The Lord has cleansed your houses, my brothers and sisters; He has cleansed your bed chambers, your tables, your shops; He has made the bells upon your horses holiness to the Lord! He has made the common pots and pans of your kitchens to be as the bowls before the altar if you know what you are, and live according to your high calling. You housemaids, you cooks, you nurses, you plowmen, you housewives, you traders, you sailors – your labor is holy if you serve the Lord Christ in it, if by living unto Him as you ought to live! The sacred has absorbed the secular! The overarching temple of the Lord covers all your houses and your fields! My brothers and sisters, this ennobles life! … This ensures us a reward for all we do!’
Charles H. Spurgeon, ‘All for Jesus! Sermon #1205,’ Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 20, cited in Christopher J.H. Wright, Exodus, The Story of God Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2021), 544.
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