Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Lent is the time of the Christian year which is set aside so that we are able prepare ourselves spiritually for celebrating the resurrection. It is a time to contemplate the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross. One of the ways we contemplate the sacrifice Christ made for us is by making sacrifices in our own lives. One of the ways which Christians have traditionally made sacrifices in their lives is through fasting, fasting not just food but other things in of their lives as well. At different times and different places Christians have fasted a vast variety of things, from Catholics fasting fish on Fridays, to early Christians giving up oil, olives and wine, to the more modern practice of each Christian choosing for themselves what in their life is worth giving up for God. As Christians we desire to be like Christ and one of the ways to do so is to participate in practices which Christ himself participated in and by participating in practices, which turn our minds toward Christ. Fasting actually does both of these things. Christ fasted in the desert for 40 days directly following his baptism, by fasting during lent which is traditionally 40 days long (not including Sundays) we are mirroring Jesus as he fasted in the desert for 40 days. Also fasting during lent is a practice which as we daily desire the very thing which we have given up our mind should be daily turned to the reason for our fast, through the very desire we have for that which we have sacrificed as part of our fast, our hearts and minds are turned toward thinking about Christ and the sacrifice he made on our behalf. Fasting is about sacrificing for the sake of Jesus Christ, so that we can be made in his image and in his likeness. In our fasting we are striving to be more like Jesus in our hearts, in our minds, in attitudes, in our words and most especially, in our actions. Fasting is about setting aside a time in our lives during which we are implementing practices into our lives which will shape us and form us into being people who look like Christ in our hearts, in our words and in our actions; into the people God created us to be.
B. The Journey toward the Cross – Sermon Series
The Journey of Lent is a journey of spiritual formation; it is a journey during which we allow God through the practice of fasting, to form us and shape us, a journey, which draws us closer to Christ it, is also a journey toward the cross. Not only am encouraging you to join with Christian all over the world and throughout all Christian history in using these six weeks leading up to our celebration of the Resurrection, but during this time we will take a journey together through the Old Testament together, looking at the patriarchs of the early Old Testament period and at Israel as God prepared her to receive the Messiah but to see who he was in his life, in his death and his resurrection we are going to look at the history God has with us and the path which God’s covenant took as it lead up to the so-called “New Covenant” which we find in the life death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ which we celebrate on Easter Sunday.
As we enter into the passage we have before us this morning we find the people of Israel poised on the very edge of the Holy Land. With the Children we have been tracing the story of these people, from slaves in Egypt, God leading them up out of Egypt across the Red Sea, to the Holy Mountain of God where they received the ten commandments, across the desert the first time where they had stood on the very place where they stand here in this passage but turned back deciding going forward where God was leading them was too scary, was not something they wanted to do, was not something they were up for and God let them, God let them go back into the desert and there they wandered for 40 years. They have finally, once again (remember they have been here before but turned back out of fear and lack of trust in God) standing on the edge of the all the promises the Lord has in store. Moses is speaking to them just outside of the Holy Land. The wandering is over, the wait is over, what they have been anticipating for 40 years is finally coming to pass, they will go into the land which the Lord God will provide for them.
Here they are about take a hold of all the Lord has in store for them. They are ready, they are exited and God, through Moses, is giving them final instructions before they enter the land. So what is God saying to them at this fateful day in their history? What sort of pep talk are they receiving as they are about to embark on this new journey with their God? What great words of wisdom is God imparting? What will God say to rally the troops so to speak and prepare them for the task that lies ahead. God takes this time to tell them how they are to live; to tell them what it means to be God’s people. God tells them what they are to do to insure that they remain the people that God desires them to be. God gives them pointers on how to best keep the covenant they had made with God.
The passage we have before us this morning is part of this greater speech. At this particular point Moses is talking about giving of the first of the first fruits. Every year they are to give the first of the crops to God. Seems like a strange thing to discuss at this particular time in their history. I mean while they are waiting for the go ahead to enter the land they have been dreaming about and hearing about all their lives, God stops to remind them that they are to give the first fruits of their crops to God as a sacrifice? Must be pretty important to God to take time now to talk about. Why is this something God wants to make sure they know at this particular juncture in their history?
Let us begin by coming to an understanding of exactly what giving God the “First Fruits” means. It means that before they eat anything, before they sell anything, before they divvy it up to give to friends or relatives they give the firsts of the crop to God. God gave them the land, God sent the rain, God made the crops grow. Everything they needed in order to produce this harvest came from God and all belonged to God anyway. God was only asking for a small portion of it back in return. In a sense they were to give God God’s share first, before anything else was done with it. This was something they were to do every year with every harvest, give back to God the first portion of all that God had given to them.
But when God is stopping them here at this time, God is not simply reminding about something they do every year, God is stopping them to remind them to about giving the first of the first fruits. This was not just any ole first fruits, this was the first fruits of the first crop given to them in the holy land. God wanted them to start off this way, begin this habit with the very first thing that came out of the ground. Before they turned a profit, before they came out on top, before they got to eat anything from any of the work that they had done, they gave the first of it to God. God came first, giving him his due came above all other things. It was a way of showing, living their trust in God. Giving God what came out of the ground first, because not only had they trusted God to help bring this crop to harvest but they trusted God enough that they would give God the first of the harvest continuing to trust God for the rest of the Harvest. Giving God the first of all that came and all that would ever come from this land God had given to them, giving to God first before they fed their families, giving to God first before they went to market, giving to God first before they even knew exactly how much would come. It was an act of trust; an act of faith in the God who provides all things, and gives all things and is there with us in all things.
We usually look at our lives and give so much time to work each day, so much time to cook, to clean, and to spend with our family members and friends. We spend a certain amount of time reading or watching TV, paying bills and when we get to the end of the day we say, that we are just too busy to spend very much time with God. We do the same with our money. The gov. takes its due before we even see it. We give so much money to the mortgage or the rent and to all the other bills and to food and gas and all the other things we have to pay for and then look and see how much we have left and maybe we will give the 10% to God, which we perceive is the right thing to do. When we think about giving of ourselves, of our time, of our things, our energy, of our money to God we never think about giving to God first, we don’t ever give God our prime time, we never give God our best, our first, we give God our leftovers, our last, what ever it is we have left when all is said and done.
When God speaks to the Israelites as they are beginning to enter into the bounty of all God has in store for them in this land God is about to give into their hands. God was asking the Israelites to remember that all the bounty of the land ultimately came from God. God gave them the land. God gave the rain and the sun and all that was needed to make the crops grow. God is the source of all life. God is the creator of the Earth and everything in it. At the beginning and the end of the day everything is God’s, our time, our energy, our things, our money, it all belongs to God. God does not ask for the leftovers. God does not want the time we have left when everything else has taken time from us. God does not want the things in our lives nobody else wants, or the things we are done using because we have not use for them anymore. God does not want that which is left when everything is said and done, God wants the first fruits. God wants to be thought of first and not last.
What does it mean for us to give the first fruits in our life? It means, no matter how hard it is for us, we need to set aside time and money for God before we divvy up time and money for anything else. I know I can hear you. I can guess what it is you are thinking, “But Pastor I really don’t have time, I really don’t have the money. Between everything else that has to get done, there is nothing left to give.”
The fact of the matter is the gov. takes our taxes out before we even see our check, we don’t miss. Why because we don’t even think about that money as being ours, the only money we really consider to be ours is the money that we can actually put in the bank or cash when we get our check. I would propose that if we did the same for God it would be the same. We would not miss it. If we set aside time and $$ to give to God and doing the Godly things first before we have a chance to spend it doing something else, we would not miss it.
Most of us who are here on Sunday mornings do this to some extent. Most of us would not think about doing anything else during this time. What if we set aside time for Bible Study, and for doing other things which God is calling for us to do, before we decided what TV shows we want to watch, or what night we go out with our friends. What if we set aside the time that we are going to spend talking to God and reading the Word before we let anything else fill that time. It does not have to be first thing in the morning, it can be anytime, but it should be time when you are at your best and not your worst. If you like getting up early do it first thing in the morning. If you are a night person do it at night. If you are your best at mid-day, then do it at midday. When you do it not important. It is important that you set the time aside and actually give it to God. Write your tithe and offering checks first. It is easy to pay all the people we owe money too first and then see if there is anything left for God. On the day you get paid write your check to God before you write anything other check. The money is gone before you can spend it on anything else. And most importantly, Trust God and you will be amaze at how little you miss what you have given to God.
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