“Giving From What You Have Been Given”
First Sunday of Lent, 2/21/10
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Introduction: I want you to remember back with me for a moment when President John F. Kennedy said in one of his speeches: “Don’t ask what can your country do for you. Ask, what you can do for your country.” In this speech, President Kennedy was trying to get us to understand that we need to be thankful for all that we have, and that we should seek to have a giving attitude. But this declaration of showing gratitude started in the beginning of time, when God called His people to give of what has been given to them.
As we start the Lenten season, we are to remember that this is a season that is to prepare us for Holy week: the week Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified, all for the benefit of removing our sins. Today, we start with this idea of showing how we are thankful by giving back from what we have been given.
I. The Inheritance of the Land- (Exodus3:7-8; Deuteronomy 26:1)
a. Israel’s inheritance- We read in Exodus 3:7-8 the plan God has for his
people when God talks with Moses at Mt. Horeb. “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…’”
The Israelites were in slavery to the Egyptians. There were in misery because of the hard labor the Pharaoh was putting upon them. They had been crying out to God for many years. In this discourse with Moses, God shows that the Israelites will be given a land of milk and honey; a land that will be a blessing to them; a land that will be their own; a land that will allow them to plant and be fruitful and that will sustain them.
As we read the text in Deuteronomy 26:1, we see that in talking about the people’s attitude toward their situation, they need to understand how they have come to posses this land. Hear again this verse: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it…” Several things are mentioned here: first, the land is being given to them from God. They haven’t earned it, or done anything particular to deserve it. It is a gift from God. Second, it is given as an inheritance. Because Israel was God’s people, they received this as an inheritance from their Father (God) to them. Third, they were to settle in it. When you settle into something, you make it your own. God was telling them that this land was to be their own. They would not be wandering any more!
b. Our inheritance- Whenever we read scripture, we are to remember
that it isn’t written just for the original hearers, but for all of God’s people; for all time. These words are to be heard by us, as God’s words to us. When god talks about what He has given to the Israelites, we are to remember that God has given us many things as well. God has given us our faith. God has given us this church. God has given us our gifts. God has given us the call to be His people and speak His word.
Second, when God talks of an inheritance, we need to understand that God has an inheritance for us as well. The land of milk and honey we have been given, is indeed this church and the ministry to which we are called. We are truly blessed to have this property, these buildings, this sanctuary, this place in North Long Beach. Let us not take for granted what we have. On top of this, we live in a free country that allows us to worship and to earn money. All that we have been given needs to be seen as an inheritance given to us, by God.
Third, we are told to settle in it. Now, some of you in this church have been in this church for many years; some have been here for over 60 years! Yet, others of you have only been here for a few years, or maybe even a few weeks. The truth is, anyone who is a part of this church, IS part of this church. We are called to settle in as if this were our home. God calls us all to be the people of God, and as such, we are to feel at home in this church so that we might understand that all who come here are important, and are a part of the work of God.
II. The First Fruit of the Ground- (Deuteronomy 26:2-5)
There are many things in life that are seen as a blessing. It is easy to miss this
fact. One of the things I do with my kids each night before they go to bed, is I have them tell me “5 Good Things” about their day. I do this, because I believe it helps them to reflect upon their day, and remember that there was much good that happened. It is fun for me to hear what they think are their 5 good things. It is a blessing to me to hear how they felt blessed in that day. Then I share my “5 Good Things” with them. This is an excellent way to remember God’s blessings in life.
Let us hear again from our text, Deuteronomy 26:2-5, “Take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us.’ 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.’”/ This text is all about giving thanks for God’s blessings.
Let me break it down for us, so that we might really take it to heart.
God calls His people to bring of their first fruits. Now, you might have heard this idea before, or maybe you haven’t, but the idea is that out of all that God gives us, we are to give back to God the first of what we have been given; or in other words, the best of what we have been given. For us today, that would mean that the first check we write, or the first money that is given away, is the money that goes to the church; the money that goes to God’s work. Just as the text says, they are to bring it to the priest, as a gift to the Lord.
What are they to say to the priest? They are to acknowledge that the reason they have this fruit is because it has come from the land that the Lord gave to them. It is a way for them to remember that they were given this land by God. Whatever fruit is born from the land is a gift from God to them. So as not to forget that it comes from the Lord, they give this first fruit back to God, by giving it to the priest.
Not only this, but they acknowledge that they are no longer wandering, but have a land in which they have settled. While we aren’t wanderers, often times we feel like we are wandering around in our lives. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we no longer wander. We have a place to settle: in a relationship with God through Christ. And when we give of our first fruits, we are acknowledging that God has given us the new life that we have, and has allowed us to be part of His people and His work through this church!
III. Acknowledging God’s Work- (Deuteronomy 26:6-9)
a. Remembering what God did- Going on, the text says in Deuteronomy
26:6-9, “But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Here in this part of the passage, we see those who come to the priest and give of their tithe, the fruit of their labor, are also to remember all that God has done.
So what do they acknowledge? What has God done? He brought them out of Egypt. And God didn’t just do this in secret. God did this very publicly; and very miraculously. If you remember, God sent 10 plagues upon the Egyptians: the plague of turning the water into blood; the plague of frogs; the plague of gnats; the plague of flies; the plague of the livestock becoming diseased; the plague of boils upon the Egyptian people; the plague of thunder and hail; the plague of locusts; and then the plague of darkness. But in all of this, the Pharaoh did not relent. Why would he? He didn’t want to let his work force go.
So God finally sent the final plague of death. All firstborn children of the land will die by this plague. To avoid this plague the people had to put the blood of a lamb around their doorpost, and if they do, the angel of death will pass over them! This all came to pass, and the Israelites escaped their slavery by the help of the Lord. Then the Lord led them to this land of milk and honey.
b. Remembering what God is doing- How easy it is to forget God’s work
in our lives. We believe, but we forget to thank God for our faith. We make budget, but we can often take this for granted. We have a place to live and food to eat, but again, we take it for granted. We even forget to give thanks to God for life itself.
Example- In a sermon from Louie Giglio, he was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is.......how God spoke the universe into being....how God breathes stars out of His mouth. Then Giglio went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating/ God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this? But they do. Then Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.
After this, he started talking about Laminin. I don’t know if you know what Laminins are, but ‘they are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' Laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. But get this, it is amazing to understand what they LOOK LIKE. Any scientific portrayal will show you the same structure….They are in the shape of a cross. The cell molecules that hold us together are in the shape of the cross.
The point is, that God is always doing so much in our lives; so much in our church. We need to be the kind of people who remember. But even more, the kind of people who share this with others. We cannot be shy about who God is and what God has done. Last week Jim Foster, a missionary to South Africa, spoke here reminding us of the text to take God’s message to our community, our city, our nation, and to all nations. The best way to do this is to acknowledge God’s work!
Example- Here’s another example. It is a story of a class who was asked to list the seven wonders of the world. The class worked, and came up with these:
1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids; 2. The Taj Mahal; 3. The Grand Canyon; 4. The
Panama Canal; 5. Empire State building; 6. St. Peter’s Basilica; 7. China’s Great Wall.
One girl in the class however was working on her own, and they wondered what
she was doing. Was she having trouble with her list? “Yes,” she answered. Then the teacher asked her what she had so far. The girl hesitated, then said: “I believe the 7 wonders of the world are: 1. To see; 2. To hear; 3. To touch; 4. To smell; 5.To feel; 6. To laugh; 7. To love.”
God gives us so much. We need to acknowledge it!!
IV. Set It Before the Lord- (Deuteronomy 26:10-11)
Lastly, the text tells us that we are to set it before the Lord. In other words, it is
an offering to the Lord. An offering is not just a gift that is given. While this first fruit was a gift back to the Lord, it was more than just a gift. It is a way of showing that the best of what they have is the Lord’s. It is a way to show that they wouldn’t be where they are at, or have anything that they have, without the Lord’s help. It is a way to give thanks from the depth of their being.
Think about this. When you give a gift, you are saying that you care about that person. But you aren’t giving yourself to them. You aren’t saying that they make you to be who you are. You are just being loving. An offering is more than a gift. It is a way to show that all that you are belongs to God. It is a way to express that you understand that you wouldn’t have your life, your faith, or your place in life, without God making it happen for you.
This is what God is calling His people to do; to offer themselves to God. And they do this by the giving of their first fruits. When we fail to give our first fruits, we will come to that place where we forget that what we have has been given to us. We will forget that we don’t own what we have; it is God’s gift to us. We fail to realize that what we have can be lost as easy as it was gained.
So many people go through their lives saying that they believe in God; that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. But they give so little of themselves. And when they do give, it is usually just a very small portion of what they have; and it is often not the best of what they have. And because of this, they struggle in their spiritual lives. I see this time and time again. And when they come to me for help, and I try and suggest that they need to give more, they look at me with that look that says, “I can’t do it.” I don’t have anything to give.” And that’s where they are wrong. We all have much to give. And it should start with our FIRST FRUITS; OUR BEST. And each week when we come to church, we can set it before the Lord.
Conclusion: As I said before, Lent is to be a time when we commit ourselves fully to God. Lent is a time when we remember that there should be nothing more important to us than our relationship with God. Lent is a time when we reflect upon what things of this world have become more important to us than God. We might want to admit this is true, because then we have to do something about it. So I encourage you, today, this week, this Lenten season, to take seriously your relationship with God, and make sure your priorities are in the right order. Let us give from what we have been given, acknowledging who has given it to us, and then giving thanks through the way we live. Amen.
First Sunday of Lent, 2/21/10
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Introduction: I want you to remember back with me for a moment when President John F. Kennedy said in one of his speeches: “Don’t ask what can your country do for you. Ask, what you can do for your country.” In this speech, President Kennedy was trying to get us to understand that we need to be thankful for all that we have, and that we should seek to have a giving attitude. But this declaration of showing gratitude started in the beginning of time, when God called His people to give of what has been given to them.
As we start the Lenten season, we are to remember that this is a season that is to prepare us for Holy week: the week Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified, all for the benefit of removing our sins. Today, we start with this idea of showing how we are thankful by giving back from what we have been given.
I. The Inheritance of the Land- (Exodus3:7-8; Deuteronomy 26:1)
a. Israel’s inheritance- We read in Exodus 3:7-8 the plan God has for his
people when God talks with Moses at Mt. Horeb. “The LORD said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…’”
The Israelites were in slavery to the Egyptians. There were in misery because of the hard labor the Pharaoh was putting upon them. They had been crying out to God for many years. In this discourse with Moses, God shows that the Israelites will be given a land of milk and honey; a land that will be a blessing to them; a land that will be their own; a land that will allow them to plant and be fruitful and that will sustain them.
As we read the text in Deuteronomy 26:1, we see that in talking about the people’s attitude toward their situation, they need to understand how they have come to posses this land. Hear again this verse: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it…” Several things are mentioned here: first, the land is being given to them from God. They haven’t earned it, or done anything particular to deserve it. It is a gift from God. Second, it is given as an inheritance. Because Israel was God’s people, they received this as an inheritance from their Father (God) to them. Third, they were to settle in it. When you settle into something, you make it your own. God was telling them that this land was to be their own. They would not be wandering any more!
b. Our inheritance- Whenever we read scripture, we are to remember
that it isn’t written just for the original hearers, but for all of God’s people; for all time. These words are to be heard by us, as God’s words to us. When god talks about what He has given to the Israelites, we are to remember that God has given us many things as well. God has given us our faith. God has given us this church. God has given us our gifts. God has given us the call to be His people and speak His word.
Second, when God talks of an inheritance, we need to understand that God has an inheritance for us as well. The land of milk and honey we have been given, is indeed this church and the ministry to which we are called. We are truly blessed to have this property, these buildings, this sanctuary, this place in North Long Beach. Let us not take for granted what we have. On top of this, we live in a free country that allows us to worship and to earn money. All that we have been given needs to be seen as an inheritance given to us, by God.
Third, we are told to settle in it. Now, some of you in this church have been in this church for many years; some have been here for over 60 years! Yet, others of you have only been here for a few years, or maybe even a few weeks. The truth is, anyone who is a part of this church, IS part of this church. We are called to settle in as if this were our home. God calls us all to be the people of God, and as such, we are to feel at home in this church so that we might understand that all who come here are important, and are a part of the work of God.
II. The First Fruit of the Ground- (Deuteronomy 26:2-5)
There are many things in life that are seen as a blessing. It is easy to miss this
fact. One of the things I do with my kids each night before they go to bed, is I have them tell me “5 Good Things” about their day. I do this, because I believe it helps them to reflect upon their day, and remember that there was much good that happened. It is fun for me to hear what they think are their 5 good things. It is a blessing to me to hear how they felt blessed in that day. Then I share my “5 Good Things” with them. This is an excellent way to remember God’s blessings in life.
Let us hear again from our text, Deuteronomy 26:2-5, “Take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name 3 and say to the priest in office at the time, ‘I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us.’ 4 The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. 5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.’”/ This text is all about giving thanks for God’s blessings.
Let me break it down for us, so that we might really take it to heart.
God calls His people to bring of their first fruits. Now, you might have heard this idea before, or maybe you haven’t, but the idea is that out of all that God gives us, we are to give back to God the first of what we have been given; or in other words, the best of what we have been given. For us today, that would mean that the first check we write, or the first money that is given away, is the money that goes to the church; the money that goes to God’s work. Just as the text says, they are to bring it to the priest, as a gift to the Lord.
What are they to say to the priest? They are to acknowledge that the reason they have this fruit is because it has come from the land that the Lord gave to them. It is a way for them to remember that they were given this land by God. Whatever fruit is born from the land is a gift from God to them. So as not to forget that it comes from the Lord, they give this first fruit back to God, by giving it to the priest.
Not only this, but they acknowledge that they are no longer wandering, but have a land in which they have settled. While we aren’t wanderers, often times we feel like we are wandering around in our lives. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we no longer wander. We have a place to settle: in a relationship with God through Christ. And when we give of our first fruits, we are acknowledging that God has given us the new life that we have, and has allowed us to be part of His people and His work through this church!
III. Acknowledging God’s Work- (Deuteronomy 26:6-9)
a. Remembering what God did- Going on, the text says in Deuteronomy
26:6-9, “But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 7 Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Here in this part of the passage, we see those who come to the priest and give of their tithe, the fruit of their labor, are also to remember all that God has done.
So what do they acknowledge? What has God done? He brought them out of Egypt. And God didn’t just do this in secret. God did this very publicly; and very miraculously. If you remember, God sent 10 plagues upon the Egyptians: the plague of turning the water into blood; the plague of frogs; the plague of gnats; the plague of flies; the plague of the livestock becoming diseased; the plague of boils upon the Egyptian people; the plague of thunder and hail; the plague of locusts; and then the plague of darkness. But in all of this, the Pharaoh did not relent. Why would he? He didn’t want to let his work force go.
So God finally sent the final plague of death. All firstborn children of the land will die by this plague. To avoid this plague the people had to put the blood of a lamb around their doorpost, and if they do, the angel of death will pass over them! This all came to pass, and the Israelites escaped their slavery by the help of the Lord. Then the Lord led them to this land of milk and honey.
b. Remembering what God is doing- How easy it is to forget God’s work
in our lives. We believe, but we forget to thank God for our faith. We make budget, but we can often take this for granted. We have a place to live and food to eat, but again, we take it for granted. We even forget to give thanks to God for life itself.
Example- In a sermon from Louie Giglio, he was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is.......how God spoke the universe into being....how God breathes stars out of His mouth. Then Giglio went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating/ God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this? But they do. Then Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.
After this, he started talking about Laminin. I don’t know if you know what Laminins are, but ‘they are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' Laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. But get this, it is amazing to understand what they LOOK LIKE. Any scientific portrayal will show you the same structure….They are in the shape of a cross. The cell molecules that hold us together are in the shape of the cross.
The point is, that God is always doing so much in our lives; so much in our church. We need to be the kind of people who remember. But even more, the kind of people who share this with others. We cannot be shy about who God is and what God has done. Last week Jim Foster, a missionary to South Africa, spoke here reminding us of the text to take God’s message to our community, our city, our nation, and to all nations. The best way to do this is to acknowledge God’s work!
Example- Here’s another example. It is a story of a class who was asked to list the seven wonders of the world. The class worked, and came up with these:
1. Egypt’s Great Pyramids; 2. The Taj Mahal; 3. The Grand Canyon; 4. The
Panama Canal; 5. Empire State building; 6. St. Peter’s Basilica; 7. China’s Great Wall.
One girl in the class however was working on her own, and they wondered what
she was doing. Was she having trouble with her list? “Yes,” she answered. Then the teacher asked her what she had so far. The girl hesitated, then said: “I believe the 7 wonders of the world are: 1. To see; 2. To hear; 3. To touch; 4. To smell; 5.To feel; 6. To laugh; 7. To love.”
God gives us so much. We need to acknowledge it!!
IV. Set It Before the Lord- (Deuteronomy 26:10-11)
Lastly, the text tells us that we are to set it before the Lord. In other words, it is
an offering to the Lord. An offering is not just a gift that is given. While this first fruit was a gift back to the Lord, it was more than just a gift. It is a way of showing that the best of what they have is the Lord’s. It is a way to show that they wouldn’t be where they are at, or have anything that they have, without the Lord’s help. It is a way to give thanks from the depth of their being.
Think about this. When you give a gift, you are saying that you care about that person. But you aren’t giving yourself to them. You aren’t saying that they make you to be who you are. You are just being loving. An offering is more than a gift. It is a way to show that all that you are belongs to God. It is a way to express that you understand that you wouldn’t have your life, your faith, or your place in life, without God making it happen for you.
This is what God is calling His people to do; to offer themselves to God. And they do this by the giving of their first fruits. When we fail to give our first fruits, we will come to that place where we forget that what we have has been given to us. We will forget that we don’t own what we have; it is God’s gift to us. We fail to realize that what we have can be lost as easy as it was gained.
So many people go through their lives saying that they believe in God; that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. But they give so little of themselves. And when they do give, it is usually just a very small portion of what they have; and it is often not the best of what they have. And because of this, they struggle in their spiritual lives. I see this time and time again. And when they come to me for help, and I try and suggest that they need to give more, they look at me with that look that says, “I can’t do it.” I don’t have anything to give.” And that’s where they are wrong. We all have much to give. And it should start with our FIRST FRUITS; OUR BEST. And each week when we come to church, we can set it before the Lord.
Conclusion: As I said before, Lent is to be a time when we commit ourselves fully to God. Lent is a time when we remember that there should be nothing more important to us than our relationship with God. Lent is a time when we reflect upon what things of this world have become more important to us than God. We might want to admit this is true, because then we have to do something about it. So I encourage you, today, this week, this Lenten season, to take seriously your relationship with God, and make sure your priorities are in the right order. Let us give from what we have been given, acknowledging who has given it to us, and then giving thanks through the way we live. Amen.
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