334 SE Tecumseh Road  P.O. Box 5  Tecumseh, Kansas 66542  (785) 379-5005  Fax - (785) 379-5061

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First fruits Deuteronomy 26:1-11  Once you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and take it over and settle down, you are to take some of all the firstfruits of what you grow in the land that God, your God, is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place God, your God, sets apart for you to worship him. (26:1-2, The Message)  Well, most of us are not farmers, so this doesn’t really apply to us, does it? We have no crops from which we can offer a first portion to God – or do we? [Oh, Oh, here it comes, that dreaded time when the pastor’s going to talk about that most dreaded of all topics -MONEY!!!] Let’s be honest with ourselves, and let’s be direct about this now: collectively, and many of us individually, we have lots of “crops”, lots of possessions, lots of money. The issue is not whether we have it to spend, the issue is how we choose to spend it. (As a group, we United Methodists don’t do so well, in case you’re wondering!) God, speaking through Moses, really offers very little wiggle room. God asks of us that we take the first fruits, the first portion of the bounty which God provides, and offer it back to God. It’s that simple, really. The offering we give to God is not to consist of that which remains after we’ve satisfied our every single need, desire, craving, giving in to many of the temptations with which the world entices us. That in effect is giving God the leftovers, the crumbs, the equivalent of loose coins we put into the kettles. In doing so, we’re stating quite explicitly what God is worth. As a people who love to assign monetary worth to everything, what is the message we’re sending to God about the “worth” of God’s presence in our lives, about the worth of the temple and the ministries which God has provided for us? (Make no mistake – God provides those things, not people.)  It’s Lent, and thus for us Christians it’s a very good time to reflect upon who we are and how we respond to God’s presence in our lives. We don’t need to get into all of the specifics of tithing, of the church’s use of money, of sharing with those in dire need. Right now, let’s begin by simply asking ourselves whether or not we offer our first fruits to God. We can pray about that. Using the well-known question the Rev. Charles Sheldon posed so many years ago, we can ask: What would Jesus have us do? Then place it in the Presence of God, your God. Prostrate yourselves in the Presence of God, your God. And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God, your God, has given you and your family; you and the Levite and the foreigner who lives with you. (26:10-11) Amen.  - Pastor Piet - February 25, 2007: 1st Sunday in Lent  (Please read the scripture passage in its entirety)