Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the first fruits 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 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." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD your God. 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. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. 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. 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. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.
If I were to summarize this sermon into a few words…I would say it is about how to tithe (back in the WAY old days). A ‘tithe’ is ten-percent of one’s income of produce paid as a contribution to support a church according to Webster’s Dictionary. But today, I don’t want to teach or persuade you to give money to the church. Today, I want to show you how to enrich this Lenten time and tithe your heart.
When we read the first verse, “When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance…” I immediately started thinking about how we could be so important to receive an inheritance from God. Usually when we hear about inheriting something, we think of “who died?” I read half of a book once…. ‘Yes, only half,’ but it stated out with this man jumping off the balcony and dying. As the book goes on, all of the children (old, grown children) fight over who should get what rather than what the will says. It isn’t such a strange book as it sounds, but God offers to us as individuals an inheritance and so we take it. Back in the Bible days, an inheritance was passed down by birthright. The oldest male received the bigger slab of land and other property. Now-a-days, it is whoever the owner is that decides. I think that God takes this side and gives each of us the ability to be called “God’s Son” or “God’s Daughter.”
And we are to take possession of this land! I began to wonder what our land is. What has God given to us freely without charging us or taxing us? For me, it is my family, my friends, my musical talents, and a wonderful skill of making sermons too short!
After finding and settling into the inheritance that we have, God tells us to ‘take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord God is giving you’…so to take something that has made you YOU!...And ‘put them in a basket.’ Have you ever tried planting a garden? Doesn’t have to be a big one. I know my dad did when I was little. I would help him drag out the long hose and water the seeds and then…poof! There was a sprout! And I kept watering it and making sure that it had everything a tomato plant could possibly need…and one day, I went out and found one little green tomato hanging on the vine all by itself! I was so proud of myself…now I can’t keep anything green in my house because I was not blessed with a green thumb! I don’t know how happy I would have been in I was told, that once it got all big and red and pretty, that I needed to put it into a basket and take it to church. Though, I would have been thrilled to show off the tomato to anyone who would listen, but God says to keep it in a basket so that only God knows what you are offering to Him.
“You reap what you sow” is a common phrase that usually is used in a negative way, but if you have worked hard, you will receive what you put into it. To be able to give God a part of that harvest is a wonderful thing. Relating it to our own lives, taking something that you have created through what God gave you in the first place and giving it to God can be HARD!!!
We are in a time of Lent. Lent is a time for renewal and self-examination. I have been thinking lately about my heart. God gave me my heart. When we talk about giving our heart to God, we talk about giving ALL of it. Earlier in Deuteronomy, in chapter six, it says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart”…not just 10%!!! I could probably relate my heart to my house—there are some really clean parts and some places where I would never bring company. There are also parts of my heart that I would not want to show God. The parts where there is anger or resentment or pride or any sin! Why would I want to show my perfect God my dirtiness? But God says to place the offering before the alter and to declare… “Read Vs. 5-7”
Often in the Old Testament, when anything is being done around God, there is a remembrance of who you are… “my father was a wondering Aramean”…and where you came from. I am an heir of God. Being His Daughter, I receive the promised land…I have been redeemed from my sins so that I may live freely in the world. I, as these persons in the Scripture, cried out to God and the Lord saw us and heard us…He brought us out of our Egypt of sin, misery and toil and brought us to good things.
Lent is a time of self examination and renewal. Some of you all here today may have attended an Ash Wednesday service. If you have, you know that in the pastor marks your forehead with ashes. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our realization of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during lent, or a season of renewal.
Being a time of renewal, you hear of people “giving up” things. I have heard from many different sources that to change an old “bad” habit, you must consciously be aware of doing the thing you want to change and spend six weeks correcting the habit. By the end of that time, your habit should have changed enough that the “habit” is gone. Isn’t amazing that God gives us six weeks in Lent to come closer to Him before the crucifixion and resurrection!
Some people give up watching TV or eating sweets, or drinking soda. In fact, every year since I can remember…it’s been such a long time…my friend has given up soda for lent. One year, as lent drew nearer and nearer, one friend was getting…angry! On fat Tuesday, he told me, “Lent already!! But that means for six weeks I won’t get the bubbling sensation going down the back of my throat and the amazing burps it produces!” We’ll give him a break for that one…he is a GUY! I never understood why he gave up soda if he didn’t want to do it in the first place!
Crazy enough..the entire lunch table gave up soda for lent that year. About two days into it, one girl, started getting really BAD headaches! We came to find out that she was VERY addicted to soda and drank four to five Mountain Dews a day! I and the others tried to remind her of why we give up things, but she decided that she was too addicted to it and she tried to just do one a day. I didn’t tell you this story to make you feel bad or to tattle-tale on my friend. I told it because I wanted to tell you we are HUMAN!!! Maybe you didn’t know that! And sometimes we forget why we have this time of lent. Why people give up, or sacrifice good things? (or some not-so-good things)
As I was reading through some Sunday school material this week, I came upon a very true, but simple definition of a sacrifice. It doesn’t come from Mr. Webster, but it says: “A sacrifice is giving up something you love for someone you love more.”
Remembering that you can very well love a sin, a true sacrifice is to give it up for someone you love more…call Him God, Jesus, Savior, Prince of Peace, whatever…
As you examine your heart in this time of lent, sacrifice you heart. Let God clean it of anything un-pure and let Him change YOU to be more like His Son who made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU!!!!
And lastly, but not least, the Scripture says to rejoice! Rejoice in all the good things that God has given you and your household! Be joyful when you are able to give your heart to God…for Him to take it and mold it into something beautiful!
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© Copyright 2009, Samantha Fomera
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