“God’s Gift, and Our Reply”

Scripture Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

About 10 years ago, I began to do our grocery shopping. I wasn’t too crazy about the idea, but if I wanted to eat, I decided that I had better shop. Diane was off to seminary during the week, and when she got home late Thursday or Friday, she then had her responsibilities as pastor at Nanticoke UMC to care for. Cooking, cleaning, laundry – they all had fallen onto my plate.
Do you have any idea how a guy feels, walking into that lair of femininity, better known as the grocery store, and begin looking for the right bottle of laundry detergent? I never knew that there were so many choices – almost as many as there are of microwave popcorn! Or searching high and low in a grocery aisle for an item, and, having failed to locate it, having to find someone who looks like they know something, to ask “her” “Do you know where the horseradish is?” And even after the lady told me where to look, I still walked past it twice before I finally noticed it.
Men are beginning to become more prevalent in grocery aisles, but it is still not our domain. Take it from me, walking into Price Chopper, without your wife, requires a hearty soul and a powerful commitment to risk-taking!

Living faithfully in the Church is a lot like that. Believing that Jesus is actually who He says He is, and did the things that He did, and will do all that He has promised, takes a lot of faith! And take tithing. We are called to give 10% of our “firstfruits” to the work of the Church – not our leftovers, not whatever we seem to be comfortable with, not a promissory note to be redeemed in better days – 10% off the top. That’s what “firstfruits” means – above every other expense – the first and best of your harvest. That level of commitment to giving requires a very high level of risk and unswerving trust that God will continue to provide.

A man decided that he needed to begin tithing at his church. He made $20,000 a year, and with some effort, he was able to give $2,000. As the years passed, he received several promotions, and soon was making $100,000, but he remained faithful in his giving, and managed to give $10,000 to the church.
He decided to strike out on his own, formed his own business, and very soon was more successful than he had ever imagined – he was taking in nearly $20,000,000 a year. But a $2,000,000 tithe seemed to be quite a stretch for him, so he went to his pastor and told him of his quandary. The pastor told the man that he would pray for the situation.
The man asked “Will you be praying that I make more money so I can meet my tithe?”
“No.” replied the pastor. “I’m going to pray that you make $10,000 a year again.”

Risk can take an ugly turn at tmes!

Read Deuteronomy 26:1-4

While Israel was still deep within the desert, still striving to reach the Promised Land but unable to because of their own lack of faith, God was continuously handing down the laws that He expected the people to live by. There are nearly 20 chapters of laws in this book, not to mention the 27 chapters of commandments in Leviticus! And it’s amazing how many of these are about finances and wealth, and how we are to use them in giving our praise to the Lord.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you … take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce … and put them in a basket. The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.” Sound familiar? We still do it that way today, so it’s also important that we approach this subject with the same attitude that Israel was to have in approaching their giving.
Earlier in Deuteronomy, as well as in Exodus and Numbers, the tithe is assumed to be the standard gift to God, not just the 21st century understanding of what “some” is – it isn’t the minimum that you think you can get away with! Every harvest day, every shearing day, every lambing day – the people were to give the first of the gathering to God. And if that wasn’t enough, when the grain harvest came in, they were called to leave a good amount of the ripened grain for the gleaners – the poor who would follow the harvesters to gather up the grain that was left in the field for their own meager subsistence. And they were even instructed that they were not to muzzle the animals who were used to thrash out the grain from the straw – everyone and everything was to benefit from the LORD’s bounty.

God gave the land and the livestock and the seed and the saplings and the rain and the sun, and was also the One who made the seed germinate, and the animals conceive, and the blossoms turn into fruit.
And in return, He only asked the people for a small percentage of what had come from God’s good gift to them.
And He asks the same of us. But do we have any idea as to why God deserves our offering? Just in case Israel began to forget, God also told them whand how to give the gift.

Read Deuteronomy 26:5-8

They were to make their offering as a remembrance of what God had done for them - for freedom from suffering and oppression, from the toil that gained them practically nothing, from the miserable existence that God had lead them out of. Their tithe wasn’t given as a burdensome requirement – it was given out of gratitude for what had been given to them in their days of abject poverty, and it was given for the great blessings that their Lord would continue to give.

Do we give grudgingly or gratefully? Is our offering a joy and blessing or is it only an obligation?

How do we respond to God’s Providence and Bounty in our lives? Remember that Israel was given this commandment while they were still in the desert with no crops, no land, and no harvest. All they had was manna and quail, which got old real fast, and over the next 40 years, never got any better! Give Thanks! Give in remembrance of all that God has already given us, and with expectation of all that will, one day, come as He has promised.

But when we are still in the desert, it’s difficult to remember that God is with us and loving us and is working a grand plan for our lives. Some days, not only can’t we give God any glory and praise, but we can barely scrape out a token subsistence for ourselves and those who depend on us.

Charles Shultz had a way of describing our most innermost fears and cares, but would always leave us nodding our heads with a smile. In one cartoon, Charlie Brown, exasperated once again by the lack of cooperation he receives from Lucy, asks of no one in particular, “Where do I go to give up.”

How many times has the same question crossed your mind? Where do I go to give up? I’ve done everything I can. I can think of nothing more to do. Nothing works. So where is God in all of this? When do I get to enter my Promised Land?

Read Deuteronomy 26:9-11

God didn’t give Israel a date as to when they would be arriving home – just that one day they would. And that when they got there, the land would already be rich and overflowing with all kinds of good things. They wouldn’t have to prepare the vineyards – they would already be flourishing. They wouldn’t have to clear the fields – they would already be clear and productive. They wouldn’t have to cultivate seed to plant – they would already be growing. And when they received these great gifts, they were to rejoice and celebrate, and give praise to the God who had provided. When you have little, God only asks for little. When we have much, God asks for more. And when we have far more than we can ever use ourselves, He wants us to share that blessing to as many of the needy as we possibly can.

In the last verse, Israel is told “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.” The Levites were the priestly class, and as such had no land or holdings of their own – they were to be dependent on the other 11 tribes for all of their needs. The aliens had no land or rights - they were basically destitute and totally dependent on their masters. And everyone was to rejoice in the blessings that had come from God.


Now just in case someone thinks that this has been a “stewardship sermon”, I need to tell you that it isn’t! This is a very generous church, and I have never felt that I need to give the “money” sermon. It isn’t about how much you give – it’s about how and why you give that truly matters, and when you approach giving as a joyful opportunity, then finances will never be our limitation.
In your giving, will you remember the difficult hours and days when the Lord was walking with you – sustaining, encouraging, helping – and rejoice in His presence? Are you willing to take a “joyful risk” in order to discover the glory of God that surrounds you?