One of the great mysteries of our culture is that while we are the most privileged and prosperous people who have ever lived on the face of this earth, many Americans are not happy. We have more of everything, but we are not content. In the last century life expectancy has nearly doubled. In fact 50% of us baby boomers will live to age 100! Since 1960 the average real per-capita income has doubled while the price of durable goods and food keeps falling. For most of our history there was one room in our homes for every 2 people, yet in our homes today there are 2 rooms for each person. Charles Colson says, “By any measure of affluence—healthcare, leisure, technology—the average American enjoys a quality of life beyond anyone’s wildest dreams a few decades ago. We have more of everything, except happiness.”

A perfect example of this happened this past September on the Oprah Winfrey Show as she celebrated her show’s 19th season by giving away new cars to the 276 audience members that day. Each person was selected based on her need for a new vehicle. As Oprah yelled, “Everybody gets a car!” pandemonium broke out as the audience yelled, screamed, laughed, hugged and cried. That day Oprah hit the bell on my impressed list! But all was not well in Oprahland. The new car owners began to complain. While local taxes and licensing fees were covered as a part of the gift, the IRS was going to take a sizable bite out of their pocketbooks because the $28,000 value for the car was to be added to their annual income. Their car insurance premium would also increase dramatically. The excitement and thrill of being the recipient of a brand new car quickly dissipated for some and the blessing became a curse.

What’s life all about anyway?

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Do we believe this? Really believe this—that life is temporary? If so, then we have to ask, “What is it about our lives that is really important?” What are we working for? Do we fill our lives with stuff believing that, whoever has the most toys, wins? Do we fill our lives with activities that simply eat up our time and energy but have no lasting value? As Christians, do we say one thing, but do another? Many of us are like those in Oprah’s audience—excited by what God has given us, but grumbling because He hasn’t given us more. Many of us, who claim the name of Jesus, fritter away valuable time investing it in Law and Order and Friends, fantasy football and even real football, pinochle and golf. I read an obituary sometime ago that described the deceased this way, “He was an avid golfer.” I remember thinking, “Is that how I want people to remember me? Jerry was an avid golfer, or whatever?”

How do we keep from living out the paradox of progress which is this: becoming increasingly hardened and ungrateful to the ever increasing blessings in my life which in turn causes me to think that life is all about me! The Bible has the answer for our human dilemma. It is found in Deuteronomy 26:1-11.

The antidote to the poison of self-serving attitudes and ungrateful hearts, which affects all of us, is in the model of first-fruits. God is teaching the ancient Israelites this concept of thanksgiving. It is taking the first that we have and give it back to the Lord. The first fruit is given in gratitude to God for His deliverance out of bondage and slavery. The reality is that we live in a culture that creates bondage and slavery to stuff—faster computers, bigger televisions, smaller yet bigger hard drives, more luxurious cars, bathrooms fit for a king and bedrooms designed for queens. The bottom line is that it is about me. When we give our first-fruits, it is a reminder to us that all that we have is from God. Giving the first fruit of our labor keeps things in proper perspective, and helps us have a grateful heart and tender spirit. Our focus changes from what we don’t have to what we do have. When my dad was a teenager back in the Depression days, they were poor but he didn’t know it because everyone he knew was just like them. Now because of our blessings, we watch virtual tours of the homes of Hollywood stars and entertainers and sports stars. And, let’s admit it, everyone of us drools and slobbers wishing we were so blessed. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6, “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” The truth is that greed kills gratitude because greed is never satisfied and that leads to ‘many griefs.’ Giving our first fruits helps us to kill the greed in our hearts and save us from these griefs.

Secondly, giving our first fruits helps change my focus from getting a blessing to being a blessing. Unfortunately many Christians see their relationship with Christ from the perspective of what can Jesus do for me. That is a very infantile understanding of what it means to be a Christ follower. Mature Christianity is what can I do for Jesus! If life is temporary then all that stuff I do for me is only temporary, but if life has an eternal element to it, then what I do for Jesus is the only stuff that will last!

The paradox is that not only is it that the more we have the less grateful we are, but the more we have the less giving we are. We want to keep and add to what we already have because even as Christians we believe that “he who has the most toys wins!” Let me tell you it is hard to defeat Satan’s lies, especially this one. Why is it that sports stars can’t spend the millions they have now, yet go on strike for millions more? Why is it that we still want more and more and more---of stuff? Jesus told us, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Mt. 10:39) Keep your life self focused and you will shrivel and die. Give your life to Jesus and you will find life in its fullest and best. Don’t desire God’s blessings, rather desire to be a blessing God can use!

Third, the model of giving our first fruits enables me to change my focus from this earth to eternity. So many of us are very shortsighted. We can’t seem to live beyond today. God calls us to see things through the eyes of eternity—the long look—and that helps us to keep the things of this world both good and bad in proper perspective. I praise God for those saints at Sicklerville who had an eternal look and stepped out in faith to make our church a reality. Those saints of the 1850s, those saints in the 70s and again in the late 80s who made the decisions to step out in faith, trusting God to provide for the future. You and I are reaping the blessings and benefits of their eternal perspective. The question I have for you is this: will we do the same or will we sit on their legacy and fritter away our opportunity to impact both the Kingdom of God and the future of SUMC? Paul wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor 4:18), “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal.”

Thanksgiving is an attitude. Paul Tillich, theologian wrote, “When we are truly thankful we become starkly aware that we are wholly dependant for everything upon God and upon our fellow human beings who are made in His image. When we are truly grateful, we recognize that God has favored us, whether we deserve favoring or not.”

The attitude of thanksgiving then leads us to action, of giving that flows from a grateful heart and attitude. Because of our sin nature we forget. That is why God instructed the ancient Israelites to bring their first-fruits to him so that they would always remember and never forget God’s blessings of deliverance from bondage. We give our first-fruits so we will never forget God’s deliverance in our lives from bondage to sin and self-centeredness. Gratitude is an action that has its roots in God’s grace, the free undeserved love-action of God. (Paul Tillich)

Note also that God commanded these Hebrews to put their first fruits in a basket and take them to the priest. There is something real and powerful about giving our tithe, our offering, our first-fruits in a tangible way. Every one of us has a reason not to give back to God whether that be our money, our time, or our talents. That reason is good enough for us, but is that reason good enough for God? God knows that a physical act of giving, a movement on our part burns into our consciousness and lives the reality and the importance of giving our first-fruits and not our left-overs.

Really now, let’s be honest: what are you living for?

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.