Iliff and Saltillo Churches
February 29, 2004
First Sunday of Lent
“First Things First”
Deut. 26:1-11
INTRODUCTION: Today is the first Sunday of the Lenten Season, a 40 day period of time, in which we can reflect on our lives and make changes. Today’s scripture is applicable to us as well as to people hundreds of years ago. The Israelites had been brought into the land that God promised them. They were getting settled and beginning to see God bless them. Their prosperity was evident by the abundant crops and by their freedom out of a land where they had been oppressed.
Let’s see what we can get out of today’s scripture that will help us to draw closer to the Lord in the weeks ahead. I’ve entitled this message,” First Things First.”
1. Acknowledge God: The Israelites were finally taking possession of the land that God had promised them years before. They were working hard to plant their crops, probably establishing businesses, and getting things to run smoothly for their families. They were establishing a community and a new life of freedom in this land of “milk and honey.” Their days must have been packed with things to do. Maybe they were working longer hours than ever before. Maybe they had more opportunities than they had ever experienced in their entire lifetime. They might have been tempted to say, “We’ve got it made now. The crops are the best we’ve ever seen. Things are going great. We can make it on our own now.”
How many times are we tempted to rearrange our priorities in a more selfish order when things are going great for us as compared with times when things are not going as well? When things are going great we want more and more.
STORY: Did you know that a person with six kids is more satisfied than a person with six million dollars? What do you think?
The reason for this is that the man with six million dollars wants more.
The people were to acknowledge God as the giver of all good things and to serve and honor him with them. To acknowledge God is to put first things first. In this scripture they did this by taking the firstfruits from the first harvest. The first produce. Some of the crops they raised were wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. They were to take a basket of these firstfruits to the place of worship and present the basket to the priests.
The giving of the firstfruits was a way of acknowledging God. Of saying, “I know I wouldn’t have any of this if it weren’t for you, God.”
Most of us don’t have firstfruits from crops such as these because we usually get a paycheck for our work or a direct deposit to our account or maybe we are paid in cash. This represents our work.
How can we acknowledge God on pay day? We can give the tithe--the 10th and the offerings beyond that. Think about what the first thing is you do when you get your paycheck. Does God see any part of it? What part? First part? Leftovers--if there are any leftovers.
Some people say, “Well, all the church wants is money. Always hounding us for money.”
Deut. 8:18 says, “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth..." We acknowledge God in many ways besides money--sometimes it is really easier to write a check and give it than it is to acknowledge God in other ways--our time, for example. Setting aside a portion of our day to pray, to study the Bible, to go to church, to volunteer, to help someone by spending time with them, to listen to someone tell their story over and over again. We acknowledge God in many different ways.
At this Lenten season, what do you like about your present giving patterns? What do you dislike? What would you like to change?
2. To Deny Ourselves: Why don’t we give God what’s left of our paycheck, or of our time, of our efforts? Many people will say, “if I don’t have anything else to do Sunday, I’ll be at church. If I don’t have too many bills to pay, I’ll give a little bit.” If you operate on that principle, you will never give of your time or money. You’ll always be too busy or too broke to do anything.
STORY: A Japanese artist painted a picture on a fairly large canvas. Down in one corner was a tree, and on the limbs of the tree were some birds, but all the rest of the canvas was bare. When he was asked if he was not going to paint something more to fill the rest of the canvas, he said, “Oh, no, I have to leave room for the birds to fly.”
We often fill our lives so full of obligations that there is not room for the birds to fly and there is no room for God besides.
Don’t wait until your bills are all paid first and then start giving to God. Do it right in the middle of your needs.
First things first says that we will give to God as our first priority even if it means denying ourselves first.
Luke 9:23 Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Sometimes we argue with the Lord, “Ah, man, I’d rather do something else.” The Lord speaks to us and says, “this is what I want you to do today; this is where I want you to go; this is what I want you to give.” Our priorities and God’s might be a little different from one another.
Story: A husband and wife from California were driving through Texas. They saw a tornado coming and they were scared. They pulled the car off to the side of the road and got out a crouched down beside it. The twister was moving directly toward them but at the last second veered off across a field and then hit and totally demolished a small wooden house. The man and woman still shaking with fright got up and ran toward the house which was now nothing but kindling wood and a hole in the ground. They looked down into the hole and saw an old man holding on for dear life to a piece of timber, his eyes tightly closed.
The woman called down to him. “Hey down there, are you all right?”
The old man opened his eyes, looked around cautiously and said, “I guess so.”
The woman asked, “Was there anyone else with you?”
The old man replied, “Just me and God, and we were having an urgent conversation.”
What is self-denial? What is self-denial at the Lenten season? Many people think it is giving up something you don’t really care about in the first place. You can say you did it, but it is not truly a denial that costs you anything. You might say, “I’m going to give up Coca Cola for Lent”--and then drink PEPSI. You might say, “I’m going to give up skydiving--but you don’t sky dive anyway.”
What costs you? I will give up...
Time, money--what would be something God is calling you to do in place of what you would rather do?
What is the first “ripe firstfruits” that we would rather keep for ourselves? The Lord is asking you to deny yourself, put it in a basket, and give it to Him first.
Along with giving the firstfruits they were to say some things.
I have come from 40 years of wandering into a country You gave me.
My beginnings were small--family background not so great--despised in Egypt--mistreated--not proud of where I came from.
We cried out and You took pity on us and brought us out with your mighty power.
You gave us the land --You prospered us.
Why were they to say this when they brought their basket of firstfruits?
They didn’t need to grudge bringing the basket of firstfruits to God because they were reminded of all that he had done for them.
This recitation helped them to remember what God had done for them. They told their story. During the Lenten Season what is the history of your relationship with God? What is your story? We need to share our story with someone this week.
Our story may be similar to these people or to David in Psalm 40:1,2 “I waited patiently for the Lord and he heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
He also stated, “[He] redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and good things...” (Psalm 103:4,5).
Solomon said in I Kings 8:56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”
When you think of it this way, wouldn’t we WANT to give of ourselves and of everything we can back to Him?
3. Give God the Best: What does this say about our giving? The farmer back then may have said, “I better keep the best seed for myself. Giving God the best says that we TRUST GOD. The farmer doesn’t know FOR SURE if more will grow, but he trusts God believing that if God gave THIS MUCH, God will provide MORE in the future.
“Give God YOUR BEST; expect HIS BEST.”
If we give God just the bare minimum, that doesn’t take much faith. Give to God your very best even if it stretches your faith.
If you were giving your best to God, what would it be? What would you consider to be your very best? What would your best look like?
CONCLUSION: Has God fulfilled His part of the bargain when you gave him your very best?
God promised to be with you. Did He?
to deliver you from whatever bound you. Did He?
to teach you how to live abundantly. Did He?
Are your vows a testimony to God’s blessings to you? Are they meaningful vows that connect with your whole life and vows that give God the best of your lives?
LET US PRAY:
