First Fruits
October 12, 2008
Ms. Brita Knippel Hansen
Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
{ “Faith is anchored in history. History helps to give stability and explanation.”}
Deuteronomy 26 1-11: 1 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5 you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
First Fruits
In our reading from Deuteronomy today, we heard a creed that was recited at the festival of First Fruits. The creed begins in Verse 5, and even though many of us here cannot trace our family lines back to those of an Aramean, or a Syrian, our Faith is anchored in our History, the story of hardship in Egypt and the deliverance into the Promise Land, by the gracious hand of God, it is a story that is ours, and helps us to define our faith. I read from the New Revised Standard Version today, and in this translation, we hear the word ‘wandering’ or sometimes it is translated as ‘straying,’ when describing our ancestors. If we look at the meaning in Hebrew, the more complete translation encompasses a little bit more. It means wandering, but then pushes into the idea of perishing, dying, life threatening. So if we read it again:
A perishing Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt…..
Part of our history is that our ancestors almost didn’t make it. WE almost didn’t make it.
But when we prayed, we cried. Our arms felt as though we were carrying the heaviest of stones, a cumbersome weighty-burden, we were close to death, we were nearly perishing, and we prayed, and God answered. Can you imagine God lifting the heavy stone right out of our weary arms? Has God ever lifted the heavy stone out of your arms? God then provided us with a fruitful promised land, where we are not only sustained…but we are pampered.
The food that would have been eaten at this time would have been basic. Any dairy consumed from our goats would be in the form of curdy-cheese. But here…..in this time of Grace and Love… God gives Milk + Honey. Not just sustenance-- but dotes on the Hebrew People like a Lover with sweet-tasting gifts. A chosen people, and a chosen land. We are restored and nourished in faith, hope is renewed and we drink milk and honey.
All LOVE needs MORE than the bare-minimum amount of care to survive. In order for Love to grow, one must share something special, do something extra, show that one is set-apart.
The Hebrew word for Holy, really translates to “set apart.” God responds to the cries of the perishing by setting them apart and nourishing them, and what do we do in response? Are we called to think of the strong loving relational elements alive in the very word ‘HOLY?’ SET –APART?
In our Presbyterian Culture, we often say our creeds in a rhythmic and orderly fashion. We say them affirmatively. But, I am asking you to contemplate the living loving relationship with God,that is behind each word of a creed.
Our ancestors (chosen and in the promise land) enjoying rich bounty of harvest, with Milk + Honey, decide that the first fruits will be offered at the altar for God. Like our ancestors, we give our first fruits. We give because we have received so much, we give out of Love because we feel Loved. We give our precious first fruits, because we were spoiled with rich offerings from God. In a way, WE ARE first fruits. We were saved, and we are part of God’s harvest, we were created ex nihilio, out of nothing, because God wanted us. And when we make an offering of money, or help, of assistance…..when we tithe, when we ‘SET-APART,’ when we offer care and stewardship to that which is bestowed to us, we are offering OUR first fruits.
Meaning, “the good stuff”
we are called to share some MEAT, not just the FAT.
We are called to SHARE precious time, not just the time that we can make-do.
We are called to use our VOICE, when oppressed have no voice that will be heard.
We are called to SET-APART.
We, the first-fruits harvested from the promise land, are offering-up who we are, who we are called to be, when we put OUR first fruits at God’s altar.
AMEN.
Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
{ “Faith is anchored in history. History helps to give stability and explanation.”}
Deuteronomy 26 1-11: 1 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5 you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
First Fruits
In our reading from Deuteronomy today, we heard a creed that was recited at the festival of First Fruits. The creed begins in Verse 5, and even though many of us here cannot trace our family lines back to those of an Aramean, or a Syrian, our Faith is anchored in our History, the story of hardship in Egypt and the deliverance into the Promise Land, by the gracious hand of God, it is a story that is ours, and helps us to define our faith. I read from the New Revised Standard Version today, and in this translation, we hear the word ‘wandering’ or sometimes it is translated as ‘straying,’ when describing our ancestors. If we look at the meaning in Hebrew, the more complete translation encompasses a little bit more. It means wandering, but then pushes into the idea of perishing, dying, life threatening. So if we read it again:
A perishing Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt…..
Part of our history is that our ancestors almost didn’t make it. WE almost didn’t make it.
But when we prayed, we cried. Our arms felt as though we were carrying the heaviest of stones, a cumbersome weighty-burden, we were close to death, we were nearly perishing, and we prayed, and God answered. Can you imagine God lifting the heavy stone right out of our weary arms? Has God ever lifted the heavy stone out of your arms? God then provided us with a fruitful promised land, where we are not only sustained…but we are pampered.
The food that would have been eaten at this time would have been basic. Any dairy consumed from our goats would be in the form of curdy-cheese. But here…..in this time of Grace and Love… God gives Milk + Honey. Not just sustenance-- but dotes on the Hebrew People like a Lover with sweet-tasting gifts. A chosen people, and a chosen land. We are restored and nourished in faith, hope is renewed and we drink milk and honey.
All LOVE needs MORE than the bare-minimum amount of care to survive. In order for Love to grow, one must share something special, do something extra, show that one is set-apart.
The Hebrew word for Holy, really translates to “set apart.” God responds to the cries of the perishing by setting them apart and nourishing them, and what do we do in response? Are we called to think of the strong loving relational elements alive in the very word ‘HOLY?’ SET –APART?
In our Presbyterian Culture, we often say our creeds in a rhythmic and orderly fashion. We say them affirmatively. But, I am asking you to contemplate the living loving relationship with God,that is behind each word of a creed.
Our ancestors (chosen and in the promise land) enjoying rich bounty of harvest, with Milk + Honey, decide that the first fruits will be offered at the altar for God. Like our ancestors, we give our first fruits. We give because we have received so much, we give out of Love because we feel Loved. We give our precious first fruits, because we were spoiled with rich offerings from God. In a way, WE ARE first fruits. We were saved, and we are part of God’s harvest, we were created ex nihilio, out of nothing, because God wanted us. And when we make an offering of money, or help, of assistance…..when we tithe, when we ‘SET-APART,’ when we offer care and stewardship to that which is bestowed to us, we are offering OUR first fruits.
Meaning, “the good stuff”
we are called to share some MEAT, not just the FAT.
We are called to SHARE precious time, not just the time that we can make-do.
We are called to use our VOICE, when oppressed have no voice that will be heard.
We are called to SET-APART.
We, the first-fruits harvested from the promise land, are offering-up who we are, who we are called to be, when we put OUR first fruits at God’s altar.
AMEN.