Firstfruits

 

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, when you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.” (Leviticus 23:9-13 ESV).  

 

The things we “donate” often reveal more about us than we might expect. I’m certain you are familiar with how some “thrift stores” work. Places like Goodwill receive many of the items we either no longer need or want in the hope of being able to resell or recycle them to convert them into cash for helping support their many ministries to the indigent and needy. However, there has been a growing problem with many of these donations. While they do recycle lots of what it can't sell, last year, it threw away more than 13 million pounds of waste, technically other people's garbage, just in our local area. Along with simply being gross, these items cost Goodwill money. All this trash adds up to more than one million dollars annually in a trash bill. And that's just for the stores in our area. Unfortunately this story can be repeated in every church or non-profit organization.

 

I remember well the telephone call from a church member many years ago asking me if the church could use another piano. My first reaction was how generous this offer was. At least that was the case until she said, “I’ve got an old upright piano that no longer works. The keys are missing most of the ivory on the keys and some of the strings have broken. And, you’ll need to get another stool. That still works and I like to use it when I’m doing my crafting.” In those early days, I was a bit more direct than I am now. I have learned some subtlety as I’ve aged. I said, “What make you think the Lord wants your junk? If you just need someone to haul it to the dump, I’ll be happy to swing by with some of the men from the church and do that, but please don’t think of it as a gift to the church.” She was unhappy with my response, though willing for us to do this service for her. I certainly admit I could have said that better, but the truth is still there.

 

This emphasis of the Scripture is on giving God our best. While our reading comes from the Old Testament Law, the principle of giving our best wasn’t just for the Israelites. God wants us to worship Him with our best as well. Now, before you think I’m winding up to a discourse on financial support, let me be quick and clear. Giving our best is not about how much we give or how fancy our church is. Man focuses on the size of a gift, but God cares about the heart behind it (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7). When we give God our first and our best, not our leftovers, it shows that we trust Him and value Him above all else. After all, we can never out give God. He gave His only begotten Son for us.