First Fruits: It's Personal

from my first fruits stewardship series, from Feb. 9, 2014, from I Cor. 15:20-23

Belongings...or belonging....which would you rather have?

Every morning I get up early, I sit in my chair with the Bible and the Daily Disciplines.  I stay with the scriptures till I get my prayer verse for the day.  The Daily Disciplines have a short devotional for each day.  This past week, Jerry Haas was talking about a teaching mission to Mozimbique in 2001.  He was part of a team from the Bd. of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church.  These rich, mostly white American Christians were going to one of the poorest countries in the world, in the southern part of Africa.  The flight was long and hard.  The team arrived in the village in Mozimbique tired and cranky.  They were met with smiles, singing and dancing.  Jerry says, "our faith was put to shame. We came with our full suitcases and weary bodies.  They walked for days with nothing in their hands but their faith."  At worship, Pat, one of the team got up to preach.  What could she possibly say?  She said, "We have great wealth, but we lack your joy.  True wealth comes in relationships."

What would rather have....belongings ...or belonging?  For followers of Christ, it is personal.  We belong to Him.

Our key verse for these weeks has been Proverbs 3:9, Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce.  We remember that the whole crop belongs to the Lord.  We give the first in time and the first in quality back to God to acknowledge that all we have belongs to God.

Our scripture for today takes a new direction.  Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead.  All who belong to Him will be raised like him.  He is the promise of God that the whole harvest of souls belongs to God.  If he has been raised, then we will be also.  We can count on his promises.

Do any of you have any stocks...any mutual funds?  How have those done this first month of January, 2014?  Are they down, 5%, 7%, 10%?  I am glad that God's promises are sure, that they don't fluctuate.

On your death bed, which would you rather be covered by....certificates of deposit....or the prayers of the faith community?  Which would you rather be surrounded by....stocks and bonds...or your family and friends?

Which would rather have....belongings or belonging?  It's personal.  We belong to Christ. Our hope is in Him and His resurrection.

That hope is found in community here and now.  You have heard the phrase, "Your money is no good here."  I once knew a women here in Austin, a writer for Texas Monthly magazine.  This was years ago, back when the Soviet Union still existed and was just beginning to open its borders.  This women got a last minute invitation to see some rare icons at a church or museum. She left in a hurry.  She arrived just in time to stand in line with all of the bubushkas who spent all of their time standing in line to find bread or sugar or whatever was available.  She finally got to the entrance.  They would take her credit card or her check or her American dollars.  Here she was, having travelled all of this way, to be denied entrance because she didn't have the right currency.  The women around here, out of their poverty, gave all they had, their rubles, to let the American woman in.

It's personal.  We belong to Christ and His community.

We find that resurrection hope begins right here and now in worship.  I went very unwillingly to a meeting yesterday in San Antonio.  I don't like church meetings on Saturday, that's my day off.  This one had some positives.  It was like a reunion for me.  This young woman came up to me.  "You baptized me.  Now I am a delegate to the conference."  "You performed our marriage.  We are now retired to Kerrville."  Another positive was that the Southwest Texas Conference united with the Rio Grande Conference to form a new Rio Texas Conference.  Our primarily white, English-speaking conference joined with our primarily Hispanic/Latino, Spanish-speaking conference.  An historic event.

And our bishop, Jim Dorff, can preach.  He told the story of the time he led a mission trip to the Appalachian Mountains to do home repair, when he first started in ministry.  There were some 70 people involved, with a bus, trucks, and vans.  The work went well.  He was trying to have all of the jobs finished by Friday, 11:30 a.m., so they could load up and be gone by 1 p.m.  One group of youth asked, "Can we do a Bible study with prayer for the 2 women whose house we worked on?"  "Yes, just be through by 11:30 a.m."  That Friday morning, it started to rain.  Jim got anxious.  The roads back up in the hollers were dirt and rugged. He was scurrying around, trying to get everyone loaded up, so they wouldn't be stuck up in the mountains.  He couldn't find them.  He went to the house where the 2 women lived.  The work on the porch had been finished.  He knocked on the door.  All of the youth were inside.  They made him take off his muddy boots.  They were having Bible study, prayer, and worship.  They got it right.  What really matters is relationship.  Not belongings, but belonging.  Thank you youth and children for helping us keep our priorities straight.

It's personal.

I close with some words of wisdom from some scholars of 50 years ago.  You may have heard of them, as Ed Sullivan said on his Sunday night show, 50 years ago, "The Beatles."  Remember what they said, "I don't care too much for money....money can't buy me love."

It's personal.  That's the good news I have to share.