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October 20, 2019

First Fruits Giving - Our Possessions

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Series: First Fruits Giving - Fall 2019 Stewardship Series Category: Biblical Scripture: Genesis 32:22–32

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Week 3 of Fall Stewardship Series

October 19-20, 2019

Genesis 32:22-32

 “First Fruits Giving: Our Possessions”

Do you know who this person is? If you don’t, meet Marie Kondo, who is an expert in “tidying up.” Her mission in life is to help people get themselves, their homes, and their lives organized. In her own words: “I love messy.” Her system is called the Konmari method, and she has written four bestselling books. She’s a tiny person (only 4’7” tall), and is from Japan. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and her Netflix series, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” debuted here in this country earlier this year. She is now a household name and is off-the-charts popular. The gist of her method is to get all your possessions, one category at a time, and sift through them, determining what to keep and what to give away by what “sparks joy.” If the shirt, or the book, or the whatever doesn’t “spark joy” for you, it’s time to let that object go and move on in life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Kondo). If you haven’t seen Marie Kondo on Netflix, check it out. You might just get inspired to do some “tidying up” at your own house. So why is Marie Kondo and “tidying up” so hugely popular? The short answer is that most of us have way too much stuff in our lives. This person and her message have hit a nerve in our culture because our possessions have come to own us rather than the other way around. Our closets, our basements, our garages – they’re all filled with boxes of things that we don’t even know that we have. We’ve forgotten about what’s in all those boxes because we haven’t used the stuff in them for years. Today we begin Week #3 of our Fall Stewardship series, “First Fruits Giving,” and we focus on “Our Possessions.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

By way of review, this stewardship series is based on the Offertory Prayer that we’ve been using in worship: Merciful Father, we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us: our selves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love. Receive them for the sake of him who offered himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We began this series two weeks ago as we focused on First Fruits Giving: Our Selves. Last week, we focused on First Fruits Giving: Our Time. And now today we focus on First Fruits Giving: Our Possessions. This is not about the leftovers of our lives. It’s about what is first and best; the first fruits. The Lord God gave to us what is first and best: the life of his only Son, Jesus. He freely offered him up as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. In response to God’s redeeming love, we are moved to offer up to God all that we are and have – our selves, our time, and our possessions. This is not a “got to,” but a “get to.” Our motivation in offering to God the first fruits of our lives is not done because of guilt or fear, but from a spirit of joy and thanksgiving.

Today’s Old Testament lesson points us to someone who had great possessions: Jacob, son of Isaac, and grandson of Abraham. Jacob himself became the father of sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 48-49). Before we can understand what the Old Testament lesson is about, we need to understand the backstory. Jacob had tricked his twin brother, Esau, out of his inheritance as the firstborn, with his mother, Rebekah’s, help. Jacob then leaves home to live and work with his mother’s family. He needed to get away because Esau was planning to kill him, but also to find a wife from among his own people (Genesis 27-28). Jacob left home with only the staff in his hand, but the Lord prospered him, and some twenty years later he was directed by the Lord to return home (Genesis 31:1-3). His prosperity was measured in the vast flocks of sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, and camels, as well as servants and family. Without question, Jacob had been immeasurably blessed with material possessions. But he was edgy and uncertain because he was going home to take care of unfinished family business. He had to face his brother after all these years. As we know from our own experience in life, all the material goods and possessions in the world cannot buy love and forgiveness, even within our own families. People tend to have very long memories when they feel they’ve been wronged. The night before Jacob was to meet Esau, there was this all-night struggle between Jacob and the heavenly being. And just who was this heavenly being: angelic messenger? Something else? We are given some indicators here: “… you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28b), and “… I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered” (Genesis 32:30b). Jacob wrestled with the Lord God! In our own lives, we may know what it’s like to wrestle with God as we engage in prayer and discernment over something in our lives that weighs heavily upon us. Following Jacob’s all-night wrestling match with God, we read that Jacob received a new name. Scripture records that people’s names were changed at critical times. As God called them to a new calling in life, they received a new identity – a new name: Abram (exalted father) becomes Abraham (father of many – Genesis 17:5); Simon becomes Peter (rock – Matthew 16:16-19); Saul becomes Paul (Acts 13:9). So Jacob (“he who supplants”) becomes Israel (“he who strives with God”).

Despite his many possessions, Jacob was, like all of us, a sinful human being in need of redemption. Jacob’s vast flocks and his many possessions could not save him from sin and death, and neither can ours. As the old saying goes, “You can’t take it with you.” When we leave this world, we leave all the stuff of this world behind. “We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:7). The only thing that we take with us – the only thing that matters – is faith in the One who is Jacob’s descendent but also Jacob’s Lord: Jesus, Son of God and Son of man (Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34). It is Jesus who suffered, died and rose in triumph over sin and death and hell. When all of our treasured possessions have lost their value, worn out, or faded into obscurity, Jesus alone is our true and lasting treasure as he himself tells us: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Sometimes we mistakenly think that the more possessions we have, the more we are loved and blessed by God. Conversely, the less we have, the less we are loved and blessed by God. That is indeed mistaken thinking. We equate outward prosperity with God’s love and blessing. It goes without saying that we need things like a home, a job, and financial means to support ourselves and our family. Where these are lacking in life, “we are to do good to all people, but especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Whether we have many possessions like Jacob, or whether we have few, for the child of God we see these as things to be used not just for our personal enjoyment and pleasure, but for the glory of God and for the good of others. The question for us is this: How can these material goods be harnessed for the kingdom of God? We may need guidance and help to discern what this could look like in each of our lives. Such guidance and help is readily available from helpers and agencies in our congregation and church body. Next weekend in each of our worship services, we will bring our commitments for ministry in 2020 to the Lord’s altar. By the power of the Holy Spirit, this will be a first fruits offering of our selves, our time, and our possessions that we bring to the Lord from thankful hearts. May the Lord be honored and glorified through this so that when the Son of Man comes, he may indeed find faith on earth (Luke 18:8); faith that is burning brightly, shining with the love of Jesus. Amen.