First Fruits (Lammas Sunday)

First Fruits
Homily delivered the Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost (Lammastide Sunday)

(Proper 13; Year C RCL)

The Rev. Dr. Anthony A. Hutchinson
31 July2016; 8:00 a.m. Said and 10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
Parish Church of Trinity, Ashland (Oregon)
Readings:  Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

God, take away our hearts of stone
 and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

The readings in today’s lectionary all talk about where we put our trust.  Qohelet or Ecclessiastes says that no matter what we try to do to make meaning of our life, it is useless.  Make money, seek learning, go after pleasure—even get cynical—it is all useless.  The Psalm says this is because we all end up dying like the beasts anyway.  St. Paul says that the only hope we have is setting our hearts on the things that are above and not on earthly things.  By taking on the life of the risen Lord and putting to death things in our life that detract, we can share Christ’s life. 

And then there’s the Gospel reading.  Jesus tells a parable about living, saving up wealth, and dying.  A rich farmer, apparently a prudent, smart person who thinks strategically and plans for the future, is suddenly taken by death.   Jesus calls him a “fool.” 

Today is Lammastide Sunday, a celebration in the Church of England. In the ancient calendar, August 1 celebrated the first fruits of the season’s harvest, just beginning.  “Lammas” comes from “Loaf Mass,” because bread made from the spring wheat harvest was offered in thanks for the harvest to come.  The tradition reflected the Offering of the First Fruits, as well as the Thank and Heave Offerings, in the Hebrew Scriptures. 

It is right that these readings, all in one way or another about how we use the harvest of the fruit of our labor, fall on this day.   

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up treasures in heaven.  … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Note: the heart here follows where we put the fruit of our labor, not vice versa.  He also says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food? And the body more than clothing?” He points to birds and wildflowers as an example of how well God feeds and clothes his creatures, says that there is thus no need for striving for food and clothing, and then adds, “Your Heavenly Father knows all that you need” and he is good.  Thus, “work first for God’s Reign and the justice it demands, and God will make sure you get what you need” (Matt. 6:19-33). 

Here is the key to understanding today’s passages.  They do not mean give up on work and enjoying the fruits of your labor.  They do not mean that we only have to concern ourselves with the life to come and can ignore the demands of this life.   Rather, it is a question of priorities, of what we put first.  The Proverbs, talking about what it means to trust God, say, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your produce” (Prov. 3:9).   Jesus puts it this way, “Seek first the Reign of God and its justice, and everything else will take care of itself.”  Where you put your treasure, where you put your labor, that’s where your heart will be. 

This touches on the heart of how we approach giving our time, talent, and wealth, to help make the Reign of God present here.  If our giving is an afterthought, it is not our priority.  It is not first fruits.   If our giving is done in a calculated fashion—how much do I give so as not to feel shame or embarrassment from others, or how much can I give without having to curtail other things in my life that I enjoy—then the spiritual blessing coming from “having our minds set on things that are above” is not operative.  Elsewhere, Jesus compares rich men giving large sums to the temple treasury and a poor widow who gives a pittance: they give very little of their abundance, while she has given her all, what she needs to barely get by.   While probably a critique of the Temple Treasury’s role in oppressing the poor, this story expresses a deep spiritual truth. 

It echoes the parable of the Pharisee and the Sinner who go to pray:  the one talks all about how great he is, and the other just beats his breast and says he’s sorry.  “The sinner went down from the Temple that day closer to God, the Pharisee not so much.”  

Our giving, both in time or wealth, must be given priority over other concerns if it is to have the spiritual effect of making us closer to God.  It is like prayer:  done for the wrong reasons, it just does not make the power of God alive in your life.  Pray for show, give for show, and you already have your reward—others have noticed.   Give to ease your conscience, you have your reward—you feel OK about yourself for a while. 

Making our gifts thank offerings, making them sacrifices of first fruits—this is what Jesus means when he says “where you put your treasure, your heart will follow.”  This is what Paul means when he says stop thinking about things earthly, here below, and start living in the Resurrected Christ above.   

Jesus suggests in many, many places that the true way is not the path of a spiritual superman. God’s banquet is set for all people, not just for a few chosen ones.   “Being rich for God” or “storing up treasures in heaven” for Jesus is not another struggle, not a way of forcing ourselves to conform to God’s rules or a pledge drive’s drum roll, not a way showing how good we are as compared to other people. 

Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Other religious people of the day criticized him regularly for being too lax in his expectations of his followers.  And he regularly told his followers to rejoice, and had lots of parties with them.

Jesus also says that the door into the kingdom is narrow and the way to life is a tight fit.  “Go in at the narrow door; for the door is wide and the path is easy to leads to losing your soul.  Many people go in there and do not come out.  The door is narrow and the path is tight that leads to life.  At any given time, there are only few who can manage it.” (Matt. 713-14, paraphrased).  Jesus’ point is that there is no room there to take extra baggage.  If our hearts are set on other things, we simply will not be able to squeeze through.   

In two months, in October, we will be holding our annual pledge drive.  In order to balance budgets and pay the bills we incur to make our ministries at Trinity work, we need to plan ahead and make commitments of giving for the coming year.  But we must not confuse this with simply balancing books, or view it as a funding drive to show us how we can contribute to good causes.  The main reason the Episcopal Church has established the biblical tithe, giving ten percent of our income to the Church, as the standard of giving for all, is not to balance books.  It is to encourage us all to practice a rule of life that will give us deep spiritual blessing.  Malachi says, “Bring the whole tithe into the Temple treasury, … and I will pour down upon you blessing without measure!”   Though some passages seem to think that this will be blessings of material wealth, I don’t believe in the prosperity gospel preached by some.  There is no magic formula for prosperity here.   In light of today’s readings, we see that what is at issue is our spiritual state, and how we perceive need and abundance. 

The spirituality of giving, the spirituality of stewardship, is year round, and far deeper than mere fund raising.   Are we putting the Kingdom first?  Are we letting first things be first, take priority?  Are we offering sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and giving our very best?

If not, the spiritual blessings Jesus promises here evaporate.  Our heart must be set on things that are above, upon God.  The way to life, being rich with God, the narrow and tight path—all these describe a right relationship with God, and with it, a right relationship with ourselves and others, a right relationship with what we call “our” things.  In this, there is no room for illusion, fantasy, or calculation.  There is no room for letting our fears and anxieties run rampant and blot out the table of plenty set before us.   There is room only for acceptance, thanksgiving, humble service and compassion, and grateful openness to the life from on high God is offering us here and now.  This is the spiritual basis of all proper stewardship, of all properly conceived rules of life. 

Let us offer to God the first fruits of our labors.  Let us offer to God a thank offering, a heave offering thrown up for God to dispose not as we, but as God chooses.  And may our hearts follow, to be with Christ and God above, where all is abundance and every tear is wiped dry. 

In the name of God,  Amen.