A Dozen Doughnuts - James 1:17-18
Setting:
Person sitting at a table, doing some work, having a cup of coffee.
Enter:
Another person carrying a box of donuts.
Walks up to the table and sets the box of donuts on the table and gently
pushes them over to the person at the table.
Person at the table slowly looks up.
Lee: What is this?
Dale: Donuts.
Lee: Okay?
Dale: Go ahead.
Lee skeptically lifts the lid and looks at the
donuts.
Lee: I can have one?
Dale: You can have them all.
Lee: These are for me?
Dale: Yeah.
Lee: Really?
Dale: Yeah.
Lee: Why?
Dale: I don’t know.
You just looked hungry.
Lee takes out a donut and takes a bite.
Lee: That is a good donut.
Lee takes another couple of bites.
Dale: Well, I’ve got to hit the road. Do you mind if I just take one for the road?
Lee kind of looks thoughtfully at the box and
at the guy.
Lee: Aaahhmm.
Dale: Just one.
Lee: Well, I am really hungry, and I missed
breakfast this morning.
Lee takes another bite of donut.
Lee: Probably going to miss lunch too. And I was going to take this home to my wife
and kids.
Lee pulls the box of donuts closer in, kind of
protectively hovering over them.
Lee: Really, to be honest, they have to last me
the whole week.
Lee
finishes off first donut…then opens up the box, looks around, takes out another
donut, and takes a bite.
What is this? Donuts!
Some of you may have some questions after this skit. What does it have to do with worship
today? Or simply, can I have a donut?
The answer to those questions is: Everything, Everything,
and there’s too many of us to divide the other ten donuts, even if we could pry
them away from Lee.
Take a moment to stop and think about this skit for a few
minutes.
Did the person at the table ask anyone for donuts? No.
Did he order the donuts?
No.
Did he even expect the donuts? No.
Did he pay for the donuts?
No.
So, I guess we could call the donuts a gift, right? Yes.
James says, “Every generous act of giving, with every
perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change.
In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth,
so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
“Every generous act of giving…every perfect gift, is from
above…” Everything we have, every
blessing we incur, is a gift from God…a gift freely given to us. God gave us the gift of this world, the gift
of life, the gift of love, the gift of salvation. Our abilities and talents…our jobs…our
income…our homes…our families…all come as a gift from God. There is nothing that we can truly say we
earned or deserved. It is all a gift,
and none of it truly belongs to us. God
gives them to us for our pleasure, our enjoyment, our sustenance…like the guy
giving donuts to the person at the table…just because he thought the other
might be hungry and might enjoy a doughnut.
Knowing this, what do we do with what God has given us? Do we forget that it was freely given to us
and try to take complete ownership of it?
When the one who gives it to us, asks for a portion of it back, what do
we do? When we consider the
contributions needed to do the work of God in our community, what is our
response? Are we like the guy who
received the box of doughnuts? Do we have
all these excuses as to why we can’t give to God?
Do we tell God that, although you’ve blessed me in this way
I really need to keep all of what you’ve given me because we didn’t have a
chance to eat breakfast and probably will miss the lunch? Do we try and convince God that we can’t give
today because we disregarded his earlier blessings and we might ignore the
later ones?
Do we tell God that although you’ve blessed me in this way,
I really need to keep all of what you’ve given me to take care of my wife and
kids? Do we tell God, you’ve taken care
of me, but you might not take care of my family, so I need to hold on to it?
Do we tell God that although you’ve blessed me in this way,
I really need to keep all of what you’ve given me, because it has to last me
all week? Do we hold on to what God has
given us because we’re afraid that He won’t bless us tomorrow?
The truth of the matter is, my brothers and sisters, that if
we would use any of those doughnut excuses to not give to God out of what He
has given to us, then there’s a hole in our reasoning. Either we don’t give because we truly believe
those excuses and we don’t trust God, or we don’t give because we are truly
selfish and don’t think of anyone but ourselves.
When we realize that all that we have and all that we are
all comes from God, then we can trust that just as He has blessed us and met
our needs, as in providing food for those when they are hungry, then we can
freely return to Him what is rightfully His, trusting that God will continue to
provide for us. When we realize that
what we have does not truly belong to us, but actually belongs to God, then we
can drop the selfishness, because there is nothing to be selfish over.
If all that we have is from God, and He has given it to us,
why should we have to give it back to Him?
God asks us to return to him a portion of what He has given us for a
multitude of reasons…
1) It is an act of obedience…God tells us to give back to
him a portion of what He has given us…and so simply because He is God and we
are not, we should do what he asks.
2) It is an act of
trusting in God…God gives us what we need, and if we give it back, it is a sign
that we trust Him to continue to provide for us.
3) It is an act of
gratitude…we return to God a portion of what He has given us to show us how
thankful we are for the abundance He has placed in our lives.
And while there are many more, the final one I mention for
us to consider this morning, comes from our reading this morning, is that we
give out of our blessings from God, so that we may be a blessing to others.
“Where does it say that?” you may ask. James writes, “In fulfillment of his own
purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind
of first fruits of his creatures. What
does this mean?
What is God’s purpose?
We see that in Christ, God’s purpose is to love, to redeem, to
save.
God gave us new birth by the word of truth…the word of truth
is Christ, Himself…the Word become flesh.
God has given us new life through Christ so that we would become a kind
of first fruits of his creatures.
“First fruits” are the Hebrew Scripture language of giving
and offering to God. God’s Law required
that the “first fruits” were to be brought to God as an offering. It meant that God’s people were to offer
their first and best to God…the first fruits were the first born of the
children (particularly the sons), they were the first of the crops harvested,
they were the first of the livestock given birth to…the “first fruits” were the
best of the best…and were given to God first, before provision for oneself. “First fruits” were seen as a blessing…and as
we move into the New Testament, we see that idea continued as Christ is
referred to repeatedly as the “first fruit,” that which God has offered forward
for the salvation of the world.
So when James says that God intends us to be “a kind of first
fruits of his creatures,” God is saying that we are meant to be the best of
creation…we are to be a blessing…we are to be part of the salvation process for
the world. God gives us every perfect
gift that we may be a gift offering to the world…we’re blessed to be a
blessing.
It is through our giving that God feeds the hungry…it is
through our giving that God gives drink to the thirsty…it is through our giving
that God gives shelter to the homeless…it is through our giving that God
clothes the naked…it is through our giving that God heals the sick…it is
through our giving that God spreads the Good News of Salvation through the
world…it is through our giving of what God has given us that we become the
first fruits of all His creatures…and when we do that, like the perfect shape
of a donut, we complete the circle of blessing.
And to be clear, what we are giving back to God is not just
our finances. As I mentioned earlier, everything
we have and everything we are is a gift from God. Our finances are a gift…but so is our
time…every moment, ever second we have, is a gift from God. What we are able to do, our talents, our
abilities, our skills, they come as a gift from God.
When we consider what we are giving to God—it is about
offering back to God what is in our wallets; it is about offering back to God
the hours he has given in our watches and the days he has given us on our
calendars; it is about offering back to God the gifts, talents, and abilities
he has bestowed upon us, returning them in service to Him. And it is not an either/or decision—it is not
about placing a whole lot in the collection plate so we don’t have to worry
about offering our time and talents in hands on service. It is not about serving in order that we
don’t have to put anything in as the ushers come by. It is about returning to God every aspect of
blessing that He has bestowed upon us.
In the coming weeks, we will each have the opportunity to
make commitments to return to God what He has blessed us with.
We will each receive in the mail an estimate of giving
card. This card asks for us to prayerful
consider making a financial commitment to this congregation to further and
strengthen its ministries here, across the Island, and throughout the
world. It will also ask for a commitment
to be in prayer for our congregation. We
ask that individuals and their families prayer over these commitments and bring
them back on November 19th to be prayed over by the entire
congregation.
There will also be opportunities to offer back to God our
time and our gifts. In the next few
weeks, there will be sign-ups posted by my office. They will present an opportunity for our
young folks to commit to times of service as an acolyte, and for our youth and
adults to commit to serving as a liturgist, reading Scripture and assisting in
worship. There will also be an opportunity
for folks to sign-up to assist with serving Holy Communion. If I’m not mistaken, Brother Lee will soon
present an opportunity for individuals, families, or groups to sign-up to offer
the gift of our fellowship breakfasts for the coming year.
Each of these commitments are to be prayerfully made and
kept by the power and presence of the God who continues to bless us each and
every day…the God who readily said, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,
so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the
Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the widows of heaven for you and pour
down for you and overflow blessing.”[i]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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