(Editor's Note: In the fall, churches spend some time on "Stewardship." Often, people associate stewardship with the annual appeal for pledges of money for the New Year. While this is a part of it, stewardship is much broader than this. In this, and the next issue of Ebb & Flow, I will share four aspects of stewardship as found in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures - this month, a reflection on "First Fruits" and "The Faithful Steward." I hope that these reflections will be of help to you in your deepening understanding of Christian discipleship.)

In Numbers we read: "On the day of the first-fruits, when you make your offering of new fruits to Yahweh at your Feast of Weeks, you are to hold a solemn assembly; you must do no laborious work. You must offer as a holocaust, an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh …" Numbers 28:26-27

In Proverbs we read: "Honor Yahweh with what goods you have and with the first fruits of all your returns; then your barns will be filled with wheat, your vats overflowing with new wine …" Proverbs 3:9-10.

These agricultural images are often hard for urban people to understand but what is clearly required here is that those who till the land, offer to God their best. The first fruit is usually the best of the crop. They have been better cared for, more carefully nurtured, loved and watched over. They are harvested more carefully and are tastier than that which was harvested later. Giving the first fruit was risky because the later harvest might not be as good or as plentiful as hoped for. But offering to God the first fruit of the harvest was to honor God with the best that we have.

Turning to the New Testament, St. Paul in Romans writes of God's first fruit gift to us: "From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth, and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free …" Roman 8:22-23.

And although Jesus does not mention first fruits directly, that is clearly what is implied in his brief conversation in Matthew with one who would follow: "Another man, one of his disciples, said to him: "Sir, let me go and bury my father first. ‘But Jesus replied: ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead." Mathew 8:21-22.

To us, Jesus sounds unreasonable and harsh but what is being said is simply that the most important things in life belong to God first. Human concerns about social propriety and family obligation are secondary to the Call of God.

These four passages – the two Old Testament ones which speak of giving to God the best of the fruit of the harvest – or the New Testament readings – Paul who witnessed to God giving the best of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of the world's redemption or Jesus, radically asking for the first allegiance – all hold up the ideal that in our relationship to God, what is required is that we offer back to the God who gives us the best, our best in return.

This requirement should make giving for us, as Christians, a time of great decision. Two questions press upon us: First, what is our "first fruit", our best? This question is a crucial one about our common life lived in the community of the church. If you respond to an invitation to serve in the church, do you simply agree to give of your time to meet the need or do you carefully think about where your true talents lie, the type of thing you are truly best at, and then come forward to offer that gift? How refreshing it would be in the life of this congregation if people could claim their gifts and offer to serve out of their gifts rather than their guilt or obligation.

And when we are engaged in ministry, do we offer our best, most creative time or what's left over? For those who teach church school, for example, do you plan your lesson plan in the early morning when you are fresh and most creative (if you are a morning person, that is!) or late night Saturday night, when you are tired but panicked? (This observation goes for those who preach as well. I have heard for years how the Holy Spirit works remarkably at midnight on Saturday night for those scheduled to preach on Sunday morning. The result, at times, frankly sounds more like the spirit of self-delusion…)

When we pray or meditate, do we do so in the early morning when we are fresh, even if that means getting up earlier or going to bed earlier the night before?

When we give to the poor and needy, do we go through our closets and those things we no longer want, no longer need or no longer can fit into, we donate? Those who work in thrift stores will tell you that some of those things donated, by necessity, are quickly discarded. What would it mean to donate not our discards to God's poor but rather to give our best suit or dress? There is a world of difference between donating and giving in the life of a disciple.

Giving to God, in all ways, is to offer our best.

Second, how do I divide my best? We live in a world of competing allegiances. Work, family, children, volunteer organizations; all want our best. For most of us, we respond to these competing demands for our best time, best effort, best energy and creativity; poorly. We feel ourselves pushed and pulled and nearly exhausted by the effort of juggling all of these demands often responding to that which is most immediate or most insistent rather than that which is most precious and sacred.

The call of God to offer to God our first fruits in our giving means that for you, as a Christian, commitments are made in the light of the fact that a life committed to God first, will be disciplined in making other commitments.

Putting God first will mean saying no to other things and other people when their needs or demands conflict with your commitment to the things of God – that is the moment of witnessing.