Firstfruits

The Spiritual Waiting Room

 

Firstfruits

Pure     Undefiled

Offering     Harvesting    Planting

Begat By The Truth

Doers

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   James 1: 17 to 18; 21b to 22; 27

Dearest sisters and brothers: All good giving and every wonderful gift is from above, coming to us from the Father of Light, with whom there is no alteration or shadow brought on by change.

God willed to bring us to new life by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of God's creatures.

Welcome the word humbly that has been planted in you and is able to bring you to salvation.

Be doers of the word and not just hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God consists of this: to care for orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself untainted by the world.

Reflection

We learn from the Letter of James that God has gifted us. 

God has shared truth with us.

We are God's firstfruits.

Hard for us to imagine that God loves us that much.

Our reading tells us that we have a part to play in this. We are called to welcome what God has planted in us. We welcome God's word with humility---not bragging about our own greatness but realizing what God wants to share with us.

When we become aware of what we have been given, we are moved to respond---to put our gifts into action.

A great example of this is the story of Jason Brown. 

Jason was a fantastic football player who walked away from his career because he felt God was calling him to become a farmer. He had no experience farming but learned all about it by watching You Tube.

Jason said it was just like football where the players would watch a lot of video to learn how to play better. He bought a farm and called it Firstfruits.

He put out a call for help with harvesting his crop of sweet potatoes and a lot of volunteers turned up from the community. He gave the harvest to help feed the hungry in the area. 

He felt God had gifted him and he wanted to give back. Not the leftovers.

The firstfruits.

The Letter of James tells us exactly what that is: to help those in need.

We are challenged by God's word to care for the orphans and the widows---those who are neglected and overlooked.

We are called to give them our best because God has given so much to us.

Kathy's picture is an example of a "gift" that God gave to us. We did not plant any pumpkins but they appeared in our backyard. God's gifts can come in a surprising fashion sometimes!

1. Do you consider yourself to be God's firstfruit?

2. Why is it so important to welcome God's word with humility?

3. How have you become a "doer" of the word?

4. What "surprises" has God given you lately?