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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nDeuteronomy is seeking the kindom by giving people instructions about how to live well in a shared society. This is a passage about tithing, about each person sharing 10% of what they have for the common good to balance out the differences between those doing well and those struggling. This is a passage about humility, where the people retell the story that it is God\u2019s goodness that takes care of them and gives them abundance and not their own labor. This is a passage about the practice of faith.<\/p>\n
And the ending blows me away. After the tithe has been given, the instructions are, \u201cThen you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.\u201d Now, I LOVE that the gifts given to God are directly used to take care of everyone. The Levites are the ones without land, so without the gifts given to God, the ones who are to use their lives attending to the things of God wouldn\u2019t have anything \u2013 including anything to eat. The aliens, the foreigners, were also cut out of land distribution, and were thus dependent on those who grew the food sharing in order to eat.<\/p>\n
In these instructions for the people settling into the land they\u2019d long dreamed of, God asks them to take the first fruits, give them to God, and let them be used to care for those without. AND then those with and those without CELEBRATE together the bounty of God.<\/p>\n
Because it turns out that there is enough for everyone when the resources are shared.<\/p>\n
Because this is a kindom of God vision and not a Kingdom of this world one. The resources are only too small to take care of all the people when the resources are being distributed unjustly and some take more than their fair share and thus deprive others of a share at all.<\/p>\n
Both Deuteronomy and Philippians focus on giving thanks to God for God\u2019s abundant good gifts. For life in the land of milk and honey. For God\u2019s care and love and trustworthiness. For the people living out God\u2019s ways in the world by being gentle, and living in communal shalom (peaceful well-being).<\/p>\n
The United States tradition of Thanksgiving is fraught with narratives that glorify the European settlers and dismiss the history of those of European descent in the Americas enacting genocide on the Native Americans who were indigenous to this land. And, for some of us, it is also a holiday we love dearly with great traditions and family connections and food we love.<\/p>\n
I believe it is necessary to hold those truths together.<\/p>\n
And whether or not we want to associate gratitude with the USA holiday of Thanksgiving, the act of giving thanks is an important part of our faith. So, too is rejoicing.<\/p>\n
It is my hope that the commitments people make in their pledging for 2026 are commitments made out of gratitude for what God has done in their lives and out of a desire to be part of what God is doing in this community.<\/p>\n
I wonder, sometimes, what story we should tell. It may still be that \u201cA wandering Aramean was my ancestor\u2026 and when my people were affliction God found a way to get us out.\u201d But there are other stories too, stories of why we give. \u201cI moved here and was alone and lost, and found people who cared.\u201d \u201cI needed to be with other people who believe that God\u2019s love for everyone means everyone has a right to eat.\u201d \u201cI was lost, and God found me, and I found this place.\u201d \u201cGod has given me life, and I am grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stories we tell ourselves about what God has been up to in our lives, and how that has led us to respond with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness\u2026 those stories are REALLY important. Maybe, even, you might want to tell someone else that story? Maybe you\u2019d be willing to share the summary of the story in a moment when we receive pledges, and tell people the fuller story if they ask??<\/p>\n
Because I think those are our stories of seeing the kindom of God, of practicing the kindom of God, of deciding use our lives to build the kindom of God.<\/p>\n
The stories we have, the ones that lead us to giving back in gratitude, those are the stories of us rejecting the Kingdoms of Oppression and Hierarchy and turning to the kindom of mutual care and connection.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s keep remembering and practicing those stories, with each other and in our hearts, because they help keep us grounded to choose the kindom of life and not the kingdoms of death. Thanks be to God. Amen<\/p>\n
1<\/a>Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah Vo. 2: 40-66 <\/i>in Westminster Bible Companion Series, edited by Patrick D. Miller and David A. Bartlett (Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 248.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n \u00a0First United Methodist Church of Schenectady\u00a0<\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0<\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a> <\/p>\n Log into Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n Nov. 23, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/7dfb30dd10dd80de8e3e854cc17bcba6\/0d5bff8f664fcc4d-95\/s640x960\/6fb177d762f90278b3e96a9caa6fa85a4eb7320f.png\")
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