Last week, as soon as the 8:10am service ended, I raced across the chancel to speak to Phil, Anna, Mary Kay and Louis before they could get away. Did I run over to rejoice “with exceedingly great joy” that our campaign was going so well? (Matthew 2) Did I rush over to make a point to thank them for their amazing leadership as co-chairs of the campaign? I wished one of those was true. Actually I rushed over to make sure they knew about a bulletin change at the 10:30am service.

We are forever rushing off to the next thing. Our membership vows remind us that “presence” is a spiritual gift, but it is harder than ever “to be still and know the Lord”. (Psalm 46) We are not very good dwelling in the moments God gives us. We are not good at celebrating, as we are off to the next thing.

Our High School Seniors have been asked far too often “where are you going to college?” And you seniors in college have heard, “What are you planning to do after college?” I think we start this obsession in preschool and T-ball!

I asked our High School students for some alternative questions: “What are you doing over the summer? What have you enjoyed in high school? How are your friends/teachers right now? What are your interests? How is your day or anything not about the future?”

Our phones are not helping us be present! Our phones are designed with notifications and algorithms to pull us away from the present. Even when we are in beautiful spaces or exciting experiences our phones tempt us to become broadcasters instead of being where we are. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have 17,392 photos in my phone. I do not even have time to review and delete the extras! Worse than this, our phones ask us to rate our experiences, to become judges and even ask others to judge us with the “like” button. Our phones are engineered to never let us “be”.

But even without our phone troubles, the culture woos us to spend our lives living for the next thing: next school, next goal, next game, next graduation, next job, next swipe, next next. Without prayerful intentionality we can spend our lives worrying over the next thing and instead of celebrating the day God has given us.

In Matthew 6, Jesus woos us into the present: “Don’t worry saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ Consider the sparrow’s song and the wildflowers’ gown. God already knows what you need, so don’t run after stuff that wears out. No, first seek God’s kin-dom and all the things will fall into place.. Stop worrying over the next day, tomorrow will have its own worries.” (Matthew 6).

Some might think Jesus is offering bad college prep, investing, or life-coaching advice but actually Jesus is inviting us to celebrate the present. Is not the present the only place we can really be? I wonder if we must be present to dwell in God’s presence? Jesus whispers: pray, be present, hear the sparrow’s song, admire wildflower’s gowns, “break bread with glad and generous hearts” and talk with each other as you walk along the way! (Acts 2 & Luke 24) Be present. Be still. Be open. Keep asking that UMYF question- “where did we see God this week?”

The New Interpreters Bible Commentary says our passage sums the Basic Pattern of Worship used in the Temple of Jesus’s day. Deuteronomy 26 characterizes the liturgy, rites, creeds and theology of post-exilic Jewish faith. It appears to be a stewardship liturgy and it but perhaps is is a prayer of arrival as well.

“When you have come into, arriving in the land,
that God has given you,
Take some of the first fruits of your harvest
that God has given you
Put that offering into a basket
and go to the place that God will show you
And say to priest there
‘Today I declare to the Lord our God that
“I have indeed arrived at the place God directed us to…

“Today, I declare before God, that I have indeed arrived at the place God directed me to.”
Then the priest will elevate your basket and place it before the altar
And you shall respond before the Lord your God:
‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; we went down into Egypt and lived there as aliens, few in number, and there we became a great nation. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, and God heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand …and brought us into this place flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of my labor to the Lord, who has given us everything.
Then you shall leave the offering at the altar bowing down before the Lord.
And you shall celebrate
And you shall celebrate with all the immigrants, orphans and widows in the land.
,
Some only think of this as a stewardship liturgy, but is not stewardship how we use the days, gifts, talents and moments that God gives us? You shall say “I am declaring right now before the Lord my God that I have indeed arrived in the place the Lord showed us” There is something beautiful about declaring you have arrived- in stopping to celebrate, in being present! I do not think this is about a plot of land in Jerusalem, but about stopping long enough to notice God’s presence with us. Anywhere we are present with God and ourselves is a Promised Land.

I love that the declaration of arrival does not leave out the rough places, the toil, hard work, the injustice, the troubles. We remember God hears our cries. Yes, sometimes we wandered about lost in the doomscrolling wilderness, but here we stand together with the widows, orphans, and immigrants celebrating with everyone.

But what about the work to be done? There is a harvest to finish, this is the first fruit offering. There is wheat to cut, to cure, to thresh, to ground into flour, to bake… and then next year’s crop to plant, but if we do not stop, if we do not sabbath, we will never slow down enough to see the bounty, we will spend on life on the next thing, never being present with ourselves, our neighbors or God.

Today as we place our commitment cards in a basket, slow down and celebrate. Stop and celebrate our graduate stories. Read of young people who grew up in the WDS, or sang on choir tours, who mastered the box game, and now go out into the world carrying Belmont in their hearts. Rejoice with those who in college, “fell in with the Methodists”. Read the Centennial Campaign vision wall. Remember Bishop Unda’s word and our church helping lift up women half way around the world. And even if you just barely made it to church this morning, do not move too quickly onto the next thing, stop and celebrate. Declare to the Lord, we have arrived at the place God has directed us to today. Amen