Health
8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (NRSV)
STORY
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to an unmarried teenage mother. Winfrey grew up in such sever poverty that she wore dresses to school made from potato sacks. She was sexual abused as a child and teenager, becoming pregnant at the age of 14. The baby was born prematurely and died. From a life of poverty and sexual abuse, Winfrey, through ambition, determination and education, became the richest African-American of the 20th century, and at one point in her life was the world’s only Black billionaire. Due to her success, by 2007, she was sometimes ranked as the most influential woman in the world. Though, what should be most admired is that Winfrey is greatest Black philanthropist in U.S. history.
Winfrey is probably best known to us known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was broadcasted from Chicago and became the highest-rated television talk show in history. The show aired in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. As a talk show host, television producer, actress, and author, Winfrey is credited as the “Queen of All Media.”
Informed by her childhood and teenage years of impoverishment and abuse, Winfrey used those experiences to reinvent the talk show format with a focus on self-improvement, mindfulness, and spirituality.
Reflecting on her emphasis that individuals need to empower themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, on one telecast Winfrey asked her audience to share what they would like most to have, to obtain, to possess. She asked what is your greatest desire. As you can imagine, she received a Santa Clause list of items. Then, suddenly, she interrupted the audience with a sobering truth. She expressed that everyone desired “things,” but no one asked for “health.” Winfrey then lectured that without excellent health an individual has nothing. Winfrey implored that with the absence of good health, possessions will never bring joy and happiness.
DEVOTION
Our reading for this morning from Deuteronomy recounts the first harvest celebration conducted by the Israelites as they now inhabit the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. What we have recorded for us is the Ritual of First Fruits. We have before us, preserved through millenniums, a liturgy that is actually a Confession of Faith as it recounts the salvation history of the Israelites. The liturgy walks us through the Israelites salvation history: the Israelites were oppressed and in bondage by the Egyptians, they cried to God for deliverance, God heard their cry and brought them forth into “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
As God promised, in keeping with His binding covenant with the Israelites, they were delivered them from their enslavement to the Egyptians. It would be an Exodus, a journey “to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” The Israelites have now arrived in the Promised Land, and the liturgy for their first harvest worship service offers thanks to God for His abundant blessings that were bestowed upon them.
This day, engage yourself in your own Ritual of First Fruits. Consider what harvest of blessings that you would dedicate to God in thanksgiving for His abundant blessings. We most certainly would offer a tithe accompanied by our time in service to the church. Though, these are tangible offerings. As Winfrey pointed out to her audience, the real blessings in life are the intangible.
The real blessings in life are spiritual, not materialistic. It is a blessing to have money, to go on an ocean cruise, to vacation at a resort island, to have a high-end automobile, and the Santa Clause list is really rather endless. All of these things really are nice, and would be nice to have. I would be a fool to write and implore otherwise. Though, these tangible blessings pale when compared the intangible blessings: good health, family and friends, having a sense of purpose and meaning in life, and this list of blessings is also endless if you have the proper perspective on life.
In our personal Ritual of First Fruits, on our knees, before the altar of God, we offer thanksgiving for our private and personal spiritual blessings. We acknowledge that we too have made an Exodus to the Promised Land, delivered from our bondage to sin.