Boxing Day

https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/remember-the-poor-mike-wilkins-sermon-on-poverty-74974?page=4&wc=800

Humility and remembering the poor

December 26 is not only a day for Santa Claus to catch his breath but a public holiday known as Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In spite of its peculiar name, Boxing Day has nothing to do with fisticuffs, the trashing of empty boxes left over from Christmas or the return of unwanted presents to department stores. The term is of British origin, and the Oxford English Dictionary traces its earliest print attribution to 1833, four years before Charles Dickens referred to it in “The Pickwick Papers.” The exact roots of the holiday name are unknown, but there are two leading theories, both of which are connected to charity traditionally distributed to lower classes on the day after Christmas.

One idea is that December 26 was the day centuries ago when lords of the manor and aristocrats typically distributed “Christmas boxes” often filled with small gifts, money and leftovers from Christmas dinner to their household servants and employees, who were required to work on December 25, in recognition of good service throughout the year. These boxes were, in essence, holiday bonuses. Another popular theory is that the Boxing Day moniker arose from the alms boxes that were placed in churches during the Advent season for the collection of monetary donations from parishioners. Clergy members distributed the contents of the boxes to the poor on December 26, which is also the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and a figure known for acts of charity. (Ireland celebrates December 26 as St. Stephen’s Day.)

Although the practice of almsgiving on December 26 has faded with charity now being given in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Boxing Day name has endured. These days, December 26 is a popular holiday in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries for watching sports such as soccer and cricket, shopping and visiting friends.

Christmas has become a time so much for buying and gift giving to family and it almost seems so anticlimactic in a way. when the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper thrown in the garbage suddenly it is done and we go on with life. But Jesus taught that we are to have a heart for the poor and the downtrodden and the needy.

Luke 14:13-14 “On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.””

reading this parable and more we see that God has a heart for the poor and needy and downtrodden. I wanted to use today to focus back on that and remember what Jesus taught us about dealing with the needy. It is easy to forget the needy around us. Go to the city and what do you do when you see the homeless? Even in Loon Lake we have the problem. but what should we do? How should we deal with them? what does the bible say? how can we get back to helping those in need around us like Boxing day used to be?

If God has a heart for the poor and needy so should we do what we can to help them and point them to Jesus.

The Parable - Luke 14:15-29

first we look to a parable in Luke. There are many instances in the bible of God’s heart for the poor and downtrodden but I want to spend some time focusing on this parable. It is the parable of a banquet.

Luke 14:16 (CSB)

Then he told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many.

Who does not like to get invited to a large banquet? I love getting invited to eat food, fellowship and relationship building is one of the best parts of being in Pastoral ministry. But the parable goes that there was going to be a banquet and people where invited ahead of time to attend this banquet.

one thing you have to understand is that at the time you where not told the time the banquet was to start just the day. The invitation would go out to attend and you had to be ready to attend. The host would have to have know how many would attend so he knew how many animals to butcher for the feast.

I wonder if that would work now? someone tell you that they want you to attend a banquet in one week but you have to be ready to go sometime during the day, you do not know when just be ready. Kind of like the cable guy saying he will be there on Monday between 8-5, makes it kind of stressful.

the time came for the banquet and the servant was sent out to tell everyone that was invited to come and attend. Luke 14:17

Luke 14:17 (CSB)

At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

but all the people suddenly had excuses for why they could not come to the banquet. Kind of like the story of the little red hen, if you remember that one. Suddenly they where all to busy. the servant came and reported all he had seen and heard to the master Luke 14:21

Luke 14:21 (CSB)

“So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

the invitation went out to the highways and biways and all the poor and needy where invited to join the banquet.

The explanation

so we have the parable but what does this say about Jesus heart for the needy. before i get into that I want to provide a bit more evidence for Jesus heart for the poor. Jesus himself grew up in a poor family. The son of God can in the flesh in a family that did not have much. He came into the people group He knew He was going to minister too.

look to the minor prophets. ALl of the minor prophets contain social justice issues. If you read through them all you see that the Israelite's where to help the poor and needy around them wherever they went.

read through the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek. I could keep going but it is clear that Jesus has a heart for the needy. But why is this? why does it matter that we have a heart to help those around us that are in need? but more then helping them there is a message that we need to share.

The application

I want to tie the two things together now, between the parable of the banquet and the evidence that God does truly have a heart for the needy there are a few ways that this should change our lives.

The message of the gospel is always of utmost importance

This is where it all starts, this is why we do what we do, this is what are are called to share. all the rest will be tied together later, it will become all clear in a minute if you bear with me. the message of the gospel is why we do what we do.

this seems a bit out of place maybe but this is where it all starts. in everything we need to remember that we need to be sharing the gospel. this was the point of the parable that I talked about, the first point we make.

the banquet has been prepares. This is a message for all people today from the Lord Jesus. all has been prepared for you, all that is left is for you to come to me Jesus says. The invitation has been sent out to all people, all that is waiting is for you to drop everything and Join Jesus and live your lives for Him.

Jesus finished the work of redemption, He died for you on the cross and rose again to offer redemption for your sin. the message is sent out, all that is left is for you to accept the message.

in all the miracles that happened in everything Jesus did we see that the message of the gospel was the reason why He did it, it was of utmost importance. The miracles and the wonders never overshadowed the message of the gospel.

but that lead into the second point I want to make today about remembering the poor. There are two reasons why we are to do this, why God has a heart for the needy. the first is that...

It is not the healthy that Jesus came but for the needy.

through the beatitudes and many other scriptures the bible says we need to become poor in spirit. We are told that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then it is for a rich man to enter the K of H. Why is that?

in the parable the people that where invited to the banquet did not come, they all had excuses. The rich and I guess just the opposite of the poor have a hard time giving up all they have to follow Jesus. Like the rich man who asked Jesus what it would take to follow Jesus and was sad when Jesus said that he had to sell all he had because he had so man things.

it is often harder for the rich and content to accept the message of the gospel for they often feel that they have no need to change, they have it all why would they need to change anything?

the poor and the needy have no illusions of Grandeur, they are ready often to accept the message of the gospel because they have come to the end of themselves and are ready to give up what little they have to follow Jesus.

it is not that money and things are ad, that is not what this is saying but that we need to have that mentality. come to Jesus with nothing but ourselves. Understand that we can offer nothing to Jesus but everything that we are. poor in spirit the beatitudes calls it.

that attitude is what we need, no preconcieved notions about our own greatness but knowing we are nothing without the Lord Jesus.

remember the poor because we are all in need of the gospel, the message of the gospel is number one.

remember the poor for we all need to get to that mindset that we have nothing to offer Jesus but our lives. All else will pass away.

we are to seek the betterment of our community and love those around us

Yes the message of the gospel is number one, that is why we do what we do. yes we are to be poor in spirit to come to the K of G. But we are also to physically seek the betterment of our community and love those around us.

God’s heart for the needy is still there and we need to show God’s love to others by helping out those who can not help themselves.

There used to be a group in Toronto called “Bread, not Circuses” They protested the Olympic bid because they said that we needed to concentrate on feed and housing the poor, not on throwing a party for the world. This idea points to two swings of the pendulum that we can get into – we can go on enjoying our life and looking celebrating with no regard to the poor and their plight, or we can say “How can we celebrate anything when there is so much poverty around us?” Jesus takes the pendulum right off the stand and says, “have your parties, but make sure you include the poor in the festivities.” Invite them into the banquet! Give them a seat beside you at the circus!

How is it that we can show the love of Jesus to the needy and the poor around us? we know that there is a lot of people in need around us.

world relief works with the needy all over the world and I love how they do it.

At World Relief our mission is to empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable.

There goal is to help the needy around the world but they do not do it by giving handouts to people but rather they empower the local church to show people how to help themselves and share the gospel while they are doing it. it is teaching people and giving them the help they need. And yes it is also for the purpose of showing them and sharing with them the love of Jesus. for what does it matter if we heal their earthly need when they are just going to die and go to hell if they do not know Jesus. yes it may be an ulterior motive but you see why it is so important.

so Remember the poor........

Because we are called to be a people of love and seek the welfare of the community around us.

Because we are all called to come to the point where we realize we have nothing o offer Jesus but our lives and all else means nothing. We are all called to be poor in Spirit.

Because Our goal is to share the gospel with those that are in need and those in need are often ready to hear what God has to say.

How can we remember the poor today.