Remember The Poor Boxing Day 2004
Galatians 2:10
Nowadays when we think of "Boxing Day," the word "sale" almost immediately follows. But in it’s tradition Boxing Day is not about getting more stuff at reduced prices.
The Boxing Day tradition began in Britain possibly as early as in the Middle Ages; with regards to its origin, there are two main schools of thought. Some historians maintain that it began as a holiday tradition where house servants, who always had to work on Christmas days, were rewarded the day after. Their employers would put gifts such as food, clothing, or money in "Christmas boxes," which the servants would then take with them as they departed for family visits. Others say that Boxing Day is so named because churches collected money for the poor in wooden boxes and usually opened them to hand out alms on the day after Christmas. Today, Boxing Day is celebrated in most of the other English-speaking countries that include Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the United States being a notable exception.
December 26 is St. Stephen’s Day. St. Stephen was one of the seven original deacons in the Christian Church. The deacons were set in place to care for the poor widows in the early church.
The idea of serving the poor on St. Stephen’s day is highlighted in the Carol “Good King Wenceslas”
Serving the poor is a basic tenant of the Christian faith.
The Issue that leads up to Galatians 2
Very early on in the life of the church, a controversy arose. There were Jewish believers that taught that for non-Jewish people to be Christian, they also had to be Jewish. This meant that the men should be circumcised, and everyone should follow at least the basic Jewish ritual law. Paul argues that it is through Jesus death on the cross alone that we are saved, and to add anything to the cross is to remove the true work of the cross.
As Paul went around the Gentile world preaching the Gospel, and the people he calls the Judaizers were usually not far behind him. When Paul would leave the community of new believers, the Judaizers would move in teaching these new converts that to be truly saved, they needed to become Jewish to. Most of Paul’s letters are written with the conflict with the Judaizers in the background, but in the letter to the Galatians is comes to the foreground.
The Christian community in the region of Galatia have bought the Judaizers teaching hook line and sinker. Most of the letter to the Galatians is written refuting their argument. The Judaizers usually claimed that they had their authority from the Apostles in Jerusalem, so Paul explains his relationship with the apostles in Jerusalem in chapter 2:
Galatians 2
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.
6As for those who seemed to be important–whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance–those men added nothing to my message. 7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles,[a] just as Peter had been to the Jews.[b] 8For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9James, Peter[c] and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. 10All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
If you had to tell a group of new Christians that there was one thing that they needed to remember besides the Cross of Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit, what would it be?
One thing – remember the poor
Somewhere we have forgotten this basic tenant – that God loves the poor and so should we.
It may have been during the conflict between liberal theologies and evangelical last century. Because the liberals emphasized care for the poor and social justice, the evangelicals may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater, when we rejected the liberal theology we also moved away from a theology that embraces the poor.
It is not difficult to see God’s priority of the poor in the Bible – even non Christians pick it up – Andy Barry, the morning host on CBC said the other day “You would think it would be hard to read the Bible and not come away at least a bit of a socialist.”
The issue is not one of capitalist or socialist, it is one of obedience to God, or following the heart of God. If we want to have the heart of God, we do not have to read too deeply to realize that God has a heart for the poor.
Remembering the poor Jesus’ way
Identity – Jesus came into this world as one of the poor – homeless, persecuted, a refugee, later he would say, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” - Matthew 8:20
He begins his public ministry by declaring, “
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Because of this Jesus never dealt with the poor in a p[paternalistic way, but always treated them with their God given dignity. He didn’t tell people what they needed but asked the blind and the lame and the ill what they would like from God.
He accepted gifts from those who couldn’t afford it – the woman pours out the alabaster jar of perfume on his feet, and he honours her. The widow places her last mite on the altar and he doesn’t pick it up and run after her to tell her that she needs it more than God does.
Pam and I learned this in Sri Lanka when the poorest people gave us gifts – to reject the gifts would be to rob them of their dignity. We accepted them and tried to match our gratitude to the sacrifice that was made in the giving.
Compassion – The gospels are full of places when Jesus has compassion on the crowds so he heals them or feeds them or teaches them. Compassion is not pity; it is that unconditional love going out to dear ones who are in need.
Our remembering of the poor needs to come from that same divine compassion that cares for the whole being – a compassion that wants to feed, clothe & heal the body, soul and spirit.
Relationship – Jesus did not just fix people’s problems from a distance, he touched them, befriended them, ate and drank with the outcasts of society. His love was not limited to an economic transaction; he gave himself to them, walked among them. He calls us to do the same.
“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” – Luke 14:12-13
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!
Miracles
Jesus ministers to the poor supernaturally – he heals them & feeds them through miracles. Our prayers for miracles should not end at the church door, but we should ask God to show his power to the poor as well.
Remembering the poor the Old Testament way
Beyond charity – development & justice
Where as Jesus dealt with the poor one on one, the old Testament deals with the systems of poverty. These practices are just as important for knowing how to remember the poor
Gleaning – Farmers were told not to harvest their fields all the way to the edge, nor to go over their fields, vines and trees a second time, so that some of the harvest could be left for the landless poor to glean. It allowed the poor to work and receive a just reward for their work. – there is to be a place for every person in any economic system so that we can all support ourselves.
Timely pay – the Law teaches employers to pay their workers before sundown so that they can feed themselves and their families and not go hungry waiting for payday.
No oppression – If a person needed a short-term loan, the loaner was not to take their cloak as a pledge, or collateral, or they would go cold for as long as the loan was out. Nor was the loaner to take the means of production as a pledge – so you couldn’t take a millstone from a miller, or a plow from a farmer as collateral, because it would lead to further poverty.
We need a system that gives the poor accesses to capital in such a way that doesn’t strangle the life out of them. Micro loans are a great recent development that I believe follows God’s principles of development.
Employers are commanded by God to not wield the economic power that they have over their workers – they all have the same boss – God & there will be a reckoning one day.
No permanent Loss of Freedom or Land
If a person became so impoverished that they had to sell themselves as a slave to pay their debts, they were to be released every seven years. So you never sold yourself, you only sold your services for the number of years left before the sabbatical (seventh) year
If you became so impoverished that you had to sell your ancestral lands, there was a law that said every 50 years was the year of Jubilee and the lands reverted back to the family of origin. Again you really only leased the land for the number of years leading up to the Jubilee.
These two laws broke the cycle of poverty in a family’s life. It gave even the poorest of families a light at the end of the tunnel – a time when they would be able to start over again. The notion of Jubilee is what inspired the present campaign to cancel 3rd world debt so that the countries saddled with the debt from corrupt leaders can stop servicing the debt and start serving their people.
Remember the poor – It is the Christian thing to do!
Remember the poor individually
Remember the systems that keep the poor poor.
You will be following the commands of God.
