About Calvary

Education

Events

Fellowship

Links 

Music

People

Sermons

Service

Worship

Home

Sheelagh Clarke, Seminarian
December 26, 2004  - First Sunday after Christmas

“Almighty God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word:  Grant that the same light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives;”

Today is Boxing Day in England, Scotland Wales, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many of the countries in the Anglican Communion.  And I am always asked what it means.  Well, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with the sport boxing.

There are two parts to this story:–

The first has to do with the two class system which existed pretty much up until the Second World War.  When you were either wealthy enough to have servants or you were a tradesperson or a servant.  My great grandmother was “in service” as they called it.  She was a housemaid, which meant she got up at dawn, laid and lit fires and did housework before the Master and Mistress got up; every day except Boxing Day, which is why the 26th of December is always a holiday. 

Boxing Day was the day the upper classes gave the servants their Christmas, literally, in a box of food and provisions and gifts.  Then the Master and Mistress would take the day to go out on a shoot or hunt, or to the races and picnic out of a hamper or have a cold buffet.  This is still our custom in England, to have a cold buffet and to play board games, or watch sports on the television.

The second is perhaps the more honorable story.  In most English churches you will find “the Poor Box” which is usually an old oak trunk, heavily reinforced and far too heavy to move, which is why it is still there at all, or a slot in the wall marked Alms.  This is where the offerings for the poor were collected.  On the 26th of December, which is Boxing Day, these boxes where opened and the contents distributed to the poor of the parish.  The 26th December is also St Stephen’s Day; St Stephen was the first Deacon of the church as mentioned in Acts, the proto martyr of the Christian church, and it is no co-incidence that the alms were distributed on “boxing day” because the care of the poor and needy was and still is the primary task of a deacon.  And here is something sacred and holy.  Here is the stuff from the oldest parts of the Hebrew Scripture.  The requirement to take care of the poor and needy, to provide for widows and orphans, is, along with the Ten Commandments, part of the ethical code of the covenant made between God and Abraham and Moses.

Here lies the essence of what Boxing Day is about, the giving to the needy, from those who have to those who have less.   The traditional Christmas Carol, Good King Wenceslas, immortalizes the meaning of the giving of alms as the master spots a poor man gathering winter fuel;

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine,
Bring me pine logs hither;
Thou and I will see him dine,
when we bring them thither”

Maybe this was the enkindling of the same light, which is in today’s collect, shining forth in the heart of this monarch.

The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews speaks of the incarnation of Jesus, in the same flesh and blood as us, becoming like us in every respect; and in that incarnate form, as a baby, vulnerable even to death, susceptible to the terror of the slaughter of the innocents in today’s gospel.

But in this incarnation, lies the key.  Stephen was the first deacon; diakonos, means to serve.  Ordained or unordained we are all involved in serving.

From the earliest times until today, the Church’s work has always been connected with the relief of the poor, both at home and overseas.  As the body of Christ, incarnate, here and now, we are the means to continue Christ’s work.  Through the revealed, incarnate light of Christ enkindled in our hearts, we are born again into the continuing act of compassion, and  are a part of the becoming of the Kingdom of God.

Sharing our wealth and abundance is our covenant with God. To do anything other is to turn away from God. So whether we do it physically by hosting in the soup kitchen or the homeless shelter, or through gifts of money, food and clothing we are in continuation with the love of God for those who did not escape the trials of life.

And the last verse gives of Good King Wenceslas us the link between the feast of St. Stephen, Boxing Day and this celebration of the Incarnation –

“Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
 shall yourselves find blessing.”

Amen.

xxxTo contemplate the creation is to contemplate God.  Did you feast your eyes on the wonderful colors of this year’s Fall?  Did you gaze in amazement at the richness of the color and the exquisite uniqueness of each leaf?  Some all yellow, some red, some mixed.  Some showing distinct signs of wear and tear, some smooth, some wrinkled and dry, each different, just like us.

Today’s psalmist looks in wonder and awe at the majesty of nature.  The heavens and stars spread out on a black cloth.  Just think how much more we know now about the heavens and earth than the psalmist.  How much more we have to marvel at in our scientific knowledge.  Science that has opened our minds and eyes, yet in seeking to explain has not explained away or diminished the majesty of the Creation.

The writers of Genesis also remind us of our special place in God’s Creation.  Just one step below the angels.  “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”.  Well, we’ve met our targets there!  “Dominion”, now, that is not a popular word, having connotations of exploitation and oppression and we would rather not use it about ourselves.  But you know, folks, it’s not a bad description. With our opposable thumb and physical gifts, we have developed the ability to craft and create beyond our immediate survival needs. With our intelligence we can dream up ever more efficient ways to harness fuels, improve communications, and push out the horizons of medical knowledge. 

But the further we go from simply satisfying our basic needs, the further we edge into ethical and moral swamps of exploitation and greed.  Economic and environmental tensions are continually in play.  Each new technology is held in the tension of both potential good and potential harm. And our political and corporate leaders seem to be hamstrung by economic and partisan concerns that cloud their ability to be unbiased.

Just two weeks ago, the results of a global project to assay the range of frog and amphibian species was published.  Now, I am not a froggy type of person, but it caught my attention, because, as I discovered, frogs are the canary in the cage.  Their permeable skins are the most susceptible to disease, pollutants and drought.  The news is not good.  In the last hundred years, 30% of the world’s frog species is endangered or at risk of imminent extinction. That represents millions of years of evolution.  It is also the most rapid rate of loss ever seen.  This is not good news.

In the same week, I saw another article stating that a gene had been isolated from the pigment of frogs that may prevent skin cancer in humans, which, given the rate of global warming and the thinning Ozone layer, is more prevalent than ever in fair-skinned folk.  That’s if we can keep the frogs alive long enough.

So why does it matter today?  Because the glory of creation is a gift; because, as Spangler says, “Instead of seeing ourselves as co-creators we imagine ourselves as creators.”  We didn’t create air, but we use it and abuse it; nor water, but we use it and pollute it, nor oil, but we guzzle it without replacing it.

Yet our generation is poised on the edge of so many life-saving, life-improving potentialities. God promised us that all we needed is contained within it, and that seems to be so.  God gave us reason to make responsible decisions; God gave us free will to choose between using and abusing, he gave us a sense of right and wrong to guide us ethically.  That each of us has a part to play in how we chose to protect, save, squander or preserve our heritage.  And that means you and me.  Just last week, even while I was thinking about all of this, I caught myself tossing stuff into the garbage that should be recycled.  What will it take for me to be less wasteful and selfish? We can all choose to buy gas from the producers who try to be aware of environmental issues; we all have a political voice to shape the larger industrialized issues of environmental safety.  We can all model and be careful about recycling and waste.

Our creation is still in a state of becoming.  We are an integral part of that unfolding; our actions do and will effect it.   From the little that we, with science, have discovered so far, we know and that the cures to our most feared diseases are waiting to be found in a plant, in the bark of a tree, in gene therapy or  in the venom of a dart frog.  I also believe that this unfolding of creation  is God’s gift of profound and continuing love to us and through us.

When I see the children, excited about the dried bulb that will bloom into glory, when I look at the beauty of the maples in the fall, or the bright night sky,  I know that we have to face up to our responsibilities.  What kind of planet will we pass on?  How many more species of frog will vanish before we think about conservation, preservation and environmental custodianship? 

In this season of giving, we can give towards the protection and preservation of God’s gift to us, by thoughtful financial gifts and by modifying our behavior and making environmentally sound decisions wherever we can.  Moment by moment.  We can also give to the preservation of the beauty of our style of worship here, in this special place, by reducing our drawdown on the endowment and financing our operational budget, so that this too is available to those yet unborn.

God is pleased with the Creation, just as we are with its beauty and majesty, and when we feel that amazement inside us it is the nearest we may get to realizing how much we are loved by the Creator.  Go on, enjoy the trees, contemplate the glory, and worship the creator.  Amen

Back to Sermons