Almsgiving: An essential ingredient
Almsgiving • Sermon • Submitted
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The missing link
The missing link
Soap: the missing link for a great slip & slide
Camp
essential equipment for fun
2 conjoined slip & slides
hose/water
hill
It was fun, but expectations were not met
UNTIL: Soap
Fun to the fullest degree
Spiritually Missing
Solid spiritual practices
Prayer, fasting, confession, sacraments etc.
Still missing a deeper sense of fulfillment
something is missing
my heart is not changing
struggling in our walk and frustrated with our practices
Spiritual Stool: the missing leg
No one can sit on a stool with either 1 or 2 legs
Any stool needs 3 for it to be functional
Prayer and fasting are two of the 3
Almsgiving makes up the 3rd leg of the stool
with 3 legs what was in-effective with 1 or 2 becomes fully functional or rather transformative…useless to useful (in the case of the stool) and
Preparation week of lent
Most transformative time of the year
Matthew 6:1-18
Fasting prayer and Almsgiving
Almsgiving is a charitable deed towards the poor and needed
Its the act of showing real mercy and compassion to our brethren who are struggling and in need of help.
Its an act of love to our neighbor
Almsgiving is an essential, yet forgotten part, of our spiritual transformation
How essential is Almsgiving
How essential is Almsgiving
Almsgiving is not simply advocating for social justice or human rights
While these are noble pursuits some advocates are fueled by anger and disgust at the conditions people live in.
Out of this comes a drive for change, yes there is mercy and compassion mixed in the efforts.
regardless of the impetus, the effort is seen as honorable in society
Almsgiving aims to see a change in the condition of our neighbor, but its impetus for this change is clear
19 We love, because He first loved us.
Our love for our neighbor is rooted in the first action of love for us from God
Our Christian ethic in this world is inseparably united to our theology
Our outward action of compassion and mercy to the poor is forever united and grounded in our love to God.
The two greatest commands, which sum up our Christian life
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
This emphasis was also stressed by the father
“The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit.”
~St. Basil the Great
Christ, emphasized this inseparable link between our care for other and our relationship with Him
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
When did we see you, Lord and do all these things?
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
There are critical links with respect to almsgiving
The action to the ‘brothers of Mine’ is an action to Christ himself…So almsgiving is a direct interaction with God
Almsgiving is also linked to inheriting eternal life
This is a unique property of this spiritual practice
What does almsgiving accomplish in me
What does almsgiving accomplish in me
If almsgiving is linked to inheriting the Kingdom, then what is happening to my soul through Almsgiving?
Almsgiving is for purification
The act of showing mercy and compassion to the poor has the ability to purify us from sinful behaviors
Example: King Neb…Daniel 4
second dream served as a warning to change his evil ways and humble himself before God or else he will become like the beast of the field for 7 years.
Daniel offered up advice to avoid this punishment
27 ‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’
Example: Zacchaeus the Tax collector Luke 19
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector…sycamore tree
Jesu came to his house for dinner
8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
Example: Jesus speaking to the Pharisees Luke 11
Outward appearance of cleanliness
But inwardly the pharisees were full of greed and wickedness
Luke 11:39–41 (NASB95)
39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. 40 “You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 “But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.
Almsgiving serves as a defence
12 Store up almsgiving in your treasury, and it will rescue you from every disaster; 13 better than a stout shield and a sturdy spear, it will fight for you against the enemy.
When we give to the poor the poor will come to our defence.
The parable of the unjust steward
When in trouble with the master, he gave all his debtors a break in what they owed
Reason: so that when is fails as a steward he will be received into the homes of his debtors
9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Unrighteous mammon is the money of the this world. When we use it to benefits and support the poor, then one day when the poor are rewarded for the struggle they faced on earth, they will come to our defense when we die (fail)
Through almsgiving we also protect ourselves from the attachment to money.
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Summary
Summary
Almsgiving is an essential spiritual practice
Its rooted in God’s love for us and modeled after the actions of Christ during his earthly ministry
In our following of Christ so closely through our imitation of Him in almsgiving we experience a closeness to Him as we serve others....’you did it to me’
Almsgiving is uniquely linked to salvation
It purifies us
it serves as a defence for us