Main Idea: Compassion for those without enough is a bridge to the place where there’s plenty.

"Revolution: a sudden, radical or complete change…activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes…synonym: rebellion." Those words that define "revolution" are from Webster’s Dictionary. The words "revolution" and "Christmas" in the same sentence seem totally out of place. When we think of revolution we think of oppressive governments being toppled or a people renouncing corrupt leadership. The word "revolution" implies something radical, life changing and disrupting. Our problem is that we have so abused the word that something that is "revolutionary" can apply to anything form a razor blade to an athletic shoe. It still doesn’t take away the power of the word but it reminds us how we can make an idea so radical to be merely tame and manageable.

We have done the same thing with Christmas. Christmas once was a word that connected an event on earth with the purpose of God for all humanity for all eternity. It has now been exchanged as an excuse for our own self-indulgence. We have, sadly, layered Christmas with so much tradition, sentimentality and greed that we have become deaf and blind to the true "revolution" that occurred that night in the manger. Mary’s words of elation at the thought of her bearing the Messiah were calling for rebellion, "His mighty arm does tremendous things! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands." (Luke 1:51-53) We forget, as one person said, "Mary’s praise to God is a revolutionary battle cry." The baby she carried was the promise of revolution, a promise of sudden, radical and complete change for all the world!

Thirty years after his birth in Bethlehem, Jesus announced that the revolution had at last begun. His announcement did not come on the steps of Herod’s Temple or the halls of Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem. No, instead, it occurred in a little village called Nazareth, the place where he had lived since his parents returned with him from Egypt. For years he had waited for the time to declare the beginning of the revolution. Through his adolescence, he submitted to his parent’s direction. In his twenties, he labored quietly, supporting his family as a carpenter after Joseph’s death. There came a time, though, when he laid down his tools and walked away from the carpenter’s shop to follow the path God had prepared for him. At last, his days of preparation were over. He returned to his hometown and went to the synagogue on theSabbath as he had done all of his life.

The rabbi’s recognizing the uniqueness of the moment, gave Jesus the opportunity to read from the scrolls. He patiently unrolled the scroll to the place where the words of Isaiah were found and said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come." (Luke 4:18-19)

When he finished, it was his opportunity to comment on what he had read. With every eye fixed on him, he sat down and said one sentence, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes" (Luke 4:21). That one sentence stunned everyone and shook them to their soul. They knew that Jesus was saying that he was himself the promised hope for all the Jews. For them, it was unimaginable. Yet Jesus was saying, "The revolution starts now!"

The first place Jesus said that the revolution would begin would be directed toward those who didn’t have enough. He said that he was "appointed to preach Good News to the poor" (Luke 4:10). To be poor in the time of Jesus was to be the lowest of the low as far as the social structure was concerned. They were a person who was virtually destitute. They were without regard, social status of any kind and powerless to resist any attempt to oppress them. If they made, through some labor, forty cents a day, they were fortunate. In the first century the division between the rich and the poor was a distance too wide to cross. For that reason, Jesus said, "My revolution starts with the absolute most desperate and destitute of my Father’s creation. I came to tell the poor there is good news!"

When you think about it, you have to wonder, "How were the mere word’s of Jesus going to be good news?" Surely there would be something more constructive than words. Think about the things Jesus could have done other than "preach" about "good news" for the poor. He could have set up a feeding program to feed the poor. He could have dialoged with the Roman government about assistance to the poor. He could have persuaded Herod to establish new policies toward the poor. He at times recognized that there would always be the challenge of the needs of the poor. After analyzing the three-year ministry of Jesus, you have to face the truth that there was little that was "revolutionary" or "good news" for the poor. Their world hadn’t changed all that much. So what good did the "good news" do for the poor?

So what did Jesus do for the poor that would bring them "good news"? It wasn’t that he gave a sermon or a "stump speech" where he outlined his five-point plan to reverse the poverty of Palestine. It was that by his words and his actions, he defined what the "good news" for the poor would be. That definition began with his identification with the poor. I don’t believe that Jesus or his family were truly poor as far as being destitute was concerned. His family had a home. His father had a trade. Jesus had a job. So I don’t believe they or he were truly poor. Instead, Jesus chose to identify with the poor. During his ministry he was homeless and depended on others to provide for his basic needs. He chose to distance himself from all human dependency so that he would depend solely upon God. By his choosing to have nothing, he could understand how those who needed everything really felt.

Another way Jesus brought good news to the poor was that he showed compassion toward those who were poor. When they were hungry, he performed a miracle to feed them. When they seemed to be without any direction, he saw their need. The poor were the focal point of many of Jesus’ parables so that by talking about them others would care about them as well. When they were ill from the diseases that accompanied their poverty, he healed them. When John the Baptist thought Jesus had lost his focus, he reminded John that the poor were still hearing good news. For Jesus, those who had the least were the priority of his greatest concern.

When others degraded, demeaned and abused the poor Jesus became like them. When others turned aside from seeking to help those who were destitute, Jesus touched, cared and spoke for them. When the world put them at the bottom of society, Jesus made them the central focus of his message of revolution. For Jesus, compassion for those without enough was a bridge that led them to the place where there was plenty. No, Jesus did not resolve their economic, social or health issues, for those same things challenge the poor today. What he did was show his disciples that compassion for the poor was to be a priority for what they would do. His compassion was a reflection of God’s compassion for the destitute. For that reason he preached good news to the poor!

As we enter this season of Advent and Christmas we are given the responsibility of preaching good news to the poor. There has always been some unique spirit of compassion at Christmas for those who do not have enough. Our Christmas stories are filled with reminders about caring for the poor. Our church has a long tradition of assisting the poor in a variety of ways at Christmas. We are fully aware that a box of food or toys for children doesn’t resolve the huge social, economic and health concerns of those who are poor. Yet our compassion at Christmas is a reflection of our connection with a God who left all of heaven’s riches to enter our world as a baby on a bed of straw. The question is, though, "How is my emotion of compassion one time of the year enough? How is what I do for the Salvation Army "good news" for the poor?" The answer is that it isn’t enough but it is the beginning. Our compassion for those without enough is a bridge leading to the place where there is plenty.

Who are those "without enough"? Who are the poor? The poor are those who do not have enough to sustain them. That includes the 16,000 children who will die today in the world from hunger related causes. It means that in the time it takes me to say this sentence one child will die from hunger--one every five seconds. It means the one billion people in the world try to survive by earning less that $1 per day, barely $.60 more than a poor person lived on 2000 years ago. In contrast, our nation spent $8.96 billion in one day one week ago on items that are not necessary to sustain us.

What do they need? They need us to show compassion by serving and sharing with them materially and physically. You are a person of plenty. They are a person without enough. There are ways to show your compassion that are too numerous to mention this morning. There are countless examples of people in our church who have personally become a bridge to lead a person without enough to a place where there is plenty. There are ministries available to you where you can be a bridge by your life or your resources to lead those without enough to the place where there is plenty. You can "preach good news" to the poor by your serving and sharing.

Who are the poor? They are those who live daily without enough strength to survive. They may not be poor physically but they don’t have enough strength, courage or hope to go on living. They are destitute emotionally, physically and spiritually. They are the persons searching somewhere for a reason to keep moving forward.

What do they need? They need us to show compassion by caring and connecting with them sincerely. The heart of God is near to the hearts of those who hurt, who are bound and who are stuck in life. You are a person who knows where there is plenty and your compassion is the bridge that leads them to that place. It may be that you can help them by connecting with their life. It may be that you can say, "I know my church has places that can help give you the strength to hang on. Let me help you find the place where there is plenty to give you the strength to survive." You can "preach good news" to those without enough strength to survive by caring and connecting with them sincerely.

Who are the poor? The poor are those who live daily without any security they will live forever. This is a person who is spiritually poor. They have a poverty that is so great that nothing but the grace of God can fill. If we were to be able to fill all the hungry stomachs in the world and didn’t fill their soul, then we have failed. If we were able to dry all the tears and repair all the hurts of people’s lives but did not heal their soul, then we have failed. Jesus knew that physically in three years he could not resolve the needs of all the hungry or the hurting. Yet he knew in one day on a cross he could save the world from their sins! That is why the angel told Joseph, "You are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins." That is why he could stand and say that he came to "preach good news" to the poor—those who have no security spiritually.

What do they need? They need us to show compassion by seeking and finding them spiritually. It means that we understand that we are the bridge that leads a person without spiritual security to the place where there is plenty. That begins by having a conversation with a person far from God and being the bridge that connects them to Jesus. That means shifting personally out of places of comfort and convenience as a church to truly seek and find those far from God and build bridges that connect them to Jesus. That means sharing sacrificially in the World Missions Offering so that others can be the bridges that connect persons beyond us to Jesus. Showing compassion by seeking and finding those without spiritual security is a way we "preach good news" to the poor!

This morning we have said that our compassion for those without enough materially, emotionally and spiritually is a bridge to the place where there is plenty. Our compassion for the poor, for those without enough, is how we "preach good news" today. The issue is what is the level of your compassion? If you don’t care enough to be the bridge to plenty, then those without enough will never find it.

Advent is our opportunity to be aware "that there exists a universal wrongness that is pulled over us like a choking, suffocating blanket." (Watch for the Light, p. 5-6) It is to this "universal wrongness" that Jesus came to bring a revolution! It is to this "universal wrongness" for the poor that Jesus came to "preach good news." It is for this "universal wrongness" that our compassion for those without enough starts to throw off the blanket of choking, suffocating apathy becoming a bridge to the place where there is plenty!

The revolution starts now! The revolution starts with us! The revolution says, "Good News! There was a baby who came to offer you more than you could ever need! Because of him, there’s plenty!"

Sunday, December 3, 2006 a.m.

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org

Resources: Bread for the World (www.bread.org)

Associated Press, Nov. 25, 2006 "Black Friday sales up 6% over ‘05

Watch for the Light