Sermon Tone Analysis

ATTN

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a fanciful movie based on Dr. Seuss' classic holiday poem.

The Grinch, a hairy, green, cantankerous beast, looks down on the town of Whoville from his home on a mountain of garbage.

What he sees disgusts him.

The people who live in Whoville (called the Whos) love Christmas and all its trappings.

Possessions, decorations, lights, and partying consume the Whos.

The Grinch's disgust originated when he was mocked as a child because of his odd looks and the Christmas gift he hand made.

Because of this, he is intent on destroying Christmas and he nearly succeeds.

You remember the story, the Grinch steals all the presents and Christmas trees in Whoville and takes them to his hideout, determined to destroy them.

But something happens.

Before he can carry out his dastardly destruction, he hears something.

He hears the townspeople of Whoville singing in the valley.

The narrator explains: "Then the Grinch heard a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low and it started to grow."

The Grinch grimaces as the narrator continues: "But the sound wasn't sad, but merry?very.

Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, were singing without any presents at all."

This mystifies mean old Mr. Grinch.

How can these people, who have been robbed of their presents, still be happy and singing.

The narrator continues: "He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming.

It came.

Somehow or other it came just the same.

And the Grinch with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow stood puzzling and puzzling how could it be so."

Finally, the Grinch speaks: "It came without ribbons.

It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes, or bags.

Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

His eyes grow warm and soft and as big as saucers.

Suddenly, he throws himself to the ground, convulsing as his heart grows three times the size it was before.

He laughs.

He cries.

He claims to feel all toasty inside.

Unfamiliar with tears, he thinks he is leaking, while a brilliant shaft of sunlight bathes his green face and reveals a sincere smile.

The conversion of the Grinch is matched by a brilliant sunrise.

Ok, some of you are saying, “I didn’t come here to listen to Dr. Seuss.

Furthermore, this isn’t Christmas, its Thanksgiving.”

I understand, but there is a point.

You see, Christmas isn’t the only time a Grinch appears.

He loves to show up at Thanksgiving.

O more than that, he loves to steal Thanksgiving and I think, if you really consider what I’m about to say, he’s a lot more involved at Thanksgiving than he’s ever been at Christmas.

You see there is a grinch that steals Thanksgiving.

BACKGROUND

You read about him over in Deut 8.

In that Chapter, Moses is giving his last will and testament to the people of Israel.

After 40 years of eating dust and manna in the desert, the time has finally arrived: they are going into the Promised Land.

When they get there, they will have unbelievable wealth and blessings, and, in the middle of their anticipation, Moses warns them.

He tells them of a Grinch that waits for them across the Jordan.

He says in v 11:

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Though they were about to experience the greatest blessing of their lives, and even though they knew that the blessing was a direct result of the miraculous preservation of God, Moses warns them not to forget.

That’s pretty incredible, really.

Just think about it.

You have been given a magnificent gift that you did not deserve, and you immediately forget who gave it to you?

How could that happen.

Moses tells them.

He says beware . . .

lest (v14) when your heart is lifted up.

That’s the problem: pride.

That’s the Grinch that was out to get them and that’s the grinch that steals our Thanksgiving.

NEED

And one of the most difficult things to deal with in pride is the fact that it is so universal, we often don’t even recognize it.

Everyone struggles with it.

It is especially true in an affluent country like ours.

We tend to think in this country that we are special (much like the Jews, by the way).

We think that God looks at us a little differently.

We say in our hearts, “We’re America.

We can do whatever we want!”

Just about every person you know struggles with pride, including me and you..

And because everyone struggles with it, everyone is in danger of being deceived by it.

In fact, you can be proud and not even realize it.

It sneaks up on you.

Even though Ben Franklin did not really accept Christianity personally, he still tried to be moral.

In fact, he had settled on 13 particular virtues.

Among them were these:

Silence: "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."

Frugality: "Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; that is, waste nothing."

Industry: "Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."

Tranquility: "Be not disturbed at trifles or accidents common or unavoidable."

He set up a book with a page for each virtue, lining a column in which to record his "defects."

He would choose a different virtue to work on each week, and every day of that week, he would note every mistake he made.

When the 13 weeks were over, he started down the list again.

In this way, he could cycle through the list four times a year.

For many decades, Franklin carried his little book with him, striving for a clean 13-week cycle.

But, as he made progress, he found himself struggling with yet another defect: his own pride.

There is perhaps not one of the natural passions so hard to subdue as pride.

Disguise it.

Struggle with it.

Stifle it.

Mortify it as much as one pleases.

It is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself….

Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.

That’s the way pride is.

It will sneak up on you and deceive you.

So, since pride is the grinch that steals thanksgiving and since that grinch is so universal and so deceptive, how can we recognize it and overcome it.

Well, Moses sermon to the Israelites really tells you how.

In fact, he describes for us a cycle that we go through in our battle with arrogance.

It looks something like this.

First,

DIV 1: BLESSING LEADS TO DISTRACTION

EXP