Psalm 148 ESV

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord!

psalm 148

Colossians 3:12–17 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Above All, Put on Love

“The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right. It could be perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”

This is, unarguably, a classic. The book is a classic, the movie is a classic – the original, not the Jim Carrey version. The new one has potential to become a classic one day. Whenever a story sticks like this to our cultural memory, it’s a good indication that it’s probably onto something. I’ve read thousands of pages of deep and confusing theological works, and Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is perhaps one of the best pieces of theology I’ve ever read. It covers love, forgiveness, redemption, community, and so much more.

The Grinch inexplicably hates Christmas. Nobody seems to know exactly why. He hates the singing, the decorations, the feast, the presents – all of it. This hatred of Christmas and everything that comes with it has isolated the Grinch – he lives like a hermit in a cave on the top of a mountain over the town of Whoville. This hatred he has for Christmas has turned him into a dark and lonely character who acts nasty to the people around him.

The key is in this very beginning passage right at the start of the story – his heart was two sizes too small. What is on the inside – in the Grinch’s tiny, cold heart – spills out to his actions and the way he interacts with the world. It’s simply impossible to act nice all the time on the outside when your heart is not at peace on the inside. We sometimes talk about acting “tender and mild” like Jesus, but it’s often just words we say about how we should – an abstract idea we like but have to spend a great deal of time and effort to perfect.

While it’s not the good things we do that earn our way into heaven, actions do matter. They affect the people around us and they are sort of like the clothes that we wear. They are part of how people develop impressions of us and choose to interact with us. We are told to be clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. These are the clothes that the followers of Jesus are meant to wear. But they are not always what we put on before we step out the door. Often we just throw on whatever dirty old attitude is just sitting on the floor by the front door before going out.

One day a while back, I ran out to Target. I was sick. I was in a hurry. I just had to pick up some pictures I’d printed. So I did something I almost never do. . . I ran out the door in sweat pants, a ratty cardigan, old running shoes, ponytail, hat, the works. I was a hot mess. I figured I was just running to the very first desk at Target. No big deal. So of course. . . you all know how this ends. . . I ran into not just anyone, but someone I haven’t seen much in years – one of my former youth group kids all grown up, married, has kids – someone who has looked up to me for over a decade now. And there I was looking like death warmed over. It was mortifying.

The funny thing about it is, the woman I ran into didn’t care that I looked like a mess. She was just happy to see me! And I was happy to see her! What mattered was that our joy at seeing one another overcame the fact that I looked like garbage. What’s crazy is that we tend to be really sensitive to what we put on our bodies before leaving the house to go somewhere, but we’ll just toss on whatever attitude happens to be available. But our actions matter more than our clothes. The hug was more important than my sweat pants. And our actions aren’t as important as what’s on the inside. The hug mattered because of the joy and love I felt when I saw an old friend.

We should strive to act in ways that are compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. We should avoid wearing actions that are selfish, fear-filled, angry, and rushed. Right in the middle of this passage, we see the acknowledgement that our actions won’t be perfect. There will be grievances. There will be call to forgive one another and move past wrongs at some point. Nobody walks out the door looking perfect all the time.

But in all of that, we are given a path to fixing the yuck in our hearts. And thank goodness, that path isn’t just, “try harder to be nice.” Yes, acting nicer on the outside can help to change our hearts and minds a bit – mostly because it puts us into situations we might otherwise avoid and helps us to see things differently. It’s the change within that really matters, though. We are told to let the message of Christ dwell in us, not just near us or on us like a coat we can take off.

And we are given other people in our lives who can call us out when we’re wearing shabby attitudes and behaviors. There is this terribly indulgent and totally superficial show that I used to watch all the time. This is confession time, friends. We’re in a safe place, right? I can admit this to you? It’s called, “What Not to Wear.” These two fashion gurus sneak up and surprise some unsuspecting soul who has been turned in by friends or family by having no fashion sense at all. Then they take them on a $5000 shopping spree on which they consult so the person knows what to wear given their profession and body type, etc. They get them a makeover for their hair and makeup, etc. It’s terribly snarky and rude and it’s a ton of fun to watch. But a major point is that in this show, the person with the terrible clothes is nominated by a friend or family member. It’s their community that tells them. . . “hey. . . change your clothes you look like a slob.”

The other interesting thing about the show is that when the clothes the person is wearing are changed and they see how fashionable they are capable of being, their attitude about themselves changes. People who always thought they were dumpy are suddenly strutting around saying, “I feel beautiful!” or “I never thought I could look this good, so I never bothered.”

Attitudes are like that. When we change the way we interact on the outside, it can change the way we think and cause a change of heart. But we need the help of our community to say, “Hey, man. . . you’re wearing a really crummy attitude today.” And we especially need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us how to dress our attitudes and help us to learn how to keep the message of Christ in our hearts.

In this time of year when we're thinking of starting new disciplines – New Year’s resolutions - new regimes, "making a little more effort" in our diets, organizational skills, housekeeping, getting to the weekly fitness class at church, etc. What about how we’re dressing on our way out the door in regards to attitudes and Christ-like behavior? Are we letting the Holy Spirit dress us before we leave the house looking like a spiritual mess?

The Grinch – wearing a terrible attitude because his tiny heart didn’t see reason to wear anything nicer - stole all the presents and the feast and the decorations set out for Christmas in Whoville. He did everything he could to stop it from coming – in much the same way people (the church included, my friends) often try to stop God’s mission from happening – but Christmas came anyway. Herod tried to have the Baby King Jesus killed, but Christ came anyway. You see in the book, a change starts to happen when the Grinch finds himself in a new place – a place where Christmas means more than the presents and the decorations and the food. We find ourselves changing when we are in new places, when we put on new attitudes and values as we are called to do in today’s passage from Colossians. We discover that we feel differently on the inside when we allow the Holy Spirit to work on the outside and when we try to cooperate with that work. And something changes in our hearts that makes it easier to pick up and put on that new attitude. It’s just how we dress ourselves before we step out the door.

And then. . .

“And what happened then. . .? Well. . . in Whoville they say that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day! And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight, he whizzed with his load through the bright morning light and be brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he. . . HE HIMSELF . . . ! The Grinch carved the roast beast!”