Remembering Christmas Past

Today we continue our Advent series leading up to Christmas. We are looking at the story by Charles Dickens ‘a Christmas Carol’ where Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. This ghost tells Scrooge he missed the whole point of life. He was so busy making money he forgot to care about people. As we explored this idea last week we saw how making a human connection with another person can bring us hope. It can transform lives and even save lives! Ultimately our hope is found in Jesus Christ whose symbolic arrival we wait for throughout Advent and especially on Christmas Eve.

This week, though, we continue the story of Ebenezer Scrooge looking at the first ghost to visit him in the story - the ghost of Christmas Past. We’ll look at what role our past plays in our own redemption as we look at the story of Scrooge. To get at this idea we are going to look at a passage from 2 Corinthians. Its a letter written by the Apostle Paul to people living in the city of Corinth. The Apostle is actually in some hot water in this letter. There are different groups in the ancient church that expect different things of him. He wanted to come and visit them, but wasn’t able to go and he is writing to defend his ministry among the Corinthians. In our passage for today he is sharing something he’s learned - how he found peace in living by faith. This is 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10. Hear now the word of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:10 NRSV

So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

[And from Luke 3:3-6]

Luke 3:3–6 (NRSV)

He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

The word of the Lord for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray to hear from the Lord as we explore this passage: Lord, may we be an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. Help us find peace, in our past, in our imperfect bodies, in the things that haven’t gone our way. Let our peace be in you, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Golden Balls probably doesn’t sound like a terribly exciting name for a game show, but it took England by storm back in 2007 with millions of people watching. The premise was simple enough. You start with four players and need a majority vote to eliminate one person. In the next round you vote to remove one more player and then when there’s just two people it gets interesting. You have to decide if you are going to split the prize money or steal the prize money. If you both pick split, then you get half the money. If you pick split and the other person picks steal then you lose - they get all the money and you walk away empty handed. But if both try and steal everyone loses. It makes for a dramatic finish to the game show when they reveal who split and who stole; who won and who lost.

About half the time people will agree together to split the money so everyone wins, but every once in a while one or both will try and steal. And when that happens, you have to wonder about people. Are people trustworthy? Can you really believe that another person will follow through on what they say they are going to do.

There’s one particular episode of Golden Balls that sticks out though, because it broke all the rules. The last two contestants were discussing together if they would split or steal and one of them, Nick, tells the other contestant “I am going to steal and I will split the money with you after the show.” This doesn’t make any sense. If he just picked split, then the money will be divided by the game show, but Nick is adamant. He is going to steal. There is no other option he will pick, so the other person’s only option is to split the money, otherwise they both lose. Once it comes time to reveal their choices, the other contestant reveals “split” and Nick…Nick has chosen “split” too! He said he was dead set on stealing and then he goes and does the opposite. Some might be happy about that, since they both win some money, but the other contestant was angry. He felt railroaded into a choice he didn’t want to make and then Nick goes and does the opposite of what he said he would do. Nick made himself look like a conniving thief only to switch at the last moment and do the kind, philanthropic thing. If you ask him, he says he did it so that the other contestant felt like he didn’t have the option to be bad. Its enough to make you think people are evil, even when they are being good.

Well this whole scenario in Golden Balls is based on an idea called the prisoner’s dilemma. In psychology, its this idea that two people may not cooperate together even if it is in their own best interest to do so. Its an interesting read on the details of this dilemma, but I can’t help but think ‘how foolish do humans have to be to not do the thing that is in our own best interest?’ Why is it that cooperating together is so bad? Those of us that consider ourselves “good,” which I imagine is the vast majority of us, we’ve got to be so distraught over this. Why do we keep hurting ourselves? Why do we keep doing selfish things when we know it will harm us and probably harm others around us, too? Why can’t we just be good to each other?

Last week in my sermon (in this service/at the 9:30 service) I kept referring to Scrooge’s partner as “Bob Marley.” I conflated Bob Cratchet, Scrooge’s current employee with his old partner Jacob Marley. So instead of saying Scrooge’s partners name I kept saying the name of a reggae star who died 40 years ago…and you sniggered at me. Nobody shouted out to tell me I had it wrong. You laughed! But don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. I haven’t lost faith in you. You still have a chance to redeem yourself, just like Scrooge.

In Dickens story Ebenezer Scrooge goes to bed and is awoken by the ghost of Christmas past. The ghost transports him to his childhood home and Scrooge’s lip trembles and a tear comes to his eye. He feels immediately connected to all the sights and sounds. The children are laughing and playing as he walks down the familiar streets. The ghost brings him to see a boy working hard in school, who is sad and left alone. The boy is Scrooge. He is made fun of by classmates and neglected by his family. Scrooge cries again for this poor boy who tries so hard. The ghost quickly transports them forward in time. A few years later the same boy, a little older now, is greeted by his little sister. She comes in and tells her brother that he can come home. Their father is better now; he doesn’t drink as much and he doesn’t hit anymore. He is a changed man. He’s taken a few years forward again and now he is a man apprenticing for someone else. He has co-workers and friends. His boss invites dozens of people over on Christmas Eve and they dance and they dance and they dance. He is happy, which is surprising for such a crotchety fellow. But we find out two other important details of Scrooge’s life back then. One is that a few years later his little sister, who was so innocent and always so kind to Scrooge has died. She left behind a son, Scrooge’s nephew and this obviously weighed on his heart. But the last of what we see and hear with the ghost of Christmas past is a monumentally difficult moment for Scrooge. He is with a young woman who says she doesn’t matter to him anymore. He has fallen in love with someone else.... something else. She is disposable to him because all he cares about is money. We talked some about this last week, but what’s important here is that Ebenezer Scrooge gives up on his relationship with this woman because he is too obsessed with making money. A few years later and he sees this woman he loved married to a different man, happy with a home full of children and Scrooge can take no more. He demands to be taken home because his heart is broken. He is ravaged emotionally seeing all that he has lost. Money never brought him the peace and solace he sought. Instead he is angry and bitter and broken.

This story is a warning for all of us. Peace is not found in material possessions. But where is it found? During the time of Jesus the Roman Empire thought they could bring peace. They forced everyone into submission with military power. They thought power and fear and intimidation would keep people in line. Of course it didn’t work. The human spirit is only subdued for so long by fear. Israel, in particular, has this rich history of resistance and independence. In Exodus its Egypt who they plunder and escape from; then in the Promised Land they resist the Philistines. In Jesus’ time its Rome. Israel cries out to God to bring an end to this evil empire and for the Messiah to come and bring a sword to their enemies; to beat them in war with bloody revenge. They aren’t alone in this, of course. How many times do we try and do the same thing today? How often do we want to force people to do exactly our will.

I have two children and sometimes they don’t do what I want them to do and instead of talking it out with them I might try and force my will. Sure I know more than them, I’m wiser and can see logic they can’t, but that doesn’t mean I should impose my will on them. That only works for so long; eventually they become teenagers, eventually they’ll be stronger than me and I don’t want them imposing their will on me, so I gotta get this right now. I need peace now; I need a better way than military power or political power or forcing others to do my bidding in my home, my little kingdom. I need peace.

Well the Apostle Paul offers us insight in 2 Corinthians. He says, “don’t lose heart.” Don’t be afraid. Don’t let go of a sense of peace just because you experience affliction in this world. You’re going to have trouble, but don’t lose your focus on God. Just before the passage we read today is this famous verse about treasure in clay jars. We usually take that to mean that we are weak and fragile, but God is strong. Now that’s true, but that’s not the point of the analogy. Paul is describing how incredibly powerful actions, both miracles and the testimony about Jesus Christ, is a treasure. And that treasure lives inside of us; God has placed it there so that others might see God in us and working through us. Our mortal bodies might get weak and die, like a clay jar may break, but this simply better prepares us for eternity with God, the source of that powerful, transformative treasure at work inside us. Paul goes on to describe how we are made right with God, how we find real peace. Its no secret; when you pray, when you confess to God, when you turn away from the things that are wrong, you find peace between you and God. The same dynamic plays out between us and other people; when you pray for others, when we confess that we have wronged them, and we work to make things right again, we are at peace with others.

That’s the whole point of the ministry of John the Baptist. He says ‘I’m not good enough to untie the sandals of the coming Messiah.’ But, if we repent, if we make the path smooth for God, we can be at peace with the Lord. And we can do the same thing with the people around us.

Let’s bring this to a close. There was a woman named Stella who one year didn’t want to celebrate Christmas. Her husband had died several months before so she decided not to decorate that year. She thought no one else would see the decorations and she was too lonely to do it that year. That afternoon, though, her doorbell rang. The young man at the door handed her a box and asked her to sign her name. She invited him inside from the cold and, as she signed, asked what was in the box? The man pulled the flap and out came a labrador puppy. She laughed and asked who sent this dog to her?

The young man handed her an envelope and said it was all in there. The dog had been purchased last July when the mother was stil pregnant. She was trained and housebroken as a Christmas gift to her. Stella asked again, confused, said “but who bought this for me?” The man said, finally, “your husband, ma’am. Merry Christmas.”

She opened the letter, which was from her deceased husband. It explained that he had purchased the dog three weeks before his death as a last Christmas gift to her. The letter was full of words of love and encouragement to his wife to be strong and that he was waiting for the day that they would be together again. She wiped away her tears and picked up that puppy. She held it tight and noticed the Christmas lights on her neighbor’s home, and heard the radio playing “Joy to the World.” Suddenly Stella felt a sense of peace wash over her. Joy and wonder were greater than her grief this Christmas. So she turned to her new friend and said “It’s just you and me, but you know what? There’s a box in the basement I think you’ll like. It has a Christmas tree and some decorations in it. Let’s go get it.”

Stella was at peace because she felt her husband’s love even from the grave. We can find peace this Christmas, too, when we recognize God’s love for us. All God asks is that we have a desire for him, too. Seek him and all the gifts and joys and treasures of Christ are yours. Even hard-hearted Scrooge was softened by remembering the love he had once had in his life. Consider this - Jesus, the son of God, was born to human parents. Somehow God was willing to let imperfect parents raise his baby boy. He knows how broken we are; God knows our frailities and our selfish nature, yet there’s Jesus with these people. Its almost as if God trusts us more than we trust ourselves!

So don’t let the thoughtless actions of those around you steal your peace. Don’t let the focus of a person on themselves distract you from Christ. Come back to Jesus. Pursue the invisible, eternal one and you’ll find your peace this Christmas. Despite all you’ve gone through, all that is in your past, God trusts you. So as you work to make the path smooth for the coming of the King, let your heart be at peace. Amen? Amen.