Christmas Yet to Come

Today we wrap up our Advent series on the redemption of Scrooge. Each week we’ve explored how even Ebenezer Scrooge can be redeemed, and each step in his journey has involved visits from different ghosts. At first he saw his deceased partner Jacob Marley weighed down by money, dejected that he had failed to care for humanity in his time on earth. Next was the ghost of Christmas past, where Scrooge saw himself as a boy. He saw how he was neglected and abused back then, but the worst was a self-inflicted wound when he was older. He rejected love from a woman and idolized money instead. It was there with the ghost that he saw the error of his ways.

Last week was the ghost of Christmas present, where Scrooge saw both the poverty and the absolute joy of his employee, Bob Cratchet. We heard about Cratchet’s son, Tiny Tim, who said God can use even his broken body to remind people of the one who heals the lame and binds up the broken. But Scrooge was grieved by the thought that if nothing changes, if he doesn’t change and help others, Tiny Tim will die. We must be people that will seek true joy, not in getting the temporary things that make us feel happy, but in helping others, making this world a better place for everyone. Like our advent candles we looked at hope, peace and joy. Today we explore the topic of love.

This is also a look at the final ghost in Dickens’ novel, ‘A Christmas Carol’ known as the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Our scripture for today, read by ?/?, comes from Luke chapter 1, which might feel just a bit out of order. The last two weeks we heard about John the Baptist; now we go back just a bit and hear about his mother Elizabeth who is pregnant with John, and her niece, Mary is also pregnant with a baby who will come to be known as Jesus the Christ. Mary set out to be with her aunt during her pregnancy and likely the birth, and these are the blessings they declare on their meeting. This is Luke 1:39-55; hear now the Word of the Lord.

Luke 1:39–55 (NRSV)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

[And from Micah 5:2]

Micah 5:2 (NRSV)

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

The word of the Lord for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray together: God, work in us, that we might be an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. May we love others like you love us and may we bless others like you bless us. Amen.

Love is one of those things that you may not feel like you need a lesson on. Everyone agrees with love, right? Of course we should love others! But hearing a sermon on love doesn’t mean we are following through on it, does it? I love my children very much, but I can think of more than a few times where I was not loving or kind to them. I love my wife very much, but I have not always treated her the way she deserves to be treated. Hmm, maybe I’m the one who needs the sermon on love?

My wife, Emily, and I have been taking classes this past week. We are licensed to be foster parents and every few years we have to take a number of classes to maintain our license. So, this week we took a class called the “Nurtured Heart Approach” to parenting. In it they shared with us a statistic that had us baffled. They said a child, on average, hears 432 negative comments or words every day. Positive comments, however, come in at just 32 a day. Imagine that; all day long its negative, negative, negative. Hearing just a few positive words would be like a ray of sunshine. And consistent positive words? Hundreds of positive things a day? That seems nearly impossible when we are surrounded by so much negativity.

That’s what we see with Ebenezer Scrooge. He’s so negative, but that’s true of the people around him, too. From his childhood he was neglected and abused by his father. His sister died after giving birth, the woman he loved rejected him because she didn’t like the direction his life was heading. Scrooge makes a little bit more sense when you see all that went wrong in his life.

Now that doesn’t justify his behavior. It doesn’t make it right, and when the ghost of Christmas yet to come arrives, Scrooge is terrified. He senses gloom and judgement looming; his legs tremble. He knows the ghost’s teachings will likely do him good, but he can’t help but to be scared. So he follows the lead of this phantom covered in black. He sees on the street some business men he knows. They are talking about someone who is dead and whether they will attend the funeral. They guess that it is likely to be a cheap funeral and say they won’t go unless they serve lunch!

Next they are at a pawn shop and three people all meet at the same time. We learn they have taken items from the dead man’s home and plan to sell it for whatever amount of money they can get for it. Scrooge is taken by the ghost back to the Cratchet’s home. Tiny Tim has died and his father, Bob, is so sad. He is comforted by his family and by Scrooge’s nephew. Scrooge doesn’t understand, though. This is not about him. Where is he in all this? He is led to one final destination, where he sees a grave. He knows what this means. In fear he looks at the tombstone and sees that it is his own name that is on it. He is the dead man. He is the one that no one pities.

And Scrooge knows he has erred. He has missed out on what matters most in life. His life has no love in it, thus it has no meaning or purpose. No one cares about him because he has not poured love into others. He has let the negativity of his past conquer him and so nothing positive ever comes out of his life.

This is not the end of his story, but it is the most dire moment. At death there is no turning back so he pleads with the ghost, ‘is this the future that must be or only the future that MAY be?’ The ghost does not answer and he vows to honor Christmas, to live by the lessons he has learned. In agony he prays that his fate may yet be reversed and as he does so the ghost disappears.

I can’t help but think, what would it have been like if Scrooge had a different life? What would have happened if instead of being surrounded by negativity he heard words of encouragement. What if people filled him with positive words. What if Scrooge had been loved? In the class Emily and I took we were challenged to follow through on three rules for parenting. One is to say no; to not reward a child’s negative behavior with any time or attention. The second was to say yes to success. That means every time something is going good I’m going to point it out; I’m going to encourage more of that. But its more than just “catching kids being good.” Its a recognition that all of life is miraculous and there is always something good to be celebrated in every circumstance.

The final rule is to be clear, to set limits and stick to them, but always giving a pathway of forgiveness and reconciliation. That seems like a great basis to turn the tide against negativity and to let our love have a positive voice. Love is not negativity - it is finding a way forward always and with everyone, even the Scrooges in our life!

I have to say, though; there was one part of the training that kept rubbing me the wrong way. They referred over and over to building a child’s inner wealth. Because we were on a Zoom call, I would turn to Emily and mumble to her every time they said it during the training, “spirituality.” That’s the word we’ve used for inner wealth for thousands of years. But I get it…it sounds too religious. A robust spirituality, though, is what helps us get through the trials. When things are tough a person who has developed a strong spirituality is able to stay focused on the positive and keep loving people despite the struggles. That’s what we want for our children and that’s why we keep coming to church week after week - we are building our resources, our knowledge, our skills, our social networks, so that when things get tough we have each other and we can share love among us!

When Mary, who would become the mother of Jesus, hears that her aunt is pregnant she decides to go and visit with her. That’s the start of the story from the end of Luke 1 we read today, but earlier in the chapter there is something interesting that happens. Elizabeth is with her husband, Ananias, and they are getting old. They have no children, which is really bad back then. Children were like your retirement plan, because they would make sure you had a home, food and clothing no matter how old you got. But the big news is that Ananias is a priest and was picked to go into the temple and offer the incense. This is huge. This would only happen probably once in his entire life. And as he goes inside getting ready to light the incense he sees an angel.

He’s completely terrified, probably like how Scrooge felt when he saw the ghost of Christmas yet to come. But the angel speaks to him and tells him positive, encouraging words! He doesn’t see his own tombstone. Instead the angel says, “Don’t be afraid. Your wife will have a son and you are to name him John.” Ananias is confused by this. He knows that he and his wife are getting older. How can they have a child? So he asks, “How can this happen?” And the angel hears his negativity. The angel says, “I’m Gabriel the archangel. I stand in God’s presence and bring you this Good News, and you doubt it? Because of that, you will be unable to speak until it happens.”

So as Ananias leaves the temple everyone is wondering what happened. He can’t talk, he’s signaling and signing to them and they realize he had a vision, but that’s about all they know. I’m sure it got the people talking, but eventually everyone just goes home. Then Mary enters the picture. Gabriel gives Mary a similar message to the one he gave Ananias - she will give birth to a son and name him Jesus. But Mary, her response is a little different. On its surface it seems the same, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Ananias wanted to know how his wife would have a baby in old age and Mary wanted to know how she could have a baby if she is a virgin. Those seem like fair questions, don’t they? Some folks think of Mary’s question as one filled with faith. She isn’t rejecting what the angel is saying, but asking how it will happen. Mary usually gets a pass on her question, but I would argue that Ananias’ question wasn’t all that different. In fact, Ananias going mute actually increases the wonder of the miracle he experiences.

Eventually we find out that, after his child is born, he insists that the baby’s name be John, just like the angel told him it should be. He writes it down and as soon as that happens he is able to speak. He begins to praise God and offers a prophesy about the wonder and mercy of God. Its all pretty phenomenal and points to an incredible move of God. Then Mary hears that she, too, will have a child, and that she is to name him Jesus. That’s when we get to the passage we read today.

Mary has taken on a rather difficult journey. It sounds like she travels alone three or four days into the hill country where her aunt lives. There would have been bandits and theives, but she goes anyways. And the moment she arrives, the baby in Elizabeth’s belly jumps! She knows this is a sign and she recognizes that the baby in her is sensing the Holy Spirit. God is present with this woman, Mary, and the child that she carries inside her. Both have experienced a miracle in becoming pregnant and now both are filled with the Holy Spirit.

So Mary speaks out! She praises God and we hear how God is merciful for generations, and lifts up the lowly. The hungry are filled with goodness and God remembers his people. This is the magnificat, one of the oldest Christian hymns. Maybe you’ve heard it sung. There’s a version by Bach that is playful and beautiful, and it feels like it is lifting you closer and closer to God.

Mary’s words are words of faith and love. She praises God for the good that she sees. I don’t know if you know this context, but these words of praise for God come at a time when things are very wrong in the world. The Roman Empire has a stranglehold on this small, poor nation of Israel. People can’t practice their religion the way they KNOW they are supposed to because of the government. Its been literally hundreds of years since anyone has heard God speak through prophecy. Think of that; four hundred years of silence from God. Mary and Elizabeth are essentially the first people to hear God speak for as far back as anyone can remember. Do they say, “God, why did you wait so long?! Why have you abandoned us?” No, they praised God and declared God’s love for his people. They saw this opportunity and celebrated the good in it. I believe God calls us to something similar. Whatever we may find happening around us, whatever our circumstances, we are people that are meant to declare God’s love.

There was a mother who had two children and was just returning from a trip celebrating Christmas with family. It was exhausting in all the usual ways, but even more so this year because this woman, Alana, was pregnant. Very pregnant. Pregnant to the point where she could have a baby at any moment. So returning from this trip was good, but it also meant the kids were overstimulated from traveling on Christmas. Alana knew that’s what it was - they were practicing the ancient art of sibling rivalry; her daughter wanted space and her son wanted to push every button of hers he could. As her son tries to leap from the coffee table to the couch, Alana is exhausted, parenting as best she can while laying down. She tells her son, “don’t bug your sister,” “stop it, now,” and “no jumping!” As she gets down to her sons level to look directly into his face to tell him to stop again he beats her to it! He yells at her to “stop!”

Now she’s mad. She feels like she’s done every positive parenting step she can, and STILL, he’s telling HER to stop. But suddenly a light bulb goes on. Her son is not doing anything different from what she is doing. He shouts “stop” the exact same way she shouts “stop.” If things are going to change, it has to start with her. So she sits her kids down and tells them she wants everyone to stop shouting stop, including her! If she shouts it, her kids can remind her they aren’t doing that anymore. Now they are going to say yes as often as they can.

It works out beautifully. There’s an instant change in the home. Part of it is science - its hard for a child to understand “stop” and to know what to do instead. That’s two steps; a double-process, which is tough to do! Instead of “calm down” she starts to say “take a deep breath. We can work through this together.” Instead of “leave him alone,” she says “come over here and spend time with me!” Instead of “This is nothing to be upset about,” she shares “I can see this is hard, let’s see if we can work through it together.” Its a shift away from what is not being done to what can be done. That, I think, communicates love! Its Mary celebrating what God is doing, not bemoaning what didn’t happen. It is the most direct form of love a parent can share with their child. Just think about a world where instead of the answer always being “no” and “we can’t do that” and “God, why won’t you change this?” Its “yes” and “we can find a way” and “praise God!” That’s what Mary did.

This is not just about the world being a nicer, friendlier place, although that’s a pretty nice thing to have around Christmas time. This is about the ultimate plan of God - to share God’s love with the whole world, that we might be at peace with one another and treat each other the way God would treat us. God has an unrelenting love for each of us and he showed it in the birth of Jesus. God is here with us and will never abandon us; whatever happens God’s love is with us through Jesus.

One last story as we wrap up. Ryan and Morgan are a couple that adopted a child from an orphanage in another country. They had passed through all the legal steps and where grateful to be done with it - Charlie was now their son. But right before the day they were to pick up their son from the orphanage things changed. Because of political upheaval overseas the country had frozen the process. No children were allowed to be adopted and leave the country. Charlie would not be coming to Ryan and Morgan.

So, they decided they would go to him. They flew from the US and camped outside of the orphanage. They spent half their day with their son and the other half of the day lobbying with courts and meeting government officials to try and get their son released. After a few weeks Morgan came home, but Ryan stayed. It was Christmas time and he did not want to be in a foreign country away from his home, far from his family. But he loved his son, so he was there. He would stay and fight until his son was able to go home with him.

That’s a picture of God with us. He loves us. He is always with us, whether we hear his voice or not. God is relentlessly positive in his view of us, always desiring the best for us and encouraging us to make things right with one another.

You know for Ryan it took many more weeks before he was able to bring his adopted son Charlie home. For God, he never gives up. He will always love us and advocate for us; so now, its our turn to do that for one another. If we do, we’ll be like Scrooge! Not a crotchety old man who shouts “Bah! Humbug!” at anything to do with Christmas, but a man who is changed from the inside out as three ghosts remind him what it really means to love. When Scrooge woke up after the ghosts he began to give away his money. He bought a huge Christmas turkey for Bob Cratchet, he forgave the debts of those who owed him, he even gave Bob a raise and became like a second father to Tiny Tim. In the end, Tiny Tim would not die. He would live long because he was loved. That’s what God’s love does in us, and its what our love can do for others. May we love this Christmas just as God has loved us in sending Jesus among us. Amen? Amen.

Micah 5:2–5 (NRSV)

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to rule in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of his kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth;

and he shall be the one of peace.

If the Assyrians come into our land

and tread upon our soil,

we will raise against them seven shepherds

and eight installed as rulers.

Psalm 80:1–7 (NRSV)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock!

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth

before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.

Stir up your might,

and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;

let your face shine, that we may be saved.

O Lord God of hosts,

how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears,

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us the scorn of our neighbors;

our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved.