The ghost of Christmas future

He had seen the future, and he didn’t like it one bit. So he set out to change it. By changing himself. See, Ebeneezer Scrooge knew that he had made bad choices in life. He had been so driven to succeed that he had driven away anyone who cared about him. He loved money more than people so he had turned his back on anyone in need. He did not actively hurt them, not physically, anyway. Words were his weapon of choice. Words and indifference. Scrooge did the most damage to others simply by choosing not to see them. But, one Christmas, his eyes were opened. He saw clearly all that he had been missing. All the joy. And all the opportunities.

Scrooge had the power to make a lot of people happy. He had the means to make them happy. He had opportunities to make them happy. He had LOTS of opportunities to make a difference, but, for most of his life, Scrooge had failed to take advantage of any of them. Unless something changed, and changed quickly, all that money that Scrooge had accumulated would simply be wasted. It did not bring him joy, and it did not help anyone.

Not until love was born in Scrooge. Love was just a word. A notion. An idea. And one that Scrooge scoffed at, to be honest. Until it was born in him that Christmas. But once love WAS born in Scrooge, he donated a huge sum of money to charity, bought a prize turkey for the Cratchit family’s Christmas dinner, gave his clerk a raise and pledged to help the struggling family. When love was born in Scrooge, he helped Tiny Tim get the medical care that would save his life. In fact, the reborn Scrooge spent so much time with the Cratchits that he became like a second father to the frail child. That Christmas, love took on flesh in Scrooge.

That’s what Christmas is all about: Word taking on flesh.

The first chapter of John’s gospel tells us that the Word of God became flesh when Jesus was born. The Word had always been there. With God. The Word was there when everything came into being. In fact, everything came into being THROUGH the Word. Without the Word, nothing would have ever existed. Not one tree. Not one snowflake. Not one shooting star. All things came into being through the Word. All things and all people.

One day, God said, “Let us make humankind in our image.” So we were created in the image of the Word. And God led humanity through the Word.

Over the years, God had a lot of good words for the people. Words like victory, love, faithfulness, joy, gratitude, righteousness, equity, peace and justice. But, when you’re living by faith in a God you cannot see, it can be easy to doubt. To get discouraged. Or give up hope.

So the Word took on flesh. At Christmas, the Almighty God, the One who created all things and rules all things, the Lord God Almighty came into our world as a helpless child. God came to us as one of us. The Word took on flesh in Jesus. So we could finally see for ourselves what God is really like.

The Gospels are full of stories of the Word made flesh. In Jesus, we can see the Word at work in the world. We don’t have to figure out what it means to love. Jesus shows us when he heals a man who had been sick for 38 years. We don’t have to figure out what it means to forgive. Jesus shows us when he does not condemn a woman caught in adultery. We don’t have to figure out what it means to serve. Jesus shows us when he washes the feet of his followers. The Word took on flesh.

There are a lot of good words in us. And God calls us to let those good words take on flesh. It’s not enough to say, “You can trust me.” God calls us to embody trust. To be trustworthy.[i] It’s not enough to say, “Peace be with you.” God calls us to embody peace. To be peacemakers. It’s not enough to say, “I am a Christian.” God calls us to embody Christ. To be Christ-like. That’s what it means for the Word to take on flesh in us.

And amazing things happen when the Word takes on flesh. When the Word takes on flesh in us, it becomes real for those around us.

Early this spring, a desperate situation turned deadly when Philippine security forces fired on a peaceful demonstration of 5,000 farmers who were asking for rice.[ii] The hungry people got bullets from the government, but were offered compassion and shelter by Bishop Ciriaco Francisco and other members of the Spottswood Methodist Mission Center. The bishop’s decision to offer sanctuary to the starving families put him in danger, and he was threatened with arrest. But he was adamant. “…it is a sin to deny them food,” he said.

The protesters were blocking Quezon Boulevard, a major road that runs in front of the Spottswood mission center, which is the home of the bishop’s office. When the violence broke out, protesters poured into the center, and the compound was surrounded by police. The violence left three dead and 18 severely injured. Close to a 100 people were wounded, and scores were missing. The center sheltered thousands of women, men and children for three days.

The province of Cotabato, where the farmers live, was under a “state of calamity” due to El Nino phenomenon, a weather condition that destroyed crops. The farmers were starving and were asking for 15,000 sacks of rice.

“The farmers gathered for three days in front of the National Food Authority warehouse hoping the governor would listen to their cries,” Bishop Francisco said. “But her heart was callous and she did not listen.”

However, the farmers finally received rice from non-government organizations, private individuals and religious groups. They got help because words like “compassion” and “justice” took on flesh in Bishop Francisco. The Word took on flesh, and countless lives have been forever changed.

That’s what happens when the Word takes on flesh. Lives are changed. Life changes. And we move ever closer to the future God envisioned for us so many years ago. A future of endless peace when the Son of God is seated on the throne, and his authority grows all the time.

It's simple, really. The future changes when we change. God has given us so many good words, words like peace, justice, righteousness, salvation, comfort, redemption, power, life, light, healing, wholeness, joy. What good words are within you just waiting, waiting to take on flesh?[iii]

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel![iv]

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[i] Parker J. Palmer. “When Words Become Flesh: Risking Vulnerability in a Violent World.” Published Wednesday, December 23, 2015 on the On Being with Krista Tippett website at www.onbeing.org. Downloaded December 23, 2016.

[ii] The story of Bishop Francisco is told by Kathy Gilbert in “Philippines bishop honored for sheltering poor.” Published December 15, 2016 on the United Methodist Church website at www.umc.org/news-and-media/philippine-bishop-honored-for-sheltering-poor. Downloaded December 24, 2016.

[iii] Palmer.

[iv] Phillips Brooks. “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989. 230.

The ghost of Christmas past

He thought she had cheated on him. It was understandable, really. Any other man would have thought the same thing. Joseph and Mary had been engaged only for a short time. They did not live together as husband and wife. But Mary had turned up pregnant, and Joseph knew he was not the father. So he assumed, as any man would have, that Mary had cheated on him.

We can only imagine how much that must have hurt. In those days, marriage was generally a business deal instead of a romantic affair, so we do not know whether or not Joseph loved Mary. And we do not know if her imagined infidelity broke his heart. But it certainly would have wounded his pride. Mary had brought shame upon him. She made him look bad in the community. Everyone would be talking, making unkind comments. Saying things like, “What kind of man can’t keep his woman in line?” You know how people talk….

It was the worst kind of betrayal. By law, Mary could have been stoned in the streets for adultery. But Joseph was a righteous man, and he was “unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace.” Like the God he worshipped, Joseph was gracious. Merciful. Kind. So he decided to break the engagement privately, perhaps making it possible for the “other man” to “do the right thing” and “make an honest woman” out of Mary. There was no other man, but Joseph did not know that. He was about to blow apart a family because he believed something that was not true.

But God intervened. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream, with a message. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has not cheated on you. She has done nothing wrong. In fact, she has been blessed! The child she is carrying is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Her son is the one your people have been looking for. He is the Messiah! He will save your people from their sins.”

It was a powerful dream. Very convincing. So, when Joseph woke up, he did what the Lord had told him to do. He set aside his anger and took Mary as his wife. A whole family was saved by the power of forgiveness.

If you stop and think about it, the birth of Jesus is all about reconciliation, bringing people together in peace. Joseph forgives Mary for what he believes is her indiscretion. And Mary forgives Joseph (and everyone else) for believing the worst about her. And, of course, God forgives the whole world for our sins. That’s why Jesus was born: to heal broken relationships.

Lots of people will tell you that Christmas is a time for family. But, for others, it is a time for family drama. And that is exactly why some people dread Christmas. Getting the whole family together can be such a hassle. Just dealing with everyone’s schedules is hard enough. And then there are the different expectations. And interesting personalities! And conflicting opinions and traditions and dietary preferences. Not to mention in-laws, politics, and finances. When you come to the dining room table, you’re already sitting on a powder keg of emotion. Add a spark of ill will, jealousy or pure old indigestion … and the explosion can level a home in minutes. Perhaps you have been there for a few of those….

Behind the drama are unresolved issues. Many times, we have not dealt with the past. It seems easier to just walk away. But, like Scrooge, we may be haunted by memories.

Sometimes our memories are sad ones. The first thing Scrooge recalls is an incredibly lonely childhood. Unwanted by his parents, he had been sent away to boarding school and left there, even during the holidays. But the other boys went home, laughing and singing, and forgetting all about poor Scrooge. The only company he had been left with was his own imagination.

In those days, Scrooge would have loved for someone to notice him and show him any kindness. And, suddenly, with that memory comes the stunning realization that, earlier in the day, when someone DID show him kindness, Scrooge did not appreciate it. In fact, he pushed people away.

He hadn’t always been that way. Scrooge also remembered a time when he had been part of a happy, loving surrogate family of sorts. Mr. Feeziwig had taken Scrooge under his wing and given the young man a start in business. But the old man and his wife had also opened their hearts to Scrooge. Their kindness and unsuppressed joy and love of life had transformed his own miserable existence, turning him from a lonely boy into a happy young man who had friends and even a fiancé.

Scrooge had never intended to push them all away. But he was driven by a need to succeed. He had thrown himself into his work and was overwhelmed by greed. He lost himself! He lost himself and everyone he had ever cared for. Many years later, it was hard to face the truth, but it was necessary.

When we face the past and acknowledge unpleasant memories, bitter disappointments, and old wounds, we can learn powerful truths about ourselves. Truths that help us to take control of the present. We can choose how we will live today instead of being controlled by the past.

One thing to keep in mind, whenever we pause to look back, is that our memories are incomplete. They can even be misleading.[i]

One of the best Christmas presents I received as a child was a set of clothes for my Barbie dolls that my mother had sewn by hand. Night after night, after my brother and I had gone to bed, my mother had stayed up, cutting and sewing stylish clothes for my dolls out of scraps of fabric left over from other projects. I was really proud of those clothes! I thought they were beautiful! And I felt special knowing that my mother had worked so hard to make them for me. That is my memory of it.

What I don’t remember, what I could not have known then, is the shame my mother felt because my parents could not afford to buy us gifts. That is the kind of truth you only learn when you look back and try to see things from a broader perspective. And perspective is important.

Sometimes we assume that the way things were for US is the way things were SUPPOSED to be. In fact, we can be so invested in recreating the past that we even find ourselves repeating mistakes.[ii] But, as Matt Rawle notes in The Redemption of Scrooge, what we remember might not be the best picture of what they SHOULD be.[iii] And we can get very frustrated when our picture of what Christmas SHOULD be does not measure up to what IS.[iv]

My childhood Christmases were all about family. We had big family gatherings that lasted for days. I thought that was how it was SUPPOSED to be, and I spent much of my 20s fighting off depression and resentment during the holidays because, once my brother got married, we no longer had those grand affairs.

But the thing I realized this year is that I was letting my happy memories make me sad. Instead of appreciating the storybook gatherings of my childhood and letting the memories bring me joy year after year, I was using them to find fault with the present.

When we face the past, we are then free to forgive it. Sometimes the person in the past we need to forgive is ourselves. And sometimes we need to forgive others. It can be very hard to do either one.

But the best present you can give yourself, or anyone else, is forgiveness. Bitterness, anger, resentment … they keep you chained to the past. Forgiveness sets you free.

An Iranian woman was consumed with thoughts of retribution after her teenage son was murdered.[v] But, in a dramatic turn at the gallows, literally moments before the killer was to be executed, she made a last-minute decision to pardon the man. Now she is free to remember her child’s life instead of focusing on his death.

Matt Swatzell had worked a long shift at the fire department. On his way home, he fell asleep while driving and crashed into another vehicle. A pregnant mother was killed, and her 19-month-old daughter was injured. Instead of seeking the maximum punishment under the law, her husband, a full-time pastor, asked for a diminished sentence for the firefighter. The two began to meet for coffee and conversation. Many years later, they remain friends.

Pascale Kavanagh survived an abusive childhood, but she never thought she would ever reconnect with her mother, the woman who had abused her. However, in 2010, her mother suffered several strokes that left her unable to communicate or take care of herself. With no one else to help, Kavanagh began to sit by her mother’s bedside and read to her. Over time, the hate she had for her mother melted away into forgiveness. And love.

Forgiveness sets us free.

 In Isaiah 11, God promises the people of Israel a savior. Even though they had once turned against God, God chose to forgive them. God did not hold the past against them. Instead, God gave them a chance to repent and return to the Lord. God wanted to heal their broken relationship. On that day, people will rejoice. There is joy in forgiveness. There is peace in forgiveness. There is hope in forgiveness.

Jesus was born to heal broken relationships. Perhaps that’s the gift you can give yourself or someone you love this Christmas.

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[i] Matt Rawle. The Redemption of Scrooge. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016. Loc 663 e-version.

[ii] Rawle, 610.

[iii] Rawle, 617.

[iv] Rawle, 617.

[v] The stories of Samareh Alinejad, Matt Swatzell, and Pascale Kavanagh are told in “10 Inspiring Stories of Extreme Forgiveness” by Jane Claire Hervey, which is published on the Reader’s Digest website at www.rd.come/true-stories/inspiring/extreme-forgiveness. Downloaded December 10, 2016.

Feeling more Scrooge than Santa

If ever a man walked in darkness, it was Ebenezer Scrooge. He had one friend, his business partner, Jacob Marley, who had died some years back, but Scrooge never shed a tear. In fact, all he ever said about “the sad event” was that Marley had been an excellent businessman until the very day he died. There was no funeral. No memorial. No celebration of life. Scrooge observed the death of his business partner by going to work. They say he struck quite a bargain.

Sound cold? Oh, he was surely that. Scrooge was “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.”[i] “No wind that blew was bitterer than he….”[ii]

Why, Scrooge was so cold he believed that poor folks belong in prisons and workhouses! And, in the dead of winter, he lit such a meager fire in his office that his clerk had to wear a coat indoors and warm his hands over a candle. If the poor man tried to put even one more lump of coal on the fire, Scrooge threatened unemployment.

It’s easy to see why no one ever asked ANYTHING of Scrooge. Even blind men’s dogs knew to steer clear of him! But Scrooge did not care. He liked the solitude. He pushed away anyone who reached out to him in kindness, and made his way alone through busy city streets.

So you can imagine how Scrooge felt about Christmas. To the mean old miser, the season of giving was nothing but an inconvenience, a total waste of money, maybe even a scam! While others planned holiday parties and big family dinners, Scrooge ate alone in a local bar, preferring his newspaper and account ledger to the company of merry-making fools. There was one brave caroler who began a cheerful tune, but Scrooge ran him off with a ruler.

Man, that’s cold! But that’s what happens when you live too long in a world without light. Your heart freezes over. And Scrooge’s life consisted of nothing but numbers. Dollar signs. Money. He didn’t trust anything that he could not count so there was simply no room in his life for kindness. No room for love. No room for compassion. As a result, he had become stingy. He was greedy, and he was mean!

It happens that way, sometimes. The hardness of life can turn us cold. But, sometimes, it leaves us despairing. We once lived with hope. We dreamt of true love, better days, and peace on earth. But the endless grind of work and bills wears us down. Death and disease take their toll. Our hearts get broken. Our heroes fall down. Our friends betray us. Our leaders disappoint. Lovers leave. Children forget. And the light of hope slowly dies. You try to pray. You go to church. You do “the right things.” But, deep in your heart, you wonder, “Has God forgotten me?”

And then, the unthinkable happens. A tornado rips apart a church. Forest fires blaze through the Smoky Mountains. Gun shots are fired outside of YOUR home. And, with that, your last shred of joy is gone. Your last shred of patience is gone. Your last shred of hope is gone. Like old Ebenezer himself, you find yourself shaking a fist at carolers and muttering in disgust, “Bah! Humbug! What reason have you to be merry?”

It’s a good question. One we really ought to consider. What makes it a merry Christmas? Is it the lights? The music? The gifts? Is it the glitter and holly and mistletoe? Is it figgy pudding, wassail and fruit cake? No! If those were the only reasons we had to celebrate, we really would be in a sorry state. But at Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus! God sent us a Savior! We have not been forgotten.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that there was a time when it looked as if God had abandoned the people of Israel. They were supposed to be God’s children, but they had rebelled against the Lord time after time after time. They were evil and corrupt and disobedient. They had abandoned their faith. They ditched the Lord!

Man, did they suffer for it! Their country lay barren. Forsaken. It had been overrun by enemies and destroyed by fire. The people were broken. All hope was gone. And then God had mercy on them. God did not abandon them in their hour of need. God came to them. Isaiah 7:14 tells us, “A young woman will bear a son and name him Immanuel.” God is with us.

God is with us! That is the light. That is the light that shines in the darkness. That is the reason we celebrate Christmas. God is with us! God came to live here on earth with us. Whatever we are going through. Whatever obstacle we face. Whatever hardship we endure. God is with us.

And the God who is with us is not sitting idly by while WE work for justice and peace. The God who is with us will establish God’s kingdom WITH us. God is right here with us, helping us DO the work of the kingdom. The God who is with us will uphold that kingdom with justice and righteousness. The God who is with us will uphold that kingdom forever! And that is good news!

But time is a tricky thing with God. And we see that clearly during the season of Advent. We gather now in the present moment to ponder the past as we look toward a future hope.[iii] Sounds complicated, right? During Advent, we are preparing ourselves to receive the Christ Child. But he was actually born years ago. And we live in hope of his triumphant return.

That’s why “Advent is like living in the wilderness between what was and what will be,” Matt Rawls writes in The Redemption of Scrooge. “Even though the Promised Land may seem far off, we hold tightly to the promises of our God, for ‘he who promised is faithful.’ (Hebrews 10:23 NIV).”[iv]

God promised the people a Savior, and that Savior was born in a manger in Bethlehem. “The big reveal has been made.”[v] That is not what we, the Church, are waiting for. We are not waiting, wondering what God is going to do. We already know what God has done. God sent us a Savior. Colossians 1:19-20 tell us that all things have been reconciled to God through Christ.

But the story isn’t finished yet. The work of reconciliation is still being done. And that is what gives us hope. God is still at work in the world. God is still at work in the Church. And God is still at work in us.

One of the most popular carols of the Victorian era was “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” It was first sung by English peasants who, on the surface of things did not have a lot of reasons to rejoice.[vi] But the word “rest” means “keep” or “make.” And “merry” means “mighty.” So the carol is a reminder that it is God who makes us mighty. It is God who KEEPS us mighty. We have no reason to fear. And no reason to give up hope. Because Christ our Savior was born to save us from ALL the power of Satan. May that truth bring you comfort and joy.

God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.

Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day

To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy!

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[i] Charles Dickens. “A Christmas Carol.” New York: Scholastic Magazines, Inc., 1962. 2.

[ii] Dickens, 3.

[iii] Matt Rawle. The Recemption of Scrooge. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016. Location 207 e-version.

[iv] Rawle, 231.

[v] Rawle, 372.

[vi] Ace Collins. “The Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas.” Published online at www.acecollins.com/Books/storiesbehindchr.html. Downloaded December 2, 2016.