A Christmas Carol

Christmas is the most punk rock of the holidays.

Christmas Eve Services
12/23 @ 5 and 7
12/24 @ 1, 3, 5, and 7

Mark Twain was a critic of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"

There are also sorts of movie versions of this story now.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a man with no care for religion, compassion or playfulness. He is visited by the sprit of his dead businesses partner, Marley. Marley warns him by saying:

"I wear the chain I forged in life...I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it."

Scrooge's final conclusion is:

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.
I will not shut out the lessons that they teach."

During the story, Scrooge remembers his childhood loneliness. He also sees his first love, who was replaced by his love for money and greed.

The chains forged in the past are redeemed by Jesus

• many of us this time of year have a pain that is magnified by the joy we believe we're supposed to feel
• Romans 12:2 is one of the top highlighted passages
• we long for transformation

Luke 3:38 NLT
[38] Kenan was the son of Enosh. Enosh was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the son of God.

Jesus is ultimately the son of God.

1 John 3:1 NLT
[1] See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

• we are identified by being part of Jesus family
• we dont need to be defined by our past
• we have a new identity

the chains forged by ignorance and want are broken by a renewed wonder of God's extreme generosity

Romans 5:10-11 NLT
[10] For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. [11] So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

• how much are you enjoying God?
• how can we not find at least some childlike joy and excitement in knowing God?

"The first and greatest commandment is that we love God. And the essence of loving God is that we delight in God - that we enjoy God, that we find God to be our all satisfying treasure, our gold." -John Piper

• Jesus enjoyed being around children because of their childlike joy and faith
• Scrooge is similarly transformed partially through the joy of children

The point is: are you excited about your faith? Eager to be with God like a child toward their gifts in Christmas morning?

Kids have a way of reintroducing things to us that we've forgotten.

A childlike awe of something eternally wonderful can lift us out of the pain and circumstances of the present moment.

"For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than of Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself."

June 5 1978 a boy slipped off the wharf and feel into the river. Multiple adults saw him before he eventually drowned.

• why didn't anyone jump in to save him?
• upstream, a factory was dumping toxic sludge into the river
• it was dangerous and gross
• a lot of us see God like those onlookers
• we think that we need to clean up before he'll save us
• but that's not how he is

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
[21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Philippians 2:7-8 NLT
[7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

• Jesus jumps in for us because he loves us
• he jumps in to rescue us from ourselves

Matthew 1:21 NLT
[21] And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthews original audience would have thought that they needed saving from others' sins, not their own sins.

Matthew 1:23 NLT
[23] “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

• Jesus is the "with us" God
• Jesus did not stand on the wharf and send someone else
• he jumped into the putrid waters
• he became vulnerable for our sake
• Jesus the son of God came as an infant
  • we're so used to that, that we just let it go by
  • their is nothing more vulnerable than a fetus

2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT
[9] You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

• Jesus gave of himself generously, breaking the chains we could never have broken ourselves
• we are no longer chained by ignorance and want
• we have the freedom to enjoy God
• There is now a new standard of loving others, as Christ has loved us

Before Scrooge comes to his final revelation, he gets a view of the Christmas yet to come.

• he sees that tiny tim has died because his family could not afford his medical care
• Scrooge sees that when he himself died, nobody is at his funeral

the chains forged in fear are shattered by faith in a greater future

• the Christmas plots are all about anticipation
• anticipation is the fuel of Christmas
• we anticipate Jesus coming

In Greece, Christianity took off when they heard the message because God's love was the message they were waiting for. They were used to small and petty Gods.

Ephesians 1:7-8 NLT
[7] He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. [8] He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

• Scrooge repents and makes the rest of his day's count
• And everybody around him is affected as well