From Humbug to Hallelujah
NO ROOM FOR
CHRISTMAS?
Luke 2:1-7
Occasionally,
but not very often, a story comes along that speaks truth and touches our
hearts in such a way that it becomes a classic. At this time of year we are presented with many such stories. Soon A Wonderful Life will be on the
television, along with other holiday classics like Miracle on 34th
Street, White Christmas, and even animated classics like, A Charlie
Brown Christmas.
I
believe there is one story that stands out above all the rest. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has been made into plays, musicals, movies, TV
dramas, and cartoons. Carol and I had a tradition that started when we were
dating in college of going to the Guthrie Theater in St Paul to watch a
magnificent production every year. And
in fact, thanks to a gracious gift from Larry and Nancy Meredith, we are going
to be re-instituting that tradition this year at the Pabst Theatre next Friday
night. The many film versions, from
those of George C. Scott to Patrick Stewart to Mickey Mouse and the Muppets,
testify to its timeless value and our desire to make it available to all
ages.
Few
stories impact a culture as this one has.
The term “scrooge” has entered into our vocabulary as a result of this
tale, and in fact, it was Dickens, through this story, who began the trend of
wishing someone a “Merry Christmas.”
Prior to this story, most of the English-speaking world exclusively
would wish one another a “Happy Christmas!”
A Christmas Carol is about a miserly old
businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge who is confronted with the festivities of
Christmas. His response to Christmas is “Bah! Humbug.” He has no time for
Christmas, and he bitterly resents how the holiday gets in the way of what’s
really important--running a business and acquiring wealth. To Scrooge,
Christmas is “a time for finding yourself another year older and not an hour
richer.”
As
the story opens, Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, full of Christmas cheer, walks into
Scrooge’s office.
(SHOW VIDEO CLIP.)
Did you hear what Fred said? “You don’t keep Christmas!” You give it away. It’s
a time of forgiveness, a time of charity, a time when people open their closed
hearts to other people.
Fred goes on, “And therefore, Uncle, though it has
never put a scrap of gold or silver in my
pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I
say, God bless it!”
Christmas is about Time.
Scrooge
had no time for Christmas. Fred made time for Christmas and not only was he
blessed, but he was a blessing to all around him.
I heard a missionary from Africa once say that one
of his African friends once told him, “Americans have watches, but Africans
have time.” It’s true, isn’t it? We have the technology to cram more and more
into the time we have. Africans--or
others from around the world--may not have all our technology, but they have an
understanding about people and family that we can learn from.
This is the challenge of the Season, isn’t it? How
do we make time for Christmas? We need to learn how to “redeem our time,” so
there is room for Christ in our lives, and so our humbug attitudes can
be changed into hallelujahs.
What
is it that crowds out Christmas in our lives?
Sometimes we’re more like Scrooge than we want to
admit. We’ve become driven people whose jobs are our lives.
Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, understands that the most
important thing is “not to make a living, but to build a life.”
In Ephesians 5:15–17, Paul says the same thing: “Be
very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of
every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but
understand what the Lord’s will is.”
We can miss God’s blessings when, like the Innkeeper
in Bethlehem, we’re so focused on business that there’s “no room in the inn” of
our lives for Christ. We read of the
innkeepers busy-ness in Luke 2:1-7.
[Read Luke 2:1-7]
Work is not
necessarily the problem.
Work in itself is good. Challenging work, even reasonably stressful work, is one of the
great thrills in life. I, like many of
you, love what I do at both the Mayville School District and the Church. (For those of you who do not know it, I am a
bi-vocational pastor.) I’ve always
tried to do what I love, and love what I do.
But consuming work, which deprives us of health, family, and a strong,
effective spiritual life, is wrong. All
of us need to balance our work with the rest of our lives, and for some of us
it is more difficult than others.
We
have to be careful not to confuse work lovers
with work addicts. Scrooge was a
work addict. He was trying to fill the emotional and spiritual holes in his
life with his work. Hmmm. That might have hit a little too close to
home for some of us. Do we find
ourselves filling our days with busy-ness to cover over, or fill some gap in
our lives?
I
like what Mark Twain, a work lover, said about his work. Toward the end of his
very productive life, he said he hadn’t done a “lick of work” in over 50 years.
He wrote, “I have always been able to gain my living without doing any work;
for the writing of books and magazines was always play, not work. I enjoyed
it.” Work lovers find great
satisfaction in work, because to them, it’s play. But when they want to, they
can stop.
True
work addicts very often cannot enjoy play, so they work with mixed emotions.
They have to keep at it, because they desperately need the admiration of
others. They’re trying to fill a void in their lives with work.
Would you believe a homemaker can be a workaholic?
Her attitude is, “Play is what you do when the work
is done.” Sadly, housework is never done.
She is a perfectionist, thinking no one can do the
work but herself. She’s driven by her work and can drive everyone else in the
family to exhaustion with their efforts to live by her standards.
Workaholism
is even found in the church.
Carol
and I just came from a Church Planters Retreat this week, where we saw many
pastors who are workaholics, trying to meet the expectations and demands of
their congregations – or in some cases, the expectations and demands they have
put on themselves. And lay ministers –
and that is every one of us who considers ourselves a child of God - can get so
caught up in ministry that they’ve exchanged their family responsibilities for
the praise of the church. After all, they say, “We’re doing these things for
God!” This week people from the church
were in here every day doing painting and wallpaper in my office, decorating
the church, setting up our decoration in the front window, working on the
projection system, setting up the church library software, working on the new
office telephone and computer wiring, delivering the Operation Shoebox packages
to Beaver Dam, planning dramas, teaching Bible studies, bowling on the bowling
team – WOW! It’s easy to be busy about
the church’s work.
We
need to be careful that we don’t forget the main thing.
What is my
message about today?
We need to take time to slow down, take off our
watches, and examine our lives. We need to learn to “redeem our time” and make
room for Jesus.
Workaholism is basically a spiritual problem. The
workaholic runs directly counter to some of the characteristics that a person
filled with the presence and spirit of God demonstrates. One of those characteristics is a fruit of
the spirit--self-control. A workaholic
is out of control, at least in that area. She does not control the work: The
work controls her.
The
greatest example to us all is, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he was God’s perfect Son, he was
also fully human, as we are. Scripture tells us that he faced the same
pressures and temptations we face. He
walked the earth for only 33 years, three of which were directly spent in
ministry. His work was the most
important in all space and time--doing good, healing, proclaiming God’s
kingdom, redeeming sinful humankind.
Jesus’
life demonstrated a balance of activities.
He learned a trade, enjoyed hospitality and intimate conversation with
friends and strangers. He traveled, studied, prayed, taught. Jesus even went to
parties! At the same time, he
recognized when he was so tired that he needed to halt ministry in order to be
alone and spend time in reflection with his heavenly Father. He needed God’s
perspective on all that he had to do.
He had a perfect balance between work and play, ministry and spiritual
reflection. In short, he had the perfect blend of a full, abundant life.
In
Matthew 11:28–30 Jesus invites us to join him. He says,
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on
religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show
you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting
on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message)
How Can We Redeem Our Time and
Make Room for Christmas?
Choose
to control your schedule.
o Build in “frivolous time” for doing some fun things with your loved
ones.
o Go look at Christmas lights.
o Go out to lunch with a special friend whom you haven’t seen for some
time and celebrate being with one another.
Choose to draw inspiration from
Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
o
Read it as a family (it’s not long).
o
Rent it on video.
o
Let its timeless message speak to your
heart.
Choose to use our special From Humbug to Hallelujah Advent
Devotional Calendar to focus your heart and mind
before you enter into the busyness of the day. You can obtain a Calendar at the
book table after the service.
Choose to hold a weekly ceremony with
your family, using an Advent wreath and one of the
fun family devotion times in the From
Humbug to Hallelujah Advent Devotional Calendar.
I’d
like to close with another Christmas classic, amended just a little:
[Read The Night Before
Christmas – 21st Century Version]
Take time in the next four weeks to learn from Scripture
and from Charles Dickens’s classic story how to really sing a Christmas carol.
Join with us in the church during this Advent Celebration as we learn how to
let God change our humbugs into hallelujahs!
The Night Before Christmas –
21st Century Version
‘Twas the night before
Christmas--and all through the town
Not a sign of Baby
Jesus--was anywhere to be found.
The people were all busy with Christmastime chores--
Like decorating, and baking, and shopping in stores.
No one sang "Away in a manger--no crib for a bed."
Instead, they sang of Santa--dressed up in bright red.
Mama watched Martha Stewart--Papa drank beer from a tap.
As hour upon hour the presents they'd wrap.
Then what from the TV did they suddenly hear?
'Cept an ad--which told of a big sale down at Sears.
So away to the mall they all flew like a flash--
Buying some things on credit--and others with cash!
And, as they made their way home from their trip to the mall,
Did they think about Jesus? Oh, no--not at all.
Their lives were so busy with their Christmastime things
They had no time to remember Christ Jesus, the King.
There were presents to wrap and cookies to bake.
How could they stop and remember the One who died for their sake?
To pray to the Savior--they had no time to stop.
Because they needed more time to "Shop till they dropped!"
On Wal-Mart! On K-mart! On Target! On Penney's!
On Hallmark! On Zales! A quick lunch at Denny's!
From the big stores downtown to the stores at the mall
They would dash away, dash away, and visit them all!
And up on the roof, there arose such a clatter--
As grandpa hung icicle lights--using his brand new stepladder.
He hung lights that would flash. He hung lights that would twirl.
Yet, he never once prayed--to Jesus--the Light of the World.
Christ's eyes--how they twinkle!
Christ's Spirit--how merry!
Christ's love--how enormous!
All of our burdens--He'll carry!
So instead of being busy, overworked, and uptight--
Let's put Christ back in Christmas--and enjoy some good nights!
--Rev. Jon Prain, The Federated Church, Avon,
Illinois