In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Spirits of Christmas
Ebenezer Scrooge. A timeless character. He is the greedy, joyless, uncaring, isolated Brit we follow in Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Over the decades, he has been portrayed by
Ernest Borgnine
James Earl Jones
George C Scott
Venessa Williams
Henry Winkler
Kelsey Grammer
Marcel Marceau
Tori Spelling
Patrick Stewart
Tim Curry
Jack Palance
Mike Judge
Micheal Caine
Bill Murray
Rich Little
Walter Matthau
Albert Finney
Jim Backus
John Carradine
and most recently by Jim Carrey in the 2009 cartoon version currently playing.
The fact that there have been so many versions of this story suggests that it addresses a vital part of our Christmas experience. It is as popular now as it was when first published for the Christmas of 1843. The name of Ebenezer Scrooge is probably better known to most than the traditional names of the Magi. (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) Charles Dickens’s blast against greed and inhumanity seems as relevant today as it ever did. But it's more than the theme. It's the vehicle that I find captivating. You remember. Rotten old Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited and transformed by four spirits on Christmas Eve. The first visitor is his long dead collegue Jacob Marley who is a case study in the effects of greed. He warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three other spirits.
1. In Dicken's story, the spirit of Christmas past reviewed Ebeneezer's early joys and later disappointments.
2. Christmas present is Falstaff of merriment and extravagance that was an antidote to the stark puritan version of Christmas then common in England.
3. Christmas to be was a dark fear of the extrapolation of Scrooge's rotten character that looked much like we now portray the grim reaper.
The turning point in the whole drama is when Scrooge understands the grand sweep of events shown him. "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!" Can we change?
These spirits are still powerful and still hover about our Christmas experience. Let's review the spirits of our Christmas.
We are also visited by the spirit of Christmases past this night.
• Fond memories of unbridled joy and innocence may judge our present.
• The spirit of Christmas past was often the spirits of people now gone from us. I know you have thought of them already.
• We grasp at maintaining traditions as a way of bringing the goodness of the spirit of Christmases past with us.
• The spirit of Christmas past is with us.
The spirit of Christmas present is complicated for us today.
• There are so many things that need to be done and so many expectations to satisfy that the spirit of Christmas present may be one of anxiety and obligation.
• Changes in the world have made us negotiate new ways that may unsettle us.
• You are gathered in this holy place to find a different spirit in the now. A holiness. A peace that is so often missing in a busy season.
• The spirit of Christmas present is with us.
The spirit of Christmas yet to be is a challenge we usually avoid. But for Christmas to be more than nostalgia, there are spirits to be faced.
• How do we want our future Christmases to look?
• What shall we do for the Tiny Tims who are chronically ill?
• What shall we do for the refugees who land in Bethlehem?
• How will your personal life bring a different Christmas next year or ten years from now?
The larger message of the arrival of God is that things can be different. A little child can change everything, even stubborn old men. No matter how old, or set in our ways, or stuck by circumstance, there is a hope born this night that the world has had the seeds of greatness sown. God is with us in the stirring enterprise of peace on earth and goodwill to all people.
Tonight I challenge you to work with a new vision of the spirit of Christmas yet to be. Not a threatening hooded creature that Dickens portrayed, but a beckoning God who invites us to great joy with angels and songs and visions. The spirit of Christmas yet to be is the God of the unwrapped present, the God of the benevolent mystery, the God of Christmas morning, the God of bright challenge and expansive grace.
There is a hope born this night that transcends whatever is ‘stuck’ in your life. This hope comes not by threats and fears, but with a small child’s gaze. “God bless us, every one.”
A Christmas Carol (sub-titled "In Prose. Being A Ghost Story of Christmas") is a novella by English author Charles Dickens about miserly, cold, unfeeling, old and curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge and his holiday conversion and redemption after being visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve. The book was first published on 19 December 1843 with illustrations by John Leech, and quickly met with commercial success and critical acclaim. The tale has been viewed as an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and has been credited with returning the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print,[1] and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media. (wiki)
(c) William H. Levering 2009
