What Christmas is All About

 

“And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, Every One!” These are the closing words of the very well-known story A Christmas Carol. This book was first published in 1843, and the author Charles Dickens wrote this masterpiece in an astonishingly short six weeks! Most of us have either read the book or have seen one of the many movie adaptations, ranging from the classic starring Albert Finney to the one my kids particularly enjoy, the Muppets version! We know the story, but for the sake of where I am about to take us, here is a short summary: The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas and people alike. He is a grumpy, disagreeable man who has no compassion for the poor and no understanding why anyone could be happy. Though rich, he does not share with those in need, and he has no desire to spend the holidays with his only remaining relatives. One evening he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him that he will one day share Marley’s fate of roaming the earth in chains if he does not change his ways and use his life for the good of others. So, as you probably know, Scrooge is visited by three spirits – the Spirit of Christmas Past, then the Present, and finally the Spirit of Christmas Future. Each shows him his life and the lives of his acquaintances in that time period, and how his choices in life impact those around him. Of course, at the end of the story, Scrooge wakes up in the present with the resolution to live differently, and he finds great joy in serving others. It seems he has finally found what life is all about.

But has he? As I have pondered this story over the last few days (my seventh and eighth grade students are currently reading this book for my class), I am seeing afresh that though this is a good message (“Live for others”), it falls far short of what life is truly about. The spirits failed him. Here is where they should have taken him:

The Past: The first scene opens and Scrooge is standing in the midst of a beautiful garden. He sees a serpent, a woman, and a man. The woman has just taken a bite of a forbidden fruit and the man eats likewise. Scrooge hears a voice from on high. The fellowship between God and man has been broken. The second scene looks starkly different. It is the middle of the afternoon but the sky is as black as night. Three men hang on crosses of wood; the one in the middle cries out, committing his spirit into God’s hands, and one of the soldiers looking on says, “Surely this is the Son of God.”  The final scene of the past shows this very Son of God, resurrected, and giving his followers instructions for passing on the good news that salvation can only be found in belief of this Messiah’s finished work on the cross on behalf of the sins of man.

The Present: This spirit takes Scrooge to his counting house where he sees himself refusing to share his wealth when two men have come to collect alms for the poor. Scrooge hears his hate-filled words in regards to the poor, “If they would rather die [than work in a workhouse], they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.” He hears the words he speaks to his nephew before he refuses the invitation to spend Christmas with him: “If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” Ebenezer Scrooge comes face to face with who he really is, a sinful, angry, bitter old man in desperate need of someone to rescue him from his own sins. Another scene opens in the Present. Scrooge is sitting near his fireplace. A Bible lies open before him. He reads, “Behold, now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The Future: The final spirit takes Scrooge to a graveyard where he sees his own gravestone. Without speaking, the spirit points ahead, and as Scrooge lifts his eyes, he gets a glimpse of two separate paths leading away from his tomb. One path leads to eternal separation from the God he has offended with his sins. The other path, a narrow one, leads to a city of gold in which God dwells with his people in eternal joy for all time. Scrooge falls to his knees as he looks back at his tombstone. Is it too late?

With a hammering heart and drenched in sweat, Scrooge wakes up. He is lying in his bed; he is back in the Present. It is not too late. He can yet choose his path.

Of course, this is not the story that Charles Dickens tells. No, Dickens, along with the majority of our neighbors, believes that true joy in life is found when we “do good” and live for others. There is an inkling of truth here; joy is found when we put others before ourselves, but that is not lasting joy. True, deep, and abiding joy can only be found in Christ. Out of that relationship flows love for our neighbor and good works.

As I read A Christmas Carol, I can appreciate the focus on others rather than self, but I can also thank God that there really is a Spirit who guides in truth. This Spirit, the true Spirit, grants us the sight to see what Christ has accomplished in the past, gives us the faith in the present to believe in Him for our own salvation, and encourages us with the beauty of the future that awaits us in Heaven one day. So, this Christmas, as we give gifts, gather with family, and donate to causes that are dear to us, may we keep Christ in the center. The baby who came to earth to be born came for me and you, to rescue us from ourselves, to give us true and lasting joy. The message to the shepherds is the same message to us, “Fear not, for behold, I  bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). As another famous Charles put into words through his character Linus, “And that is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

--Amy O'Rear