Several weeks ago, I received a letter from the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence inviting me to be their guest for a performance of their production of “A Christmas Carol.”  According to the invitation, Trinity Rep is reaching out to spiritual leaders in the community because they believe that the message of Dickens’ story is something everyone should hear – how, in the words of the letter, “the world is made better by one man learning not to look away,” and “the world is made brighter by the love shared between families, individuals, and communities.”  I am taking Trinity Rep up on its gracious invitation and, two days before Christmas, I have a date for the 2 o’clock matinee with a handsome, smart and wonderful guy named Peter!

 

But it won’t be the first time I have seen a version of “A Christmas Carol” this season.  Last Sunday afternoon, my family carried out a beloved Christmas tradition; we gathered in front of the TV and watched “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.”  I know it’s sounds crazy, but for me, the Christmas season doesn’t begin until I’ve seen Mr. Magoo.

 

Whether you prefer to read Dickens’ book, or see a stage production of “A Christmas Carol,” or watch the Mr. Magoo version, there is something timeless in the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, who exemplifies the consummate selfish, self-centered, unforgiving and unloving qualities of humankind.  Scrooge is the perfect embodiment of sin.  Uh-oh, there’s that word again. 

 

Sin is separation from God, God’s children, God’s creation, and God’s purpose for our lives.  And Ebenezer Scrooge was certainly separated from God.  Money was his master; in fact, money was Scrooge’s entire life; nothing else meant anything to him.  But after years of a selfish and miserly existence, a life without faith or friendship or love, Scrooge repents for his cold and heartless behavior. 

 

“Repent” literally means to turn around.  If sin is separation from God, then repentance is turning around, turning back to God.  Scrooge repents, turns back to God and God’s people and God’s purpose for his life.  When he wakes up a changed man and discovers that he has not missed Christmas, he describes himself with these words: “I am as light as a feather; I am as happy as an angel; I am as merry as a school-boy; I am as giddy as a drunken man!”[1]  What Scrooge is experiencing is joy – joy which comes from a repentant heart and from being in right relationship with God. 

 

Repentance and rejoicing are cornerstones of the Christian faith; they are eternally yoked to each other, for genuine repentance leads to joy.  But joy is not to be confused with happiness.  Happiness comes from earthly, external things.  For instance, I’m happy when I eat freshly-baked Toll House cookies with a nice cup of hot tea.  But such happiness is fleeting, for it is not grounded in the eternal.  Joy, true joy, comes from God, from being in right relationship with God, who plants it deep within our innermost beings.  

 

When we are separated from God, it is difficult to know joy.  It takes repentance to re-orient and refocus our lives on God.  Repentance was the message of John the Baptist in last week’s scripture lesson, when he bellowed about “preparing the way,” so that we might be in right relationship with God and one another. 

 

And in our gospel lesson for this Third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy, John the Baptist is back, saying of himself, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  There is, in those words, a poignant sense of loneliness.  God has called him to a task which alienates him from society, and he feels alone and at odds with the world.

 

As a Christian in a secular society, I often feel as if I, too, am a lone voice crying in the wilderness.  May you do, too.  And I will admit to you that, even though I have seen Mr. Magoo, I’m still having a hard time getting into the shopping spirit of Christmas.  Part of it is having to face the crowds.  Part of it is feeling overwhelmed once I do get into a store.  But most of it has to do with the fact that, although I see a lot of Christmas around, I’m not seeing a lot of Christ.  I guess that’s because people find it easier to celebrate Christmas -- and retailers find it easier to sell merchandise -- with Santa and reindeer than with Jesus in the manger.

 

Now, I’m not against gift giving.  But what makes gift-giving special is that it is an expression of God’s love and that it makes Christmas a season of hope and promise, not just something that buoys up a consumer economy.  And believe me, I’m all for Santa Claus, as long as we remember that “Santa” is the Latin word for saint, and that behind the jolly figure is a real saint, St. Nicholas, and behind St. Nicholas is the Child who inspired it all.

 

People who focus their Christmas celebrations on Santa rather than on Christ miss out on so the greatest gift of all.  In the words of an email that was forwarded to me this past week by John Baglole:

 

†        Santa lives at the North Pole; Jesus is everywhere. 

†        Santa comes but once a year; Jesus is an ever-present help. 

†        Santa fills your stockings with goodies; Jesus supplies all your needs. 

†        You have to wait in line to see Santa; Jesus is as close as the mention of His name. 

†        Santa lets you sit on his lap; Jesus lets you rest in His arms. 

†        Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly; Jesus has a heart full of love. 

†        All Santa can offer is "Ho, Ho, Ho!"  Jesus offers help, hope and wholeness. 

†        Santa says, "You better not cry."  Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are heavy laden."

†        Santa's little helpers make toys; Jesus heals our hearts, restores our lives, and makes all things new. 

†        Santa may make you chuckle, but Jesus gives you joy. 

 

Jesus gives you joy.  The culture turns Advent into a time not of reflection and preparation for the wonder and joy of the Christmas event, but into a time of running into stores, buying gifts, and decorating the house -- a time we become overworked, over-worried and overextended.  But God calls us away from the commercialism, away from the business of the Christmas season, back to the roots of the Christmas story.  And our challenge is to reclaim not the happiness, but the joy of Christmas, by turning back to God.

 

The Prophet Isaiah invites us to be glad and rejoice in what God is creating, and he says, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me.”  We, too, need to say that and know it – that “the spirit of the Lord” is on each one of us.  And just as John the Baptist came to testify to the light which enlightens every one of us, so too are we called to reflect Christ’s light. 

 

In this morning’s epistle lesson, the Apostle Paul tells us to “Rejoice always.”  This may seem an impossible command in when tragic and heartbreaking things happen in our world and in our lives.  Does Paul have rocks in his head?  No!  But he does have Christ in his heart.  And we have the assurance that God is with us always, guiding us through the valley to healing and hope and wholeness on the other side.  And for that, we can rejoice.

 

If for some reason you are not yet in the Advent and Christmas spirit, or if you feel like Scrooge before his conversion, then maybe it’s time to turn back to God.  That is where you will find the true joy of Christmas – not the earthly, fleeting happiness of getting and having, but the joy that comes from transformation, healing, and restoration – the joy that comes from God and from the One whose birth we await.  Amen.