Clunk, clunk, clunk! The thud of the chains of Marley’s ghost grew louder and louder, as Scrooge cringed in fear in his gloomy sitting room. The ghost roared at him, and Scrooge’s face contorted in terror. I love Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, especially the 1951 film version with veteran British actor Alastair Sim. Lionel Barrymore’s radio version, first broadcast in 1934, is also justly famous, as are the films starring George C. Scott and Albert Finney, and the many other adaptations of this beloved tale. Do you have a tradition of listening to it at least once during Advent? I do!
Do you remember the story? After the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley visits him, miserly, isolated Ebenezer Scrooge is led away from his dark chambers by three spirits. Through the eyes of the Spirit of Christmas Past, Scrooge revisits his earlier life. His eyes light up as he sees again the bountiful Christmas celebration presided over by his generous employer Mr. Fezziwig, and he ruefully shakes his head as he sees himself turn away his lovely fiancée in his pursuit of wealth. With the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge sees with horror the desperate situation of the poor in nineteenth-century London. He notes with surprise that, despite their poverty and the frail health of their youngest child, Tiny Tim, the family of his much-abused clerk, Bob Cratchett, finds true joy sharing their meager Christmas feast. In an abrupt turn-about, the silent hooded Ghost of Christmas Future allows Scrooge to see the Cratchetts’ grief at the death of Tiny Tim and his own lonely unmourned death. In the most poignant scene of the story, Scrooge cries out, “Can these shadows be changed?” To his and our joy, the visions of the three Spirits leave Scrooge a changed man, and the shadows can and do change.
We have begun a new church year. It is the season of Advent. In Advent, like Scrooge, we too live in three time frames at once. We look to the past as we remember God’s promises to Israel. In our reading from the prophet Jeremiah, addressed to the community in exile from Jerusalem, we hear again God’s promise to rebuild Jerusalem and ultimately to establish a new reign of justice and righteousness. We also look to the past as we prepare to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, his birth at Bethlehem, and we ponder how God began to fulfill God’s promises in Jesus’ birth. We look to the present as we see God’s continual breaking into our world, confronting us, enlightening us, and enlarging us as individuals and as a community.
Most important, we look to the future. As we begin a new church year, we are reminded once again of the goal of all our lives as Jesus’ disciples. We are reminded that, just like the beleaguered community to whom Luke was writing, we too are heirs of God’s promises. Together with them, we too can look forward to the coming of the Kingdom of God. We too can catch glimpses of that time when oppressive political systems, war, famine, sickness, genocide, slavery, human trafficking, hatred, and environmental abuse will be no more, when creation will be renewed, and all people will live in peace. For us, as for Luke’s community, the apocalyptic language and images convey good news. For us, as for them, present catastrophes give us hope that the world is moving inexorably toward the coming reign of God. We, like them, are not overwhelmed or beaten down by the chaos in Syria, Egypt, Palestine, or Afghanistan, by the reality of AIDS – yesterday was World AIDS day – or the persistence of hunger and poverty in our midst, by homicides or natural disasters. We, like them, can stand up, raise our heads, and trust in God’s future and in God’s reign.
But we live in the middle time. We trust both that God initiated a radical transformation of the world in the first coming of Jesus, and that God will, in God’s own time, complete that transformation. “When will this be,” we too cry out in despair. All Jesus – or anyone – can answer is that the time is hidden in God. And so, we wait. Although Americans are not a patient people, nevertheless, as Jesus’ disciples we try to wait, with patience, and with hope. But we don’t wait passively. Along with those first disciples, we too are called to be alert and attentive. With Luke’s community we hear the call to live with our eyes focused on the signs that demonstrate God’s reign and to trust that Jesus’ redemption of the world will be completed. Along with the hearers of the letter to the fledgling Christian community at Thessalonica we hear the call to “abound in love for one another and for all” and to strengthen our Advent hearts in holiness. We hear the call to grow as disciples. We hear the call to worship regularly, deepen our own personal relationship with Jesus, and, most important, strengthen our own Christian community, so that it may truly be a community of love, and a witness to the world of Jesus’ power.
As we begin again our liturgical year, the church graciously gives us four weeks to ponder how we might live more deeply into God’s future. Would you like some concrete suggestions? Here are several. First, Jesus tells us to be alert for signs that God’s kingdom is near. I invite you to use these sheets to write down any signs you see this week that God’s kingdom is near. You can post them yourselves on the bulletin board or give them to me or Christina, and we’ll post them. I will summarize them in the e-news. As you begin looking for signs of God’s kingdom, you may be surprised at how often you actually catch glimpses of it.
Second, commit to even a few minutes daily reflection during Advent. If you have internet access subscribe to a set of daily reflections published by CREDO and available by email. If you would like them in hard copy, I can print them out for you. If you listen to podcasts, subscribe to the Advent podcasts of the Anglican Church of Canada. Hang up the Advent calendar map, look at it every day, and follow as many of its suggestions as you can. Or make your own advent wreath, using four candles and any circular candle holder. Light your candles, and then follow the suggestions in “Bringing the Kingdom of God closer,” in your bulletin insert.
Finally, I’d like to suggest something really radical. In a recent article in his Sojourners blog Evangelical social and political commentator Jim Wallis noted that Americans plan to spend more this Christmas season on consumer gifts than they did last year, but give less to charities and ministries that help the poor. Many say they are less likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present. In response, Wallis suggested that we start what he is calling the “Christmas Tithe.” Here’s how it works. “Keep track of all your holiday spending for gifts this year, and then tithe a percentage of that amount to an organization that directly serves the poor. A tithe is traditionally 10 percent, but you could decide to do less or even more. But make a decision about your Christmas tithe and pledge it to groups that are now struggling to respond to the highest number of Americans in poverty in half a century, and to those who focus on the poorest and most vulnerable around the world. This is a time to give more – not less.”1 Do this together with your family. You can even involve the kids. Episcopal Relief and Development, Habit for Humanity, Heifer, World Vision, and many similar organizations even have “catalogues” from which you can choose gifts. Or focus on local organizations. Choose your gifts on Christmas Day, after you have opened your own. Then thank God, both for all that you have and for the chance to share your wealth with those who have so much less. In addition to all that we do through the organizations to which we belong, Wallis reminds us that we grow personally through helping to advance God’s kingdom through our very own efforts.
These shadows will change. We, as individuals and as faith communities, are integral and essential to what God is up to in the world. In Advent we are called to remember that God comes to us unexpectedly and wonderfully, that God renews our hope, that God delivers on God’s promises, and that God invites us into partnership with God in bringing those promises to fulfillment. As God’s partners, we work with God knowing that the final completion of the renewal of creation lies in God’s hands. And we rejoice, trusting that God will accomplish God’s holy will.
1. “Starting the Christmas Tithe,” SojoMail 11.29.2012.
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