Sermon Notes
November 27, 2016
“Scrooge Cometh to Town”
Romans 13: 11- 14
(1st Sunday in Advent)
(The Voice)
11
And now consider this. You know well the times you are living in. It is time for you to wake up and
see what is right before your eyes: for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The
darkness of night is dissolving as dawn’s light draws near, so walk out on your old dark life and put on
the armor of light. 13 May we all act as good and respectable people, living today the same way as we
will in the day of His coming. Do not fall into patterns of dark living: wild partying, drunkenness, sexual
depravity, decadent gratification, quarreling, and jealousy. 14 Instead, wrap yourselves in the Lord Jesus,
God’s Anointed, and do not fuel your sinful imagination by indulging your self-seeking desire for the
pleasures of the flesh.
Reflection on the Word:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What times were the people of Paul’s message living in?
Why did Paul encourage the people to “wake up and see what is right before their eyes”?
Whose coming is Paul referring to?
How is the pattern of “dark living” connected to sin?
Why does Paul use the language of “wrapping yourselves in the Lord Jesus”?
Family Time or Small Group Discussion:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What do you like/ love about Christmastime?
What is salvation? How does salvation come near?
Do you believe in the return of Jesus?
How might a belief in Jesus’ return effect how you live?
What’s your favorite Christmas wrapping paper?
A Christmas Carol Refresher And Series Introduction:
Vivid memories from my Christmas past certainly include the watching of Rudolph, Santa Claus Is
Coming to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I loved the
claymations and the cartoons! But there was another Christmas story that I watched as a child; often
glued to the TV with a pillow nearby. My mom would say, “Now, watch for Tiny Tim’s big part!”
Being a “Tim”, I just had to watch.
“Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol, first published in 1843, begins on an ominous note,
stating the fact that “Marley was dead: to begin with” (Stave One). The story takes place on Christmas
Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge’s least favorite time of the year. He glares at carolers and scolds his employee,
Bob Cratchit, before turning down his nephew’s invitation to Christmas dinner.
Arriving home, Scrooge is startled to find the ghostly face of Jacob Marley staring at him from the
door knocker. It disappears, but soon he hears sounds like chains dragging on the floor. They creep
closer and closer, until Jacob Marley appears as a ghostly apparition. He warns Scrooge that he must
change his ways and that three ghosts will visit Scrooge over the next three days, offering him a chance
at redemption from his awful fate.
Scrooge settles into his bed, thinking it all a horrible dream, but soon a bright light disturbs him. It is
the Ghost of Christmas Past. The spirit transports Scrooge to his childhood hometown, where he is
reminded of childhood loneliness, adolescent joy, and the pain of unrequited love. Scrooge, upset, takes
the extinguisher-cap and tries to eliminate the ghost’s light. He ends up back in his room and falls into a
deep sleep.
Scrooge is awakened when the clock strikes one. He ventures to the adjacent room to see the Ghost of
Christmas Present, who transports Scrooge to a dingy corner of London where, despite their
surroundings, the people are filled with Christmas cheer. The ghost brings him to the home “of his clerk,
Bob Cratchit, where Bob’s son Tiny Tim tugs at Scrooge’s heartstrings. Scrooge’s journey continues to
the home of his nephew, Fred, who proclaims that he will continue to invite the bad-tempered Scrooge
to Christmas dinner every year. As they leave the scene, Scrooge notices that the ghost is aging rapidly.
“The ghost’s life will end that night, but not before Scrooge notices two children hidden beneath the
ghost’s robes—a boy and a girl, dirty, with hands like claws. When Scrooge asks where their shelter is,
the ghost repeats Scrooge’s earlier words: “Are there no prisons? . . . Are there no workhouses?” (Stave
One).
With that, the bell strikes twelve, and the Ghost of Christmas Present is gone, replaced by a draped
phantom moving toward Scrooge. This ghost is silent and only responds with a pointed skeletal finger
when asked if he is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge is transported to depressing scenes
foreshadowing his own demise. The scene moves to the Cratchits’ home, where the once jolly family is
now morose. Tim has died, and Bob has just returned from his grave, telling his wife how lovely and
green a place it is. Scrooge, distraught from seeing his own grave, exclaims that he will change his ways
and live with the spirit of Christmas in his heart in order to change this future. The ghost shrinks away,
and Scrooge finds himself back in his familiar bedroom.
After these visits, Scrooge wakes the next morning full of the Christmas spirit. He runs from the
house, filled with the joy of the season, and is surprised and grateful to discover that he hasn’t missed
Christmas Day. Scrooge makes good on his promise, becoming like a second father to Tiny Tim, and a
good friend, master, and man to the city he once scorned. It was said thereafter that he “knew how to
keep Christmas well. The story ends with Tiny Tim’s famous words: “God bless Us, Every One!” (Stave
Five).”
- Excerpt from: Matt Rawle’s Introduction to The Redemption of Scrooge. Abingdon Press, 2016.
*** Matt Rawle’s book The Redemption of Scrooge is really a fun and insightful book for those of us fascinated
by Dicken’s Christmas Carol. I recommend it to you. The sermons for our sermon series will loosely follow what
Matt has put together.
Sermon Points:
Scrooge.
What a name!
And what a story ...
A story, that in truth, isn’t just his story alone; it is our story as well. Let me briefly explain.
The main character of Charles Dicken’s tale A Christmas Carol, is a man by the name of Ebenezer
Scrooge. Ebenezer is a businessman and the sole partner of the firm Scrooge and Marley. As characters
go, Scrooge is a collection of the past, present, and the future. His present- day grumpiness and “Bah
Humbug” attitude are only made worse because it is Christmastime and we all know what
Christmastime brings ...
Long lines at the stores, over capacity parking lots, tired and run down cashiers, stress over money and
getting just the right gift for the person in our lives who has everything and needs nothing.
Christmastime ushers in the busiest time of the year ... ugly Christmas sweater competitions,
neighborhood gatherings with that one neighbor who just, shall we be honest and say, just bugs you to
no end, obligatory work parties with white elephant exchanges, re- runs of the Home Alone movies,
Hallmark movies that you have seen since November, and Christmas lights with the one bulb ... funny
how just one bulb that can take down a whole strand of lights and force an unwanted trip to the store
where you will find it hard to park, wait in a really long line, encounter a tired cashier running on fumes
and going at the slowest speed ever, which of course, will make you late to your Christmas party and
late in picking up the babysitter so that your kids are not left home alone.
Did I forget anything?
Where is that ugly Christmas sweater???
Be honest ... there’s more than enough reasons for our own version of an inner Ebenezer to come out
and say “BAH HUMBUG” at Christmastime. And yet, some still manage to sing that Christmastime is
the most wonderful time of the year. Why is that?
Well, for starters, some still manage, even with the coming and going of a busy holiday season, to
keep a much- needed perspective on the true meaning of Christmas. It’s about Jesus and his coming into
the world for a single and important purpose. The Son of God is given so that we might be redeemed. In
other words, Jesus’ birth is God’s way to regain possession of our souls. But such redemption comes at a
heavy price for sin is costly.
Sin ... a word that no one likes to talk about. Yet, we are all sinners. We have sins of the past that
weigh us down like a heavy ball and chain. We have sins of the present that often are born out of the
sins of the past and become the catalyst for our sins of the future. Only through Jesus Christ, are we set
free from the chains of our sinful past and given the opportunity to be free of sin now and in the future.
Jesus has given to us the gift of redemption and there will be no greater Christmas gift that you will ever
receive then the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Jesus redeems us all with his birth into a sin filled world where he will walk alongside us step for step,
rescuing us from the dangers of sin. As the great hymn writer Robert Robinson wrote, “Jesus sought me
when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious
blood.” (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing) His precious blood was the payment that sealed our redemption.
Amazing grace is now at work affording us the chance for peace of mind and soul. And this is
something that we must wake up to and see.
Paul writes to his friends in Rome, “And now consider this. You know well the times you are living in.
It is time for you to wake up and see what is right before your eyes: for salvation is nearer to us now
than when we first believed.” These words were meant to encourage Paul’s friends in Rome during a
time when all seemed as bleak as midwinter. Paul was under house arrest awaiting his trial and, truth be
told, his future didn’t look good. The Roman authorities had Paul in their crosshairs. Fed up with
Judaism and with a new sect called “the Way” (aka Christianity), Rome had every intention of
squashing those who did not proclaim Caesar as lord.
Paul, as well as many other followers of Jesus, would never ever place Caesar above Jesus Christ!
Although the times were perilous for Paul and the followers of Jesus, they believed in power of salvation
through Jesus Christ. Only Jesus brings peace, hope, love and joy. Gifts of the advent or coming of
Christ into the world. Fruits of a life that has been redeemed, rescued and restored. The witness of a life
that knows that salvation from the world’s evils and from the sin that lays hold of our hearts is before us
in Christ. All we need to do is wake from our slumber, see what is before our eyes and discover what
Christ has in store for our lives.
And that includes Scrooge ...
Scrooge who …
is in need of peace,
is in need of hope,
is in need of love,
is in need of joy.
SO are we!
And we will not find it in the ways of the world. Paul’s words to the Romans remind us that such dark
living will only fuel our sinful desires, imaginations and make us bitter toward life just like a certain
someone who began our service by blowing out our Advent Candles. We need to remember that “the
darkness of night is dissolving as dawn’s light draws near, so walk out on your old dark life and put on
the armor of light. May we all act as good and respectable people, living today the same way as we will
in the day of His coming.”
Can Scrooge be redeemed?
God, we hope so don’t we? If Scrooge can be redeemed, then so might the inner Scrooge that
sometimes rears its ugly head in us.
Scrooge cometh to town … so too comes the redeeming love of God.
And what a story awaits!
Provoking Thought for the Week:
"No space of regret can make amends for one’s life’s opportunity misused.”
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol