The Redemption of
Scrooge- Bah! Humbug!
Nov. 26th, 2016 Matthew
20: 1-16
A few years
ago, when he was just beginning to understand the Christmas tradition of
exchanging gifts, my nephew gave us a look that we would never forget. With
dreams of receiving every item on his Christmas list, my nephew began to rip
open package after package with glee. And then he came to his grandma’s gift.
Full of expectation, he tore open the paper, opened the box…and scowled. As he
slowly and begrudgingly picked up his new clothes from the box, his scowl
turned into a full-blown cry. He had
gotten clothes for Christmas! Now that he’s a bit older, my nephew has come
to appreciate a new shirt or a new pair of jeans, but that one particular
experience been a good reminder for all of us, both young and old, that the
spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge is never far
away.
For many
folks, Christmas is, as the old song puts it, “the most wonderful time of the
year.” Unless you’re Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is, of course, the main
character in Charles Dickens’ famous work entitled “A Christmas Carol.” You’ve
probably seen one of the movie renditions that tell this transformational story
of this man who is best described as a crotchety old miser who never seems to
smile. For Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is most definitely NOT the most
wonderful time of the year. In fact, nothing is wonderful to Scrooge, except
for maybe money. Scrooge eats, sleeps and breathes the chance to make a buck.
What he’ll do with the money someday is never a thought. He just needs to make
more. Day and night he works hard, and forces his employees to work hard,
because every day is the chance to earn another dollar. And the people who
don’t have enough? Well, they just don’t work hard enough! If you asked Scrooge
about his life philosophy, he’d probably share with you the old adage, “You
reap what you sow.”
Now, on the
outside, the “you reap what you sow” principle seems to make a lot of sense. Those
of you who garden understand this. If you want lots of tomatoes for your
spaghetti sauce and salsa, you need to plant enough tomato plants to do the
trick. Or how about our students. You also get this. If you want get good
grades, you need to put in the time to study. The more you study, the better
chance you have when test time rolls around. Or any of us who are in
relationships. If we want a good relationship with our significant other, we
have to put in the time to communicate, to show our appreciation and play our
part. You reap what you sow. And so, this principle, which works so well with
so much of our lives, has found a cherished place in Ebenezer Scrooge’s
heart…and our hearts as well. The only problem is that God’s economy (or God’s
way of doing things) doesn’t usually work that way.
In God’s
economy, the only currency that matters is grace.
It’s not money or hard work or moral living; it’s grace. Grace is one of those
terms that many of us would admit we aren’t quite sure how to explain, but we
still love to throw it out there and talk about. It’s just a word that rolls
off our tongues and sounds so sweet. But the meaning behind it is even sweeter.
A simple definition of grace is this: God’s
love freely given to you without merit. And it’s grace that lies at the
heart of today’s teaching from Jesus.
If we’re
honest with ourselves, we experience just a little bit of frustration when we
read this story. We expect the story to be black or white, but then Jesus
throws in a twist that messes up our typical worldview. The first group of hired
hands have worked harder and longer, so they should get paid more. They’ve put
in the time, the effort, the sweat equity…and they deserve to be compensated
handsomely. But when the whistle blows and the boss calls them over for payday,
they are as surprised as we are. Instead of receiving more than all the others,
they receive the exact same amount as those who were hired last and worked only
a single hour. It didn’t matter how much each hired hand had sown throughout
the day; they each earned the same reward. You can almost feel the irritation
and anger intensifying as the first workers realize that they are no different
than the last ones in the eyes of the landowner. And at the same time, you can
almost sense the relief springing up within the last hired workers as they
recognize the same gift.
Not long
ago, my good friend, Keith, preached a message on the Parable of the Good
Samaritan. In his message, he challenged us to see ourselves as the one who was
left for dead on the road instead of putting ourselves in the shoes of the good
guy who finally stopped to help. Because we always want to be the good guy. But
when you see yourself as one in need; when you see yourself lying for dead on
the road with your only hope being the chance that somebody will stop and
notice you, you read the passage differently. I’ve been challenged this week to
read this story of the vineyard workers from the perspective of the hands who
were hired last. Now this story is not so much about the seeds I’ve sown in my
life, but the landowner who was willing to take a chance on me and treat me with
love, dignity and respect…regardless on when I began my journey.
Truth be
told, I think we’re all in the last category in one respect or another. We
might want to think of ourselves as those who started this journey from the
beginning, and certainly there are those who have been journeying with Jesus
for quite some time, but none of us have entered this Jesus journey on our own
merit. We’re all the product of a God who noticed us and invited us to come on
in. Some of us grew up in a church, fell away, and thought we no longer had a
chance. And then we realized that God still cared. Some of us were deep in
grief, believing that we would never heal. And then we discovered that God
still wanted to heal. Some of us were deep in addiction and had all but given
up on hope, and then God invited us to give him a try. And some of us were
simply tired of trying play the game of life, seemingly never able to get
ahead. And then this mysterious landowner said, “Come work for me.” This is
grace.
In a way,
the entire plot of “A Christmas Carol” is a story of grace. If anyone deserved
the worst, it was Ebenezer Scrooge. His hardened heart and selfish lifestyle
sucked the joy out of others. In his quest for riches, he couldn’t see beyond
the end of his own nose. But then someone came knocking at his door, offering
him another chance and a new way to see the world. Mr. Scrooge didn’t ask for
the ghostly visitors; he didn’t pray for them to come his way; they just came.
Into his misery, into his hopelessness, into his lost-ness…and Ebenezer Scrooge
begins to see what he had been missing all along.
You see,
what makes Christmas such an astounding proclamation of good news is that God
notices us, comes to us and invites us in. Not because of our hard work; not
because of our moral living; not because of anything we’ve done. Simply because
God desires to love us. Romans puts it this way: God proved his love to us that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us.” And that love-inspired death on a cross began when Jesus Christ
was born into a world that didn’t know it had everything all mixed up, into a
world that misunderstood God as somebody who had to be wooed and bribed. Like
the ghosts that visited Ebenezer Scrooge on that transformational night, God
entered our world and opened our eyes to a new way…a way of grace. And when
grace gets ahold of us and we are discover the knowledge that God deeply loves
us (no matter what!) and is not done with us, that’s enough to make our Bah!
Humbugs! flee and the Ebenezer Scrooge’s inside of us sing for joy.
At the end
of this story, we see a new Ebenezer, a redeemed Ebenezer, an Ebenezer that is
ready to give his life away! All this of course, begs the question: If a
joy-killer like Ebenezer can receive new life, can I? Without a doubt, the
answer is yes. But the answer isn’t yes because you want it to be yes. The
answer is yes because God is in the business of making all things new. I wonder
tonight if you need to receive God’s grace? I wonder tonight if you feel as if
you have life all mixed up and you’re ready to accept God’s new way for you? I
wonder tonight if you just need to know that God loves you and is not done with
you. As we come up for communion tonight, I’m going to be available to pray. If
you’d like prayer, would you join me?
Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment