December 12 – Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

Today is already the third Sunday of Advent, and the Christmas season is in full swing.  Perhaps you are like me in looking forward to watching the many Christmas movies that exist.  Many of them are classics that are watched year after year, and add to our enjoyment of the holiday.  When I was a child, we eventually got our first television.  Some of you may remember the kind with a tiny oval screen.   Okay, I know I am giving away the fact that I am somewhat ancient, and this will make me seem even older because one of the Christmas movies we watched each year was “The Christmas Carol”.  Of course, it was in black and white.  I have to admit it was somewhat scary, but none-the –less, it was part of the holiday season.

A Christmas Carol is one of the best known books in English literature. It has been adapted into more than 20 movies as well as countless theatre performances and television programs. In addition to all the live action movies there have been many animated ones such as The Muppet’s Christmas Carol.

As children it was just a Christmas time movie, but as adults we begin to see the messages that Charles Dickens strived to impart.   In the story, Ebenezer Scrooge was a nice young boy, but he was sent away to a boarding school.  When the ghost of Christmas Past arrives and takes Scrooge back to his past, Scrooge sees himself having fun with his school friends, but he also sees himself alone during the holidays, solitary, abandoned and sad, even though he had a loving sister and an employer who treated him like a son. He falls in love with a nice girl named Belle and they plan to get married. At that point in his life, Scrooge had a lot going for him. However, his poor upbringing meant that he was always worried about money. He makes the mistake of placing financial security over everything else in his life, including his relationship with Belle. He allowed his past fears and lack of what he felt he needed to destroy his future.

The Ghost of Christmas Past then takes him back in time and he visits the house of Belle on the Christmas Eve that Marley had died years before. Belle is now happily married and living in a big house with a loving husband and a large family. At that point, Scrooge begins to realize that he has lost out and that all his money does not make up for what he had lost and the type of man that he had become.

What Dicken’s wants us all to see is that when we let material things become more important than the people in our lives, in the end we will lose.  In the rush of the holiday season, shopping, baking cookies, decorating, and on and on, it is easy to let these tasks take over our lives and our time.  Ultimately, we don’t have the time we would like to have to spend with our family and friends, much less to think about the true meaning of the Christmas Season.

Yet, in the long run, it is the time we spend with others that really counts.  It is the time we spend with others that they remember in the long run.  There are many material things that my family and friends have given me over the years, yet, what I mostly remember is the time we have spent together.  That is, “memory making” time.  In Scrooge’s case, he was unwilling to spend time with anyone, because that time could be spent making money; nor was he willing to give anything to anyone even when he was asked directly to give to the poor.

Let me ask you a question. If you were to boil the Christian life down into one word what would that word be? My answer would be “Relationships”. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, He talked about our relationship with God the Father. It is this daily relationship with our God that sustains us as we walk through our life here on earth, and Jesus pointedly indicated that one’s relationship with his fellow man is a close second. It is a safe assumption then that relationships are at the core of Christian living.

When Scrooge woke up that Christmas morning, he realized that he had been given a second chance. He knew then that things in his life could change, that there was still hope. It was this realization that lead to his outburst of joy. He was a changed person.  We too can experience second chances.  We can change our prejudices, our fears, and our tendency to live our lives by the standards of today’s culture.  We can realize the importance of our relationship with God and those in our life.

As we leave here this morning let us remember that every day we are surrounded by God’s blessings.  Yet, often we simply do not see them.  Ultimately, The Christmas Carol is about transformation, a transformation like Scrooge’s that makes our lives joyful.  Nothing was really changed in Scrooge’s life; he still did the same work, ate the same food, and sat beside the same fireplace when he was home.  The one thing that did change was his attitude and his perspective on life.  He realized that he needed good relationships with those around him. Scrooge had been transformed to see life through different lenses.  That is my prayer for each one of us this Advent and Christmas Season.  That we would see our lives as God sees them.  May we all be transformed by the grace and mercy of God, and May all those around us see the love of God shining through our words and our actions?   Amen