Part IV – The Heart That Grew Three Sizes

Sermon Title: Part IV (Grinch): The Heart That Grew Three Sizes

Good News Statement: God revives us with love

Preached: Sunday, December 19, 2021 at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Luke 2:8-16: Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Luke chapter two verses eight thru sixteen. Listen to the words of Luke…

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, Amen.

 

Introduction:

“It was quarter past dawn… All the Whos, still a-bed, All the Whos, still a-snooze, When the Grinch packed up his sled. Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings! The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings! Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit, he rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it! ‘Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!’ he was Grinch-ish-ly humming. ‘They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming! They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do! Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry BOO-HOO!’ ‘That’s a noise,’ grinned the Grinch, ‘that I simply must hear!’ So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear…” (Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas).

Here we are. The Grinch has succeeded. None of the Whos down in Whoville have any presents or decorations or even food for Christmas Day. The Grinch is sure that his wonderful, awful idea is here to stay. And he has every reason to believe that Christmas will not come. He has this image in his mind that all of the Whos would wake up, and their mouths would be open for a minute or two before they begin weeping and wailing as they notice what had happened. Well, the Whos mouths were open early in the morning, but they weren’t weeping and wailing; rather they began singing.

Dr. Seuss continues, “And the Grinch did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow…But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry! It couldn’t be so! But it was merry! Very! He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise! Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all!”

Have you ever wanted a certain gift for Christmas? Did you ever think to yourself, that if I don’t get this one thing then Christmas would not be Christmas that year? Think back to when you were a child. What was the one gift you really wanted but never got. Every year, from age of five to ten, I asked my parents for a four-wheeler for Christmas. When I was ten, I found a key at the bottom of my stocking! I immediately ran out the front door, ran around the house to the back yard looking for a four-wheeler. I looked in the shed, under the deck, behind the rabbit hutch, and even in our neighbor’s garage. But guess what? There was no four-wheeler to be found.

I walked back through the front door, with my head hung low, and sat back down. I looked at my parents and said, “What is this key for?” At this point I noticed that all my siblings had the same key. My dad looked over at me and said, “This is the key to our new house.” I thought to myself, “I didn’t put this on my Christmas list.” Although it wasn’t something that I wanted for Christmas, it became a gift that I needed to receive.

The Grinch, from atop of Mt. Crumpit, wanted something particular for Christmas—like we all have at some point in our life. However, what he wanted was completely different than what he needed. What do you need for Christmas this year? What do you need so that your heart will grow three sizes?

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray… Dear Mighty Counselor, as we anticipate that coming of your son, Jesus Christ, help us to realize that what we want is not always what we need. This Christmas season  guide us towards what we need most: your love. I pray that my words fall to the ground as your words settle in the hearts of all those before me. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Body:

We don’t know why the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes. By the end of the book and movie, we know that the size of his heart was not due to the fact that “his head wasn’t screwed on just right, or that perhaps his shoes were too tight.” The Grinch’s heart was two sizes too small because he didn’t know the true meaning of Christmas: he didn’t know what you and I know today.

Thinking about the story of the Grinch, I am struck by how similar his story is to the layout of Luke’s record of Jesus’ birth. In the first scene, which takes place before our Scripture reading of today, the curtain opens and we see a magnificent palace, the seat of human power and authority. Luke writes, “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration…[and] all went to their own towns to be registered” (Luke 2:1-4). The scene begins in the palace, the seat of authority. The Grinch at the beginning of the story seems to think he holds a similar power. Instead of ordering the world to temporarily move like Caesar orders, he goes to their homes in the hope of moving them to despair. Instead of counting the people so that he could record their possessions, he takes their possessions to elicit misery. Though the actions of Caesar and the Grinch were different, their hunger for power is quite the same: both wanted their respective worlds to know who was in charge. But we know that the Grinch’s wonderful, awful idea falls short. Because of this, because of hearing the singing, his Heart begins to grow one size. The Grinch sets aside his power, similar to that of Caesar; especially when Caesar realizes that it is the child in the manger who has the power.

In the second scene we find ourselves outside of Bethlehem where shepherds keep a watchful eye over their flock by night. While watching over their flock, “[A]n angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:9-11). The Shepherds’ job was to protect the herd from danger, and now standing before them is a frightful and unfamiliar sight. It is no surprise that the angel quickly calls out to them—like the angel said to both Mary and Joseph—“Do not be afraid.” I can only imagine that the shepherds are surprised and are terrified. They may even be gripping their rods tighter and tighter as the angel keeps talking.

In addition to being told to not be afraid, the angel continues: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,  ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’’ (Luke 2:12-14). Not only were the shepherds stopped by an angel in the middle of the night, but now there is a heavenly host of angels speaking to them. If the shepherds weren’t frightened before, I bet they are now! How many of you would be surprised and frightened if an angel accompanied with a heavenly host appeared before you in the middle of the night with no warning?

The Grinch, too, was surprised by the reaction from the Whos down in Whoville. The Whos did not sing songs of lament; and did not stop Christmas from coming. “The Grinch came to an unexpected realization,” as Matt Rawle notes. “The singing he heard was so disarming that it caused him to stop and reconsider everything.” Christmas came anyway. “He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same.” In short, the Grinch realized that Christmas was more. The Grinch’s heart grew another size once more.

In the third scene, the true meaning of Christmas finds the Grinch’s heart. Dr. Seuss notes, “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so?’ It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!” Then the Grinch realized, “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more.”

Though his sleigh is teetering on the edge of a cliff, it has not yet fallen. He pulls everything back from the brink and decides to go, with haste, down the mountain to return the Christmas he tried to destroy. With everything that he stole in the night, he charges down the mountain. After realizing what needs to happen, like the Grinch, the shepherds decide to go. Unlike the Grinch, though the shepherds decide to go to Bethlehem instead of Whoville. The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord had made known to us” (Luke 2:15). The shepherds finally make their way to the Holy Family and when they see the Christ Child, they tell everyone everything what had happened. When the Grinch makes it to down to Whoville, when the Whos open up their circle, and when the Grinch gives everything back, it is at this moment in which his heart grew the third and finally size. “And what happened then…? Well…in Whoville they say that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!”

The Christmas story is a three-scene play that leads us from the palace to the manger, bringing us closer to God’s own incarnate heart. We find in the Grinch’s story a three-part transformation of his own heart, which started out two sizes too small and grew to the point of overflowing. His heart had been transformed; and it all began with hearing the true meaning of Christmas. The Grinch heard and felt the love that came down from heaven.

We don’t know what the Whos sang exactly, but we should rightly imagine that it wasn’t a sweet Christmas carol about reindeer or snow or Santa Claus. It was probably a song that spoke a deep and profound truth, a song that you can’t help but sing when you wake up. “Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?” It was a song that resembled the words to which the heavenly host spoke to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” It could have been a song that proclaims to the world that with Christ living amongst us, we can sing “Joy to the World” as we go and tell of the great news from every mountaintop. Or it could have been a song that reflects the words of the Psalmist, “O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1-3).

I like to imagine that the Whos were singing the song “My Life Flows On,” found in the United Methodist song book, The Faith We Sing. The lyrics are as follows: “My life flows on in endless song; Above earth’s lamentation; I hear the clear, though far-off hymn; That hails a new creation / Through all the tumult and the strife; I hear that music ringing; It finds an echo in my soul; How can I keep from singing? / No storm can shake my innocent calm; While to that Rock I’m clinging; Since love is Lord of heaven and earth; How, [How], can I keep from singing?” (#2212).

The Whos, unlike the Grinch, knew that Christmas did not come from a store. The Whos knew that Christmas was more. Through their song of love and praise, they shared with the Grinch the same love that God gives each of us. God gives us a love that flows endlessly, that rises above our lamentations, that echoes in our souls, that keeps us grounded, that hails a new creation. God’s love is also the only love which keeps us singing. It puts a song in our heart that reminds us all that God’s love is patient, is kind, it does not envy or boast, it is not resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). God’s love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things because it never ends (1 Corinthians 13:7-8). God’s love is the love that can grow any heart three sizes.

Conclusion:

As I think about the key that I received many years ago on Christmas morning, the key that I didn’t want, I finally realize that it is a key that I needed to receive. The key is more than a key. The key represents safety, understanding, forgiveness, hope, joy, peace, and love. It’s a key that will always allow me to feel at home. I was surprised when I found the key. The shepherds were surprised when the angel appeared to them in the fields at night. The Grinch was surprised when the Whos down in Whoville started singing songs of love and praise. But with the feeling of surprise, God reminded me, the shepherds, and the Grinch that he revives us, in moments of disappointment and worry, with a love that never ends, but yet grows our hearts. This love will come down at Christmas; and it will be found wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

After having his expectations not met, after being seen as a possible hero instead of a villain, after finding joy and truth in the voice of the small, and after being accepted and loved by all, the Grinch finally realized that “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.” The meaning of Christmas is love; a love that accepts all, embraces all, and endures all. The true meaning of Christmas is more than a store: it is a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. What song is playing in your heart this Christmas season? What do you need for Christmas this year? And what do you need so that your heart will grow three sizes? And “he himself…carved the roast beast!”

Closing Prayer:

            Let us pray…Dear Everlasting Father, I pray that you fill our hearts with a song that never ends, with a love that brings us comfort, and a willingness to let our hearts grow three sizes. Help us today to be like the shepherds, and witness the birth of your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lead us towards the true meaning of Christmas. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Benediction:

As you continue to prepare for the Christmas season, ask yourself, “What is it that I need in life?” Pay attention to how God answers your question. And more importantly, take to heart the love that God gives in you in response. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, go in peace and love as you live wisely and well in God’s world. Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!