There’s No Time Like the Present (Redemption of Scrooge Part III)

Sermon Title: The Life of Christmas Present: There’s No Time Like the Present

Good News Statement: Jesus provides us with joy

Preached: Sunday, December 11, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NKJV): Luke 1:46-55 Today’s scripture reading comes from the words of Luke who writes in the first chapter, verses forty-six thru fifty-five, of his Gospel about the joy of Mary’s Magnificat.

The Song of Mary

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

             The parents began to assemble the special Christmas gift they had for their children. They had ordered a kit for a tree house and received the plans for it. However, the materials they received were for a sailboat.  They wrote the company to complain.  The company’s reply:  “While we regret the inconvenience this mistake must have cause you, it is nothing compared to that of the man who is out on a lake somewhere trying to sail your tree house.” ­There’s no time like the present.

A ten-year-old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible.  Then one day she floored her grandmother by asking, “Which virgin was the mother of Jesus?  The virgin Mary or the King James Virgin?” There’s no time like the present.

It has been said that laughter reduces stress. It has also been reported that  laughter reduces the risk of heart disease, a burst of healthy laughter can help you to reduce pain and prevent infections, heavy laughter every day can strengthen your immune system, and laughing releases endorphins which can bring positive changes to the mindset of a person. According to thefactsite.com, “A child of the age of six years laughs about three times more than an adult, the average person laughs about thirteen times in a single day, humans are not the only creatures who laugh—dogs, cats, and birds have the ability to laugh—laughter is a sound that does not have any language,” and my favorite, “laughing is contagious.” When was the last time you truly and meaningfully laughed?

During the Christmas Season, we often find ourselves tangled up in the hustle and bustle, the chaos and the noise, the distractions and stress of the busy world; and because of this, we forget to laugh and enjoy the people, the sounds, the sights, the smells, and the feelings of Christmas. When we take time to live in the present moment and not worry about the stress of tomorrow, we not only remember the words Matthew 6:34—“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself”—but we live out the words of Dean Martin, who, in his chorus to Silver Bells, reminds us that there is no time like the present: “City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style/ In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas/ Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile/ And on every street corner you hear/ Silver bells, silver bells/ It’s Christmas time in the city/ Ring a ling, hear them ring/ Soon it’ll be Christmas day.”

Scrooge, after being reminded about his past—his loneliness, his true love, the merriment of the Fezziwigs, and the peace of a joyful life—is reminded that there is not time like the present and that the present is a gift given by God. Scrooge is beginning to hear the silver bells, and his heart as Dr. Seuss, through the Grinch, would say, “Grew three sizes that day.” Joy, like the present and every day that follows, is a gift. But are you living each day as if it is a gift? Life is busy, chaotic, overwhelming, unpredictable, and uncertain, but life is also peaceful, loving, joyful, and filled with an amazing grace. In order to experience the fullness of life, we must find time to laugh and to experience joy. In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” There’s no time like the present.

Opening Prayer:

Let us pray… Gracious God, fill us with your joy, the steadfast assurance that you are with us. Help us remember that it is okay to laugh, to smile, and to simply be in awe of the present moment. Let’s cherish the present as if it truly is a present, a gift, given to us. May 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:

“There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavored to diffuse in vain” (Matt Rawle, The Redemption of Scrooge, pg. 86), extols Scrooge.

As Scrooge awakens from sleep and realizes it’s time for the next ghost to appear, the clock strikes one but no spirit appears. It is several minutes before Scrooge sees light shining under the door and is wooed by the Ghost of Christmas Present into another room, a room transformed with signs of life. Holly and berries adorn the walls, the fireplace roars with heat, and a bounty of food covers every surface. The Ghost towers above him with a booming and joyful voice.

Scrooge is given a gift from the Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge isn’t given a tangible gift—something he can hold, wrap up, put on the shelf for next year. Instead, Scrooge is given something we all long for in life. We all long to experience joy, happiness, and laughter. It’s through the Ghost of Christmas Present that Scrooge becomes a little less, “Scrooge.” He sees joy in Bob Cratchit’s family, in the words of Tiny Tim, who brings warmth and joy to the lives of many by simply saying, “God bless us, everyone,” and he witnesses joy arising in his own heart. Similar to the words of Dean Martin, from this gift of joy, happiness, and laughter, Scrooge begins to see past the hustle and bustle; he notices that people shoveling the snow are gleeful, the produce in the shops is radiant, and the shopkeepers are joyful. From Scrooge’s new view on life—embodying Christ’s redemptive power—Matt Rawle draws a parallel to the song Silent Night, Holy Night, “Radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace.” Scrooge finds joy in the presence of the present moment.

Joy, such a simple and small word, but yet so powerful and radiant and life-changing. If Scrooge can experience joy in the present moment, then I believe you can as well. How will you experience joy in the present moments of the Advent Season? Jesus gives us the gift of joy, but are we willing to accept this free gift in the present?

We see this same life changing experience  taking place in Mary. Our text from last week reminds us that “the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27, NRSV). The King James Version writes in verse twenty-eight, “And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’” (Luke 1:28, NKJV). The angel Gabriel says rejoice, be delighted, have cheer, embody joy, live in the moment. In Greek, rejoice can be translated as “be glad” and have “glory.” Then the angel Gabriel says, “blessed are you among women.” In Hebrew the word bless or blessed can be translated to mean “happy or happiness.” The angel Gabriel is simply telling Mary to be glad and have joy because God is going to make you the happiest person among all the women. But we know, that it takes Mary a moment or two before she finds this joy and happiness.

At first Mary is frightened, confused, perplexed, uncertain about this situation. She even questions the angel Gabriel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). Mary at first doesn’t experience joy. Sometimes in life joy is hard to find. When we have to say good-bye to a loved one, when we get hurt, when things aren’t  going to plan, when life gets stressful, when we can no longer hear the silver bells, joy is the last thing on our mind. But Mary reminds us, that even in difficult moments in life, joy can be heard and felt. There is joy in all moments of life because God is with you. God has chosen you, and in the choosing makes you favored. God knows who you are—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and calls you by name. You are favored, not because of you are, but because of whose you are. And because you belong to God, the joy of Christ is here to give you a cheerful heart. King Solomon informs us in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine…” Mary told the angel Gabriel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

After finding joy, Mary gives her life to God and writes a song of praise: she writes a song of good medicine to bring cheerfulness and joy to her heart. This song is often called “Mary’s Song of Praise” or “Mary’s Magnificat” and it offers us three ways to embody joy and happiness in the present moment.

1. Mary rejoiced in her God.

In verses 47-48 Mary exclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Despite the almost certain humiliation that would accompany her unwed pregnancy, she decided to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God her Savior. Nothing that day was going to steal her joy in the Lord. Mary, without knowing it, was choosing to fulfill the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice always.”

Some time ago, I was pulled into a series of difficult discussions with a quite difficult person. One day while I was reading my Bible, I found encouragement in a line from Jesus’s farewell address. Just after he told his disciples that they would face sorrow when he was taken away from them (through crucifixion), Jesus encouraged them that he would come again to them (pointing to the resurrection), then added: “and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). Mary decided that no one was going to take away her joy. Furthermore, she made that decision before the difficulties even started. Mary rejoiced in God her Savior and so can we.

2. Mary acknowledged that it was all of grace.

In verses 48-50, we observe Mary acknowledging the grace she had received. She accepted (speaking of herself) “the lowly state of his servant.” She knew she was “blessed,” she knew she was going to experience happiness, and she knew she was going to be overfilled with joy in the present moment. She recognized that great things had been done “for me.” All of it was a result of God’s “mercy.” After arriving home with Tiny Tim on his shoulders, Bob Cratchit tells his wife, “[Tim] told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see” (Rawle, pg. 92). Tiny Tim and Mary acknowledged that it was all a matter of God’s grace that brought joy to life. No matter what they were going through, they found joy knowing that Christ was with them, and so can we.

3. Mary declared the victory of God over the proud and powerful.

In verses 51-53, we observe Mary declaring God’s victory. “He has shown strength with his arm.” “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones.” “He has filled the hungry…and the rich he has sent away empty.”[i] Notice Mary’s humbleness to the lowly. She boldly declared the victory of God for those who have a tough time finding joy in their life. Recall once again, though, that she did it in the moment she was most vulnerable—just before she headed back to Galilee, and probably shortly before the residents of Nazareth would discover that she was pregnant. At minimum, Mary would experience life-long social shame. But Mary declared the victory of God over all those who portray themselves as proud and powerful. To embody joy, we must give victory to the Lord. If Mary can do it, then so can we.[ii]

Do you remember Sarah’s response after she found out that she was pregnant at her old age? God turns to Abraham, asking, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’” (Genesis 18:13-14). Sarah laughed because she was filled with joy. Mary responded with joy because she knew nothing was impossible with God (Luke 1:37). There is joy even in those unexplainable moments of life.

We could complain about the busy-ness we always experience while preparing for Christmas and worry about how conversations will go when we communicate with difficult family members; or, We could rejoice in what God has done through Jesus Christ. We could grind our way through the season, trying to fulfill other people’s expectations of us and our expectations of ourselves, or,

We could acknowledge that everything we have is of God’s grace and rejoice always. How will you respond when the joy of Christ is covered up by the busyness of the season? When was the last time you heard the silver bells?

Conclusion:

Sometimes we focus too much on the downside of things that we forget to live in the present moment. Scrooge was too caught up in greed and lust to recognize the joy in things of everyday living until the Ghost of Christmas Present changed his life. Mary was perplexed, confused, and afraid until she realized the joy in being blessed and favored by God. We find ourselves walking away from joy when life isn’t fair until we stop and give God thanks for being in our life. But we must take heart knowing that there is joy in being favored and chosen by God. There is joy in the present moment that helps us believe and hear the bells on Christmas morning.

Towards the end of the movie The Polar Express, the little boy simply says, “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.” There’s no time like the present. Scrooge’s life was changed and joy warmed his heart in the present. Mary’s life was changed and happiness was shared to all generations in the present. Christmas, amongst the busyness and the noise, and for some the hurt and pain of seeing an empty chair, can still be a holiday of joy that warms your heart, that brings a smile to your face, and that starts a contagious laughing spell that lasts through the season.

If Scrooge, who represents greed and lust can find joy and be redeemed, then so can you. Take some time this Christmas season to embody the joy of Christ’s birth and I promise you, you will always hear the silver bells. Those bells might be playing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. (Where?) Down in my heart. (Where?) Down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Down in my heart to stay.” Remember there’s no time like the present because the present is a gift filled with joy given to you by God: rejoice, experience grace, and proclaim victory in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Closing Prayer:

Dear God may we, like Mary, remember to praise you, lean into your grace, declare your victory, and remember the joy that brings cheer to our heart. May we be like Scrooge, and begin to notice the simple things in life that make us laugh, that make us smile, and which allow us to hear the cheerful sounds of the season. Amen.

Benediction:

Joy. It’s more than a word: it’s a contagious feeling that can change the present, provide us with medicine to cheer our heart, and remind us that we are truly blessed, favored, and happy in the presence of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit go transforming lives as you live well and wisely in God’s world. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

[i] She styled her song after the song of Hannah in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 2:1-10)

Hannah prayed: My heart exults in the Lord
Mary prayed: My soul magnifies the Lord

Hannah worshiped with the words: There is none holy like the LORD
Mary worshiped by saying: Holy is his name

Hannah exclaimed: Talk no more so very proudly
Mary exclaimed: He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts

Hannah proclaimed: The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.
Mary proclaimed: He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.

Hannah declared: The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
Mary declared: He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

[ii] 4. Mary tied into what God was doing, not only in her generation, but in the broader scope of God’s work in history.

In verse 50, Mary reflected back upon what God had done in the past in rescuing his people: “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” Then in verses 54-55, she focused more specifically on God’s faithfulness to Abraham and his grandson Israel (Jacob) and their descendants: “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” Mary is committed to this joy, the same joy that was given to Abraham and his descendants. Do you remember Sarah’s response after she found out that she was pregnant at her old age? God turns to Abraham, asking, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’” (Genesis 18:13-14). Sarah laughed. Mary responded with joy. I guess it is safe to say that laughter is contagious and spreads throughout many generations. If Sarah can laugh at this bizarre news, then certainly we can laugh when something doesn’t go to plan. But when was the last time you truly laughed and found joy in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season?