A Scrooge on Gaudete Sunday – Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent

Today we see the beautiful roses and the rose vestments,
and the rose colored candle that represent the third Sunday of Advent.

These are visible reminders that no matter what we are going through,
no matter what is happening around us,
as Christians we are always people of Good News.

And when we receive good news, how do we react?
We rejoice.
And that’s why this Sunday is dedicated to rejoicing. Why?
Because we now know that the one we long for,
the one our soul longs to encounter,
the one who can make us whole,
who can give meaning to our life,
has come, is coming, and will come again.

And in the face of this incredible news
that God is getting so close to us,
that he is intimately connected to us,
what do we do?
We rejoice.
And we’re going to rejoice from now
until Jesus comes back again.

That is what we are supposed to be doing.
That is what scripture commands.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
Why?
Because we are people of the good news.

And what a great witness to give to people
as things are so difficult right now,
that we are still able to rejoice,
in spite of what is happening in the world now,
and in spite of whatever happens in the future.

One of the difficulties we have in understanding this Sunday
and the whole topic of rejoicing and joy
is the fact that we confuse pleasure and happiness with joy.

Pleasure gives us feelings and emotions of happiness
but emotions come and go.
Joy is a state of being,
something that remains inside of us
despite what goes on around us in life.

So if we’re having a good time we rejoice,
and even if we’re not having a good time we still rejoice.
We might not be happy,
but the state of being, like peace, stays there
and that’s what we’re going to focus on.
That’s what we must reclaim.

This is something that Ebenezer Scrooge didn’t understand.
We’re all familiar with the character Ebenezer Scrooge
from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Scrooge is so famous that his name is in the dictionary.

At school we’re doing a family read-along of A Christmas Carol,
reading one chapter a week and then talking about it.
And there’s this scene in the first chapter
between Scrooge and his nephew Fred,
when Fred comes to visit his Uncle Scrooge at his office,
and he’s just so full of Christmas joy.
Fred is the embodiment of rejoicing.
He doesn’t have much money, he lives a modest life,
but every year he invites his Uncle Scrooge over for Christmas diner.
So he enters Scrooge’s office and says,
“Merry Christmas Uncle!”
And of course his uncle responds with that famous line,
“Bah! Humbug!”
And Scrooge goes on to say,
“What right have you to be merry?
What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”

You see, Scrooge is confusing joy with happiness.
And we have to be careful we don’t make the same mistake.
You see, Scrooge might just as well say to us,
“What reason have you to be merry? You’re in the middle of a pandemic.”

But Fred answers with a true understanding of joy.
He says, “What right have you to be dismal?
What reason have you to be morose?
You’re rich enough.”

Scrooge has all this money and he still has no joy.
Fred understands, and his trying to get his uncle to understand,
that joy isn’t about external circumstances
like wealth or comfort or good health,
but it’s a state of being
caused by the incredibly Good News
that Jesus has come, is coming, and will come again.
And Scrooge doesn’t get it.

But as we know, he does eventually learn the difference
between happiness and joy
with the help of three spirits who can help us understand, too.

In the gospel John the Baptist tells the people
“there is one among you whom you do not recognize.”
Jesus is among them but they don’t see him.

The solution to Scrooge’s misery is right in front of him,
but he doesn’t see it.
And so he is visited by three spirits
who help him to look at his past, his present
and his future through new eyes.
They force him to examine his life more closely.

The Spirit of Christmas Past takes him to see his childhood,
his youth, and he looks at those years with different eyes now.
The lonely Christmases of his past,
the relationships he let lapse,
but also the joyful times and the graces he had forgotten about.
He sees the things that made him into the man he is
and also the things he turned away from.

What if the Spirit of Christmas Past
took us on a journey to our past?
Because we, too, have a history,
both a communal history of God intervening in the lives of his people
and our own personal history of God entering into our individual lives.
The Spirit might whisk us away to the middle east where we would see
God making his covenant with Abraham,
establishing a people who are the apple of his eye.
And then we might be whisked away to Egypt
to see God freeing them from slavery,
leading them across the Red Sea
and caring for them until they reached the promised land.
But we would also see how those chosen people
worshipped a golden calf, how they complained in the desert,
and fell short of living up to the covenant.

Then we might we whisked ahead a few centuries
to a humble stable in Bethlehem,
where God sent his only begotten son,
the answer to the world’s longing,
born as a tiny baby,
then grown up to preach and teach and heal,
to forgive and show mercy.
A son who suffered for us, and died for us,
and then rose from the dead.
But we might also see a member of his inner circle betray him,
and one of his closest friends deny him.

And if the Spirit of Christmas Past came to you and me individually
and took us on a journey to our own past,
where would we be taken?
What events from the past
would the spirit show to you and to me?

And there’s more in store for Scrooge.
There’s the Spirit of Christmas Present.
This spirit takes Scrooge to visit those people in his present life
who understand true joy:
His employee Bob Cratchit with his wife and children,
especially their youngest son Tiny Tim, who needs crutches to get around.
As Scrooge watches them and their humble and difficult existence,
he sees that they still are able to rejoice at Christmas.
They don’t have everything they want,
this isn’t the Christmas that they hope for,
they are striving to make things better for themselves.
But they’re still able to take time at Christmas
to rejoice over their blessings.
And he wants to help them.

The Spirit of Christmas Present takes Scrooge
to several other places,
places that you may not know about
if you’ve only seen the movie or TV versions of the story.
Places like a solitary lighthouse,
where the two lighthouse keepers are all alone
and yet are still able to celebrate Christmas.
Or like a ship far from home,
where the sailors, too, are celebrating.
The Spirit also takes Scrooge to a hospital and to a prison,
where the spirit sprinkles his Christmas cheer on them
because Christmas joy is a state of being
that doesn’t depend on external circumstances.

Where would the Spirit of Christmas Present take us?
What would we see in our lives today
that we might have overlooked?
Who are the Bob Cratchit’s and the Tiny Tim’s among us,
full of joy even in the midst of this challenging time?
It is our call to seek out the poor, the afflicted,
those suffering in body and soul,
and to care for them,
to serve them, and above all recognize the presence of Christ in them.

Now, the final visitor for Scrooge is, as you remember,
the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come.
This silent and forbidding spirit takes Scrooge to see his future,
or at least one possible future.
And it frightens him.
Scrooge’s future holds no rejoicing.

He looks at what where he’s going,
he looks at where he’s at,
he looks at where he’s been,
and he finally comes to understand.
He understands Christmas joy.
It changes him
and he rejoices,
finally able to proclaim, “Merry Christmas!”

That’s the call for us this Gaudete Sunday
to take the next two weeks
and look at our past, our present, and our future,
remembering the God who has come,
who is coming, and who will come again.
To recognize Christ in the needy and to help them.

If you’re looking to rekindle your Christmas joy,
you might take some time in the remaining days of Advent
to read A Christmas Carol,
or watch one of the many movie or TV adaptations.
In fact, our local public radio station KPBX
is airing a special radio play version
performed by the Spokane Civic Theatre.
It will be airing several times between now and Christmas Eve.
And as you read or watch or listen,
imagine those spirits taking you to your past, present and future,
and take the time to examine God’s presence in your life.

This is the reality that changes our lives,
this is the Good News:
that the Lord of our longing is near,
nearer than we realize.
And regardless of what is going on around us,
in the face of that Good News,
we rejoice.

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