Dr. Dale Miller, December 17, 2006

The Ghost of Christmas Future

Third in a four-part series "The Spirits of Christmas"

Luke 3:7-18

When our children were younger we would travel north into the Upper Peninsula during the month of August for two weeks of fishing. Our destination was Gronland, a fishing camp owned by Susan's aunt that was located on Big Manistique Lake. Susan is the one who liked to fish; I went along for the ride. I enjoyed getting in a small boat with a 10 horsepower motor and pretending to fish while I trolled around the lake. I really like being on the water.

One summer my folks joined us for a week. My father had never been in a small boat with a small motor, so I got to be the "grown-up" one afternoon, steering the boat across the lake into a sheltered cove where the water was calm. It was a good place to catch perch. We were enjoying the water and the conversation so much that I didn't notice the sky becoming darker. Our little world in the cove was nice and quiet, but the lake had grown choppy. Out of the northwest the wind came, the rain began to fall and the waves were from three to five feet high.

Our problem was that we were on the south side of the lake and the fishing camp was on the northwest end of the lake. I said to my father, "We're going to cross the lake by heading into the wind and facing the waves fairly slowly. Even though you're sitting in the front of the boat, I want you to turn around and face me. You're going to get wet, but we'll get back in one piece." Now, I don't know if I was saying that for his sake or mine. I did realize that our safety was in my hands and that I wasn't really confident in my game plan, but off we went. We did get wet. I don't know if we crashed into the waves or the waves crashed into us, but I do know that it was a bumpy ride!

The forces of nature loudly proclaimed that I was not in complete charge of what was happening. I can't say that my whole life flashed before my eyes, but I did grab onto one or two of the more interesting scenes to enjoy. It was weird to be responsible for my father, instead of him being responsible for me. Obviously, we made it safely ashore, but I don't think my father ever did buy my explanation that kissing the dock was a superstitious but meaningful gesture done by all anglers upon their safe return.

These last few weeks we have been dissecting A Christmas Carol, a story by Charles Dickens. During the length of one night the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Future visited Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge thought he had his life in control. With the appearance of the Spirits of Christmas, Scrooge finds himself in utter and complete fear. When Scrooge first meets the Ghost of Christmas Future he says to the Spirit, "I fear you more than any specter I have seen. But I know you've come to help me so that I can live as a different man than I used to live."

The Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas Present showed him things that opened his eyes. The Ghost of Christmas Past opened his mind and his eyes to his painful childhood. He had been so hurt by people that he began pushing them further and further away. Instead of finding meaning in relationships, Ebenezer began to find meaning in money and profits. He saw in that journey with the Ghost of Christmas Past how he had taken people and love and traded them for money and greed.

Then came the Ghost of Christmas Present. That Spirit showed him how people of all kinds, particularly the poor, were able to find joy in life, not because of materialism, but because of relationships to one another. On the journey with the Ghost of Christmas Present Scrooge began to see people as people. People who loved. People who had joy. People who struggled to make ends meet. Scrooge had been evaluating people by their ability to produce wealth. He learned that he was the one in poverty because he had pushed people away.

With the visit of the first two Ghosts, Scrooge learned that he had to come to terms with his past and he learned that he had to embrace the present and experience the feelings that were welling up inside of him for the very first time. His redemption has begun. But now he faces the third Ghost. As Scrooge faces the Ghost of Christmas Future he says, "I don't have the power to face the future."

Sometimes we find ourselves in the same boat, looking at some turbulent, choppy waves. We find ourselves unsure how to confront the future.

• When faced with making a response to the future sometimes we choose to fight it. We fight to stay right where we are, avoiding change with all of our might.

• Sometimes we choose to take flight, running away from potential conflict as fast as our feet can travel.

• Sometimes we submit to the opportunity of the moment, embracing the possibility of what could happen in our lives.

Last Sunday we were introduced to John the Baptizer as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Today's reading continues the story. These verses forecast a future that is full of doom. "And the crowds asked him 'What then should we do?" John responds to their question, but then proclaims a coming Messiah who will bring a possibility for a different future. Scrooge didn't want to face the future but he had to, and so do we. We can think about some of the things we'll want to do and some things we might want to be, but we also know there is often an uncertainty to our lives and there is an end to life.

The Ghost of Christmas Future always reminded me of the Grim Reaper - draped in dark hooded robe, standing silent. This Spirit doesn't say a word; the spirit just points. Scrooge asks, "Are you showing me shadows of my life as it will be, or as it might be if I do not change?" The Spirit just points and takes Scrooge on a journey - a journey into the future.

One of the stops is at the trade building. Business people are clustered together making deals, sharing news and gossip. They are talking about a man who had just died. They are making fun of the man saying things like "I wonder what he did with all his money. It's not doing him very much good right now! One asks, "Do you think anyone will go to the funeral?" Another one says, "Well, I'll go if they serve a lunch!"

One of the last stops is at the home of Bob Cratchit. The scene is not like it was last week with joy and celebration. The family is very quiet. Bob Cratchit breaks down and says, "We will never forget our Tiny Tim. We will never stop loving him." Scrooge's heart breaks.

In the last scene, Scrooge finds himself in an overgrown cemetery looking at a grave with his name on the tombstone. Scrooge falls to the ground and says, "Spirit, please tell me that I may change this future. Please tell me that this is what might be, not what will be. Please tell me that by altering my life, I can alter my future. Please!" Scrooge's life suddenly comes into focus. He is not afraid of death. He is afraid of a wasted life; a life not lived.

Scrooge reminds me of the people of Israel, standing before John, virtually pleading with him: "Please tell us that what you are preaching, what you are prophesying, is what might be, not what will be." Scrooge reminds me of the people who followed Jesus and listened to him as he described the Kingdom of God. "Jesus, please tell us that what you are preaching is what humanity might become."

What will our future be like? Or, an even better question is, what impact will what we do in the future have on our lives, our family, our friends, our community and our world? I truly believe that the future is not written. Jesus gives us the choice to follow him or not. He doesn't force us by twisting our arm, but he does ask for a decision from us.

In 2001, Robert Tools received the first totally implanted artificial heart. He said he'd done everything wrong in his life, but when he got a new heart, he was going to do things differently. He said, "I might not have much time, but I'm going to hold my grandchildren, and go fishing, and enjoy the sunset with my wife." He was right, he didn't live long, but those days were lived full of meaning and joy. His wife said, "[We] had more fun during the last few months than in the two years he struggled with a weak heart."

The future is not yet written. We choose. We choose to follow Jesus Christ who offers us a future full of hope and joy. In order to go in his direction, however, often we have to unload baggage that prohibits our progress. We have to throw away the heavy burdens that prevent us from receiving the gift of God's grace in our lives.

1. If we are carrying around the guilt of our pasts, we need to throw that guilt away. Guilt literally kills our ability to claim any future of personal wholeness and fulfillment. If anyone here is in that boat, turn toward the wind and take it slow and easy. You can get to shore. Let the gift of forgiveness be yours this morning.

2. If we have been paralyzed by harsh experiences that have insulated us from emotions and we do not know what to do with our own feelings, or the lack of them, we need to re-wire our emotional system. In the Book of Ezekiel (36:26) it is written that God says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." In other words, in our past we may have responded to our experiences by constructing a freeze-dried heart, but God says, "I can change that. I can bring real, genuine, authentic feelings back into your life." Let the gift of recovering feelings be yours this morning.

3. If we have been disoriented by the experience of death in our lives, we need to discard our fear and cling to the assurance of life eternal. It is around the holiday table that the absence of people is so evident. We think about the people who used to be there at the table. Maybe we think about the grandmother and the six Jell-O salads she made for eight people. At the end of the day, five of the salads stood totally untouched, but it wasn't really Christmas without them! One of the great gifts of Christmas is that we do not have to be afraid of death any more. God has become one of us. Jesus sets us free forever. Let the gift of Christ's eternal presence be yours this morning.

When we accept these gifts of God, when we accept the gift of God's grace into our lives, we become like Ebenezer at the end of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge opens himself up to the Spirit of Christmas and he begins to overflow with joy. He sees his life starting all over again. He overflows with generosity. He throws open the window to his room and asks a boy to get the prize-winning turkey from the butcher and take it to the Cratchit family. He spends that day sharing the joy with as many people as he can. He spends the rest of his life giving away, sharing, lifting people up, building relationships, doing all the things he avoided doing for so many long years.

Giving in to the Spirit working in our lives frees us to do things out of joy - the joy of Jesus Christ working in us. Today we lit the Advent Candle of Joy. Let it never be extinguished. I love how the story of Scrooge ends. It says, "Ebenezer had no further visits from the Ghosts...and it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well."

The story of Ebenezer Scrooge is a story of redemption. The story of the birth of Jesus is a story of redemption. The power of one life changed the entire world. The power of one life, Jesus Christ, changes all of us. Amen.