During Advent, a little group of us have been studying “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens as part of a bible study. Things got busy this week and we didn’t have time for our final session, but those of us who had a chance to talk about it compared some thoughts about how the story ends. Ebenezer Scrooge is transformed by the visit of three spirits and he is a new man. In our memories of the story, there was much dancing and celebration about his conversion. The original story is brief. Scrooge buys a goose for the Cratchit family and has dinner with his nephew. That’s about it. In our memories we remember him dancing around and buying presents and hanging around the Cratchit household.

         Perhaps our memories of Ebenezer Scrooge are embellished by numerous movie and television adaptations. For Dickens, a transformed life was enough to write about. We seem to need song and dance and the giving of piles of presents. The celebration of Christmas on only one day and mostly consisting of one meal seems to us a little sparse.

         It was not always been so even for us. The grand season we know today has only been true for us after World War II. Only a few generations ago, Christmas was mostly a single day affair. Going back a few more generations, Christmas was subdued and further back to colonial days – Christmas was outlawed as a bunch of catholic nonsense. (You could be fined five shillings for making merry!)

         Tales of Santa Claus, and Rudolf the Red-nosed reindeer enlarge our Christmas. We have the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge and also the Grinch. We remember Charlie Brown and Frosty the Snowman. We have a rich repertoire of tales about giving and about sacrifice. We hear morals about the true meaning of Christmas and think we are preserving something valuable and ancient. They are like the well-preserved ornaments we take down from our attic. In our minds they are old and traditional, handed down from our parents. In reality, they were bought at some five and dime and hung on a tree a generation or two ago and we are only preserving what we’ve been given.

         I enjoy all the trappings of the Christmas we celebrate today. I love the carols and the decorations. I like buying presents for those I love and I love gathering as a family and taking stock of all our blessings. I also know that as good as all of this is, in our rush and hurry to celebrate, not much of what we do intentionally points to God.

         There was a time before Charlie Brown and the Grinch who could steal Christmas. There was a time before Christmas trees and Christmas lights. There was a time before our winter celebration of gift giving and feasting. There was a time before this winter gathering of family around the hearth in the darkest days of the year. There was a time when the only gift that mattered was the one that God would give us.

         The deep truth of this day is that God has come to help us when we most need help. We’d like to think our present difficulties are an aberration. We want to get back to days of prosperity and plenty and we assume those days are normal. God knows that we are always hurting and always suffering. We are always in some sort of want. In truth we need God. We will find no peace or contentment without God. As hard as we try, we keep drifting from the right path and we become prisoners to our own selfishness and fear. The good news is that God comes to us when we deserve it least.

         Two thousand years ago, God entered human existence in a poor village in the middle of nowhere. In doing so, God proclaims that no poor village is ever unimportant ever again. The birth of Jesus proclaims that God is everywhere we find ourselves. God is now with us. God is in every human struggle and in every human want. The baby Jesus feels what we feel and needs what we need and depends upon the love and care of other human hands.

         The Christmas story is a human story. We can’t tell it without remembering what God has done for us. We can’t tell it unless we fit it into the lives we live right now. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but we have heard the good news wherever we have heard it – in our homes, on television, or through Ebenezer Scrooge.

         I don’t believe we need to rescue Christmas from commercialization. I say we should sing every song and tell every story. Every blinking light and every wrapped present tells a facet of the story of God’s love for us and God’s generosity to us. If we must be careful about anything, it would be to remember why God has been so generous. God wants to change us. God wants us to be transformed people, singing and dancing like a transformed Scrooge because we have heard good news.

         Christmas isn’t about the size or beauty of our tree, or the abundance of our presents. Christmas is about the gift of Jesus. Jesus is given to make us into new people. So instead of asking one another, “What did you get for Christmas?” Perhaps we should be asking, “How are you different this Christmas?”

           We are about to celebrate a day of generosity. We will gather and open presents which are wrapped with paper and maybe a little anxiety? We think, “Will they like what I bought? Did I get the right size?” I know that I have reached the age when I am a difficult person to buy a present for. I don’t really need anything. I tell my children that their mother and I would be happy for a photograph with all of them together. “No, no,” they say, “that’s much too small.” Then again, what’s more important to a mother than her children?

         We often have to overcome our needs in giving the gift to offer what is truly desired by the one who receives. Part of the stress of the holidays is all the emotional strings we attach to our attempts at generosity. If we get it right, we strengthen those relationships that are important to us. If we try too hard to control the outcome of our offerings and gatherings, we may be disappointed.

         King David was very grateful for all that God had done for him. After a long life where God had stood by him in good times and hard times, David thinks that it is a shame that God is worshipped in a tent while he lives in the comfort of a palace. He decides to build God a temple – a fitting place to worship and glorify God.

         God tells the prophet Nathan to set aside this good intention. Does God need a roof? Or did God need anything better than a tent when God defeated the Egyptians or wandered with the people in the wilderness? The blessings that God has given David are not dependent on David’s good intentions. All along it has been God’s generosity that has helped King David and the people to succeed and flourish. David wants to build a temple, but God wants to build something else. God will build a house, but it will be the people of God. The house God will build is an undying dynasty of a holy people, who worship God more fittingly than any other people in any other place – no matter how magnificent their temple.

         We are surrounded by symbols that remind us of our blessings. We are apt to learn the wrong lesson. We are tempted to buy wonderful gifts and to try and produce a celebration that matches what God has given us. We want to show our gratitude, but God desires a different path. God wants us to acknowledge what has been given and live the life that is offered. It sounds simple, but it is much more difficult.

         God does not promise a place of ease without a journey of difficulty. God does not promise plenty until we have felt keenly the want of the poor. Mary gives us a wonderful hymn of praise that reminds us how God is generous and to whom God is generous. God has mercy on those who depend upon God, and God scatters the proud. The mighty are cast down and the lowly are lifted up. The hungry are filled and the rich are sent away empty. This is good news for those who suffer and for those who are powerless. It is bad news for the powerful and the satisfied.

         Perhaps this is good news for us. We’ve got our share of troubles. Things are not turning out the way we’d like. Maybe the news we need to remember that when things are at their worse, it is the time that God can act. If we can let go of the gift we would give, maybe we can have room for the gift God desires to give us.

         Mary is our model for this. The angel comes to her and says to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Then follows one of the great understatements in scripture, “But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” I’ll bet she did!) God didn’t ask her to give anything or do anything. The angel simply announces what God will do, and the implications of this unexpected generosity. Mary simply accepts what God offers. This is no easy thing – especially for Mary at that time and in that place. We are offered similar gifts from God, perhaps not as unique, but still on God’s terms and not our own.

         This may be our secret blessing this season. We want to be in a place where we can give and be generous. There’s nothing wrong with that. But maybe we don’t have to be disappointed when we find ourselves in a place of want and difficulty. Maybe God desires to give us something unexpected. Maybe we will find blessing in abandoning all our illusions of power and control. Maybe we can give up our dream for this beautiful temple and begin to embrace God’s desire to make us holy people.

         What we need is the courage of Mary: to accept God’s gifts on God’s terms, and let God bless us in the way that will give us life.

           Who asked John the Baptist to show up? He seems like an interruption, maybe even an embarrassment to the established religious people – much like you and I might feel when we see some wide-eyed street preacher yelling out for attention. The religious leaders come to John and ask him to explain himself. He doesn’t fit the usual models of ministry. He’s not even there for himself. He is pointing to another. He is pointing to an unexpected future.

         We’re passing through a busy period in our church calendar. There’s a lot to do and to prepare for. Christmas is near. We have to decorate the church and prepare for a concert and a pageant. We have family gatherings to attend and presents to buy and wrap. These extra activities come when we also try to preserve traditions that give our lives meaning. In my house we have the same angel tree top ornament we’ve had for years. It must be placed on the tree last of all, when everything else is decorated. We bake the same cookies. We sing the same carols. With all this energy going into the preservation of tradition, it’s difficult to dream about what might be new.

         Maybe we avoid thinking about the new because most of what has gone on so recently is so bad. Who wants to dwell on the economy or our lack of resources? Who wants to think about war, or global warming, or fractious political debate (the Iowa caucuses are just around the corner!)? More important to us, who has time or energy to imagine how we will go on with the big changes in our budget for next year?

         What John promises isn’t exactly comfort. We know the story of Christmas and we are prepared for the familiar retelling. John talks about change. The authorities challenge him because he advocates a radical departure from the familiar. “I’m not who you expected”, he says, “and the one you think you expect is much different than you imagine.” His words are warnings. “Repent now! While you still have a chance!” He calls the leaders the children of snakes. He doesn’t promise ease and victory. He promises a winnowing and that the messiah will baptize with fire.

         John the Baptist sounds more like the crazy preacher who was telling us the world would end a few months ago. This time of year we carry no sense of dread (except maybe about distant family we might have to put up with.) This is a season of hope and celebration for us. John the Baptist points to a very different hope. We are not waiting for the perfect tree or the best meal. We are not searching for the perfect gift. John is preparing us for our salvation. This is more than the completion of all our aspirations. God wants to give us more than a solution to our current problems. The promise given to us is new life. We are promised an end to sin and the transformation of our lives.

         This is an entirely different thing to prepare for. Most of what we unconsciously take on during these days is likely to keep us from being prepared for this very thing. Our nerves are frayed and we are tired and spent. In contrast, the prophet Isaiah imagines a new city of God. The future city is glorious because of the righteousness of the inhabitants. The blessing is that God will renew the people and not just the wealth or power of a nation.

         Paul writes to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” There is nothing in there about rejoicing only when times are good. Paul doesn’t define them by their numbers or their budget or their prestige. God’s will for us is the depth of our faith and the transformation of our lives. He continues, “Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” Paul does not envision a model that will work for every church in every place. It is their responsibility and ours to discern God’s will for us in this place and at this time. We have to make daily decisions to hold fast to the good and abstain from what is evil. Finally, he blesses them. “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.”

         Our calling is difficult but not impossible. God calls us to change us for the better. We are not hoping everything will work out. We don’t know this. The building, the budget, and all the ways that we have defined ourselves are not the end to which we are striving. God desires our transformation into saints. All the rest is a means to that end. So we should not be surprised that we are challenged to live differently. We should not be surprised that we may have to let go of many things that we hold dearly. We are not being punished: we are being changed. God is accomplishing the very thing we need.

         We are called to rejoice. It is no discipline to rejoice in good times. Our souls are transformed if we can rejoice when times are hard. It is easy to give thanks when we have plenty. It is different to find thanksgiving in times of stress. We are learning to trust our money less and our God more. We are learning to seek righteousness instead of popularity. We are seeking the will of God instead of what makes us happy. This is the path towards what we are promised. We are being sanctified entirely. Our spirits and souls and bodies are being kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls us is being faithful. God is working in us.