Quote from Forum Archives on December 6, 2002, 3:32 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

FROM HUMBUG TO HALLELUJAH! #2/7

CHAINS OR CHANGE?
December 1, 2002

Text: Luke 1:67-79

We all know the holiday song which warns us that Santa Clause is “makin’
a list, checkin' it twice; gonna find out who's naughty and nice. . . .”
Reflecting on this Christmas song, the Reverend Dr. Douglas Rumford
writes, “There are some, of course, who do not take this keeping a list
thing seriously. I saw a person wearing a button one year that said, ‘I'm
on Santa's 'Naughty List' and proud of it!’ As a child, however, I
remember being very concerned about this. I was a bit mystified to think
that Santa could actually keep records of all my actions, but in my
childish naivete I accepted it fully. And my older brothers used my
gullibility to their advantage in what I now understand as a plot
bordering on blackmail. It seemed, according to them, that Santa actually
used people - like older brothers - to check on others. But part of this
system was that certain naughty words or actions could be overlooked if
the guilty party did certain things in recompense. So I did extra dishes,
shined extra shoes, and did many of their chores to serve my juvenile
penance - until I got smart. Santa's list reminds me of another phrase we
hear during this season: ‘Year-end Inventory.’ Taking year-end inventory
is essential not only for the business of selling, but for the business
of living. We ask ourselves: ‘How am I doing? What kind of person am I
becoming? What about my mistakes? Is it too late to change?’ There are
times in life when we must stop and take stock - before it is too late.”
(Douglas J. Rumford, “God’s Main Business,” From Humbug to Hallelujah!
Pastor’s Manual, Wheaton, IL: Mainstay Church Resources, 2002, p. B32)

Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is the story of a man who is forced
to consider the lists he is making in his life. When Ebenezer Scrooge
returns home late one Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his
business partner Jacob Marley, who had died seven years earlier. When the
ghost appears, Ebenezer Scrooge notices that Marley is weighed down with
a long, heavy chain. “It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and
it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys,
padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.” When
Scrooge inquired about the chain, Marley replied, “I wear the chain I
forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on
of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” Then Marley
asked Scrooge, “Is its pattern strange to you? Or would you know the
weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as
heavy and as long as this seven Christmas Eves ago. You have labored on
it since. It is a ponderous chain!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol,
NY: Scholastic Magazines, Inc., 1962, pp. 18, 22)

While there is no justification from Scripture for a theology that human
spirits are condemned to wander the earth as penance such as Dickens
writes, we can still appreciate the message of his story. Dickens
presents us with a vivid image of what we could call “God’s Law of the
Harvest.” Galatians 6:7–8 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be
mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful
nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to
please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” The first
principle we confront in this portion of Dickens’s story is that we must
face the consequences of our words and deeds.

Scrooge is confronted with a truth about life. It’s a truth we all need
to learn: that our actions have consequences. We may be unaware of them
in the present, but that does not mean they don't exist. If there is any
point to be gained by Santa's list or Marley's chain, it’s the fact that
life accumulates. Our naughty-ness or nice-ness eventually catches up
with us.

Let me hasten to add that I am not speaking at this point about the basis
for our salvation and having eternal life. But many have misinterpreted
grace to mean that it no longer matters how we live. Such people reason
mistakenly that because good works cannot save us, good works are not
important. Countless passages in Scripture, however, point to the fact
that we were created to do good works. Galatians speaks of our actions in
terms of sowing and reaping. In Matthew 7:15–20, Jesus also uses the
image of harvesting, speaking of good works as the fruit of a vital
faith: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will
recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear
good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” No
one can read these words of our Savior and think that our actions are
incidental. They have consequences. Faith will bear fruit - or we must
question if it was really true faith in the first place. In another
passage, Ephesians 2:8–10, Paul summarizes God's grace and our
responsibility: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so
that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Scrooge was given a vivid image of the consequences of his choices. He
had given all his efforts to selfish pursuits. Instead of bearing fruit
that glorified God and served others, he had forged a chain of bondage
and judgment. As we reflect on Scrooge, we see that the links of his
chains are miserliness, misanthropy, and the love of money. As a
landlord, he held people in bondage to debt, showing no mercy or
compassion. He refused to give to charities, turning a cold heart to
requests for their aid. He was uncaring as an employer and had no concern
for the struggle his stinginess caused the Cratchit family. The cold
links of bitterness, selfishness, and pride wound their way around him.

But what about us? Have we, like Scrooge, sown seeds that we deeply
regret? Have we, too, forged some Christmas chains that keep us from
experiencing the true meaning of this season? At this time of year, many
of us are chained by materialism. We are caught by the allure of wanting
and getting more and better things. Or we may have hammered links of
bitterness and hurt onto our chain because of old wounds. Or we may be
bound by unrealistic expectations of harmony in our homes, so we
experience disappointment and anxiety as we approach every gathering of
our families. Or we may be weighed down by worry and resentment over the
financial stress of the season. That's understandable when we realize
that the average amount spent on gifts in the United States for one
person is approximately $800–900! And what about our children? We must
ask ourselves if we are in any way forging links in their chains: links
of greed; of over-stimulation and expectation, largely due our own lack
of control or our fear of saying no; of thinking Christmas is about
presents, instead of being about the presence of God in Christ.

These are not small matters. When we lose perspective, we lose the true
meaning of this season, and our spirits know it. We fall under the humbug
spell, living in ways that cause sadness rather than joy, frustration
rather than freedom, and conflict rather than harmony. This bondage
leaves us with a lot of humbug and little hope. There seems to be nothing
we can do to change - unless we discover a power outside ourselves that
can help us make lasting changes.

The hope of Christ's coming is the hope of change. The promise of the
gospel is that we are not doomed to wear the chains forged in life! Our
painful past need not lock us into a hopeless future. There is good news,
for there is an answer to the question, “Chains or Change?”

Jesus breaks the chains that hold us fast in selfishness, pride,
materialism, and regret. He sets us free. The chains break when we
realize that Christmas is not about us! It is about others. Even as God
gave his Son to us at Christmas, so Christmas reminds us to give to
others. I encourage you to say to yourself frequently, “Christmas is not
about me.” That thought alone can snap the toughest links, like a
blowtorch melting an icicle. Christmas reminds us that we were created
for community, for fellowship, for love. Like Scrooge however, we can
lose sight of this fact and think that business and talents are ends in
themselves instead of being a means to care for others.

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge…
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing his hands again. “Mankind was my
business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy,
forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my
trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my
business!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, NY: Scholastic Magazines,
Inc., 1962, pp. 23-24)

We may have no idea how our behavior toward another person may affect not
only their lives, but also our own. When William McKinley was President
of the United States, he had to make a decision about the appointment of
an ambassador to a foreign country. Two candidates were equally
qualified. As McKinley compared the two, he remembered the time when he
was still a congressman. He recalled boarding a streetcar at the rush
hour and getting the last vacant seat. Soon an elderly woman got on,
carrying a heavy clothes basket. No one got up to offer her a seat, so
she walked the length of the car and stood in the aisle, hardly able to
keep her balance as the vehicle swayed from side to side. One of the two
men McKinley was considering for ambassador was sitting next to where the
woman was standing. Instead of getting up and helping her, however, he
deliberately shifted his newspaper so it would look like he hadn't seen
her. When McKinley noticed this, he walked down the aisle, graciously
took her basket, and offered her his seat. The man was unaware that
anyone was watching, but that one little act of selfishness would later
deprive him of perhaps the crowning honor of his lifetime. (from Douglas
J. Rumford, “God’s Main Business,” From Humbug to Hallelujah! Pastor’s
Manual, Wheaton, IL: Mainstay Church Resources, 2002, p. B35)

Freedom from these chains comes from giving ourselves to others, as God
gave his Son to us. In fact, we will tap the greatest power of Christmas
when we focus on what God has done, not on what we do. Chain-breaking
power is ultimately not found in our actions, nor in our kind deeds. They
have their place. But the real power is found in what God has done. God
sent Jesus Christ into the world to break the bonds that hold us. Lasting
change is empowered by the Living Lord! “I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

Chains or change? We are not doomed to wear the chain forged in life! Our
painful past and bad choices need not lock us into a hopeless future. God
reveals our need so that He can provide our deliverance; he forces us to
acknowledge our sin so that we can receive our salvation. His greatest
gift in Jesus Christ is the power to change. The hope of Christ's coming
is the hope of change.

Such is the message of Zechariah's song in Luke 1:76–79. It proclaims the
mercy and forgiveness offered through the coming of Christ. Zechariah, a
priest in Israel, had longed to have a child with his wife, Elizabeth,
but they could not. Then an angel visited Zechariah and said his prayers
would be answered. They would have a child who would grow up to prepare
the way for the coming Christ. But Zechariah did not believe this,
because he and Elizabeth were well beyond the childbearing years. As a
result, he had been struck mute, unable to speak a word throughout
Elizabeth's pregnancy. He had forged a chain of doubt and unbelief. When
the child was born, however, Zechariah believed and obeyed God by naming
the child John. And he got his voice back. Zechariah reminds us that
faith in God breaks the chains. He used his new voice to praise the power
and promise of God, saying: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet
of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way
for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the
forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by
which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living
in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path
of peace.” (Luke 1:76–79).

The Lord is in the business of changing lives. A dramatic story of a
changed life is that of Bill Wilson. Bill was unquestionably the most
influential person in the development of Alcoholics Anonymous. In 1934 he
was a grandiose, loud-talking New York City alcoholic. Nearly 40, he
stole grocery money from his wife's purse and sometimes by panhandled to
afford drink. Several times he had been hospitalized, but he always
started drinking again, no matter what resolutions he made. One November
day an old alcoholic friend, Ebby Thatcher, paid him a visit. Thatcher
was sober and had come to tell Wilson why. He had received the love of
Christ. Members of an organization called the Oxford Group had visited
him in jail, and he had yielded his life to God. The desire to drink was
gone, he said. His life was changed.

After several visits, Thatcher convinced Wilson - who was quite averse to
religion - to attend a meeting at a Manhattan rescue mission sponsored by
Calvary Episcopal Church, local headquarters of the Oxford Group. Wilson
stopped at several bars on the way and was quite drunk when he arrived.
He was, however, sufficiently moved by the testimonies to go forward and
testify at length to his own changed heart. This change lasted less than
a day: Wilson went on a three-day binge and was hospitalized again.
Thatcher visited the hospital, and at Wilson's request repeated his
formula for conversion: “Realize you are licked, admit it, and get
willing to turn your life over to the care of God.” Wilson fell into a
deep depression after Thatcher left. As he was later to describe it, “I
still gagged badly on the notion of a Power greater than myself, but
finally, just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was
crushed. All at once I found myself crying out, ‘If there is a God, let
Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!’ Suddenly the room
lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which
there are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind's eye, that
I was on a mountain and that a wind not of air but of spirit was blowing.
And then it burst upon me that I was a free man. Slowly the ecstasy
subsided. I lay on a bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a
new world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a
wonderful feeling of Presence, and I thought to myself, ‘So this is the
God of the preachers!’ A great peace stole over me and I thought, ‘No
matter how wrong things seem to be, they are all right. Things are all
right with God and His world.’” Wilson never took another drink. (Tim
Stafford, "The Hidden Gospel of the 12 Steps," Christianity Today, vol.
35, no. 8, July 22, 1991, p. 14)

The Lord has come to set us free! What chains do we want to break? Let me
turn the metaphor around and ask: What holy chains do we want to make?
What links of love do we want to forge? What bonds of friendship do we
want to renew? What chain of events do we want to set in motion that will
make this one of the best Christmases ever?

Instead of telling ourselves that things will never change, we can say to
ourselves: “I will focus on how God can set me free in Christ this
Christmas.” In Christ, God can transform all things for his purposes.
Christ can transform our desires to get to desires to give; Christ can
empower us to make an apology that melts the frost of alienation; Christ
can empower the first step to encourage another to draw closer; Christ
can empower us to express the creative love that unlocks blessings beyond
our imaginations. Chains or change? Well, even when we cannot find the
strength to change ourselves, allowing the power of God to work in us is
power enough to break the chains we forge in life.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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