"Bah Humbug"
A Sermon from Colossians 3: 12-17 by C. Dennis Shaw
Pastor of Stratmoor Hills UMC
Colorado Springs, CO
December 27, 2009
The First Sunday after Christmas
________________________________________"Humbug" might have faded from the English language a hundred years ago were it not for the character in Charles Dickens Novella, The Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge and his view that Christmas is "humbug."
Humbug could mean "sham," it has also been used to mean "hoax" or "trick," P.T. Barnum once said that "The people like to be humbugged."
What Scrooge meant, of course, was that Christmas and its celebrations and traditions, with a particular emphasis on charity toward the poor, are a sham, an insincere and wasteful ritual.
I have been at times in my life, more like the early Scrooge, than the transformed, benevolent man of the climax … a man who practices the charity of Christmas every day …
I disliked Christmas not for spiritual reasons, but because of the demands people placed on you during that time.
“I want” -- “get me” -- “you didn’t remember me”
For many years, it seemed to me that Christmas was all about getting and wanting, as well as piling up all of the guilt that comes along when you aren’t enthused about the event in the first place and thus procrastinate about remembering the important, lovely people in my life.
Scooge-like, I have been converted …
After a warning visit by the spirit of his dead partner, Marley, Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve night by three spirits. An angel, who is the ghost of Christmas Past, a jolly rotund man who is the ghost of Christmas Present, and a wraith like figure who is the ghost of Christmas yet to come.
All of them have a role. The ghost of Christmas Past reminds him of the joy he felt during certain times in his past, over Christmas. The ghost of Christmas present shows him how others see him, as well as those around themselves, and how their lives are more joyous with others in it. Finally, Tolkien like wraith that is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come provides Scrooge a vision of his own future should he not make a change in the direction of his life.
When Scrooge awakes on Christmas Day, he is changed, transformed, a person who sees the world in a different light …
Our reading today is from the suggested text for the first Sunday after Christmas. We spend four weeks of Advent reflecting on what the entrance of the Christ Child will mean to the world, we have the brief moment of his birth, and then, right back to the meaning of his life in our own. No dallying and adoring the Christ Child …
I don’t mean to make that sound harsh, but the early church did not focus on the birth of Christ, rather, they focused what his life meant to them … and primarily this meaning is found in community. Paul, or a protégé of Paul’s, letter to the church at Colossae is an example of what the early church wanted to say about being a follower of Christ.
Colossians of course doesn’t use the idea of humbug, but if it did, it would suggest that focusing on baby Jesus as a cute baby without regard to his eventual role would be worthy of a “bah, humbug”.
Look at verses 12 – 14 … "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
The author is making the point that whatever they were … and most of the church at Colossae were Gentiles, non-Jews …. they were now part of God’s chosen … and he reminds them through the use of the word “holy” that means you are set apart, you are different than you were … and that God’s love for you suggests that the wardrobe you once wore no longer fits you …
You need to put on a different set of clothes …
Regarding Henry tells the story of Henry Turner, a successful lawyer in New York City who has the world by the tail and little time for his family. Whatever it takes to win major court cases, Henry (played by Harrison Ford) will sell his soul for it. Ethical behavior matters less to him than climbing the corporate ladder and supporting his elaborate lifestyle.
Henry's life changes drastically, though, when he stops at a convenience store late at night and becomes the victim of a robbery. The burglar shoots him in the chest and head. Doctors save his life, but Henry requires months of hospitalization and therapy. He has no memory of his wife, daughter, or colleagues. He enters into an intensive program to reclaim his identity, including wearing clothes he now finds too formal. His family are strangers to him.
After resuming his life, Henry discovers there are aspects of the life he led before, he no longer values: disloyal and dishonest behavior are part of that, and he finally can bear it no more, quits his old job and comes home …
Henry’s wife meets him at the door and breaks into tears. Henry then says "… I have something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" she asks.
"I don't like my clothes," he says, sounding childlike but sincere. "Maybe they used to be my favorite, but I don't feel comfortable in them anymore."
"We'll get you new clothes," his wife says smiling. She reaches to embrace him.
"I want us to be a family for as long as we can, Sarah," Henry quietly whispers. "For as long as we can."
The author of Colossians is saying we have to stop wearing the clothes we were wearing, and Scrooge-like undergo this transformation of our soul, and see the world differently …throw the window open and say “boy, boy, can you tell me what today is” and the boy stunned says “why it’s Christmas day” …
And the clothing that is given to us in the Christmas gift that is the Christ child who grows to the leader of the Jesus Project … this new clothing we are urged to put on are called: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And while the words could be understood to be in an individualistic context, the author is driving at the plural … “you all” … a people … he tells the community they are a “people” … “clothe yourselves” …
Sometimes in putting on new clothes we have to stand naked and we get to see the scars of life …
When I am at Fort Carson and am finished working out and shower in the gym, I see men scarred physically by war …
The author of Colossians tells us that part of how we heal those scars of life’s war is to be a people that lifts each other up and perhaps more importantly forgives each other … why, because God forgave you …
Some of you may remember the ugly night during an American League Championship Series when Roberto Alomar spit on an umpire named John Hirschbeck ….
Four years after the incident, Hirschbeck and Alomar are on the same team … the same quest … That ugly moment has been put behind them, and now Roberto and John work together to raise money for ALD (a rare degenerative genetic brain disease) that took the life of John Hirschbeck's eight-year-old son in 1993.
Alomar said: "Maybe God put us in this world to help somebody beat this disease."
I wonder if maybe God didn’t put these two in the world to show us what the love that Colossians is describing to us can be made visible.
Picking up again from Colossians … "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Notice the encouragement … the exhortation …
Let peace rule … members of one body … Let the word cause you to TEACH … ADMONISH and SING …
And the purpose of the forgiveness is to bind people together into a cohesive whole … a cohesive unit … bound together by Love and accomplishing it in a spirit of Gratitude … Doxology …
Teaching others to do what is right …
Being willing to call to the attention of others what they are doing wrong …
Praising the impact of God in their lives …
In our movie Remembering Henry, Henry confesses he wants to be a family again … his wife offers … "I love you," she offers. "I love you too," Henry says as they embrace. You have the impressing that they will now set about re-teaching each other what is right about caring for others … lovingly suggesting that maybe they are going in the wrong direction, and offering doxology … gratitude for the blessings they have …
You are left with the impression that this is a mature love built on a new respect and a new and different feeling for each other …
Character matters …
The New England Patriots of the 2003/4 NFL Season were a surprising success. It was a young team, in a league and sport that demanded experience …
Eight rookies replaced injured veterans but the Patriots went on to win the 2004 Super Bowl and over the course of that season and the next, set a regular season record for consecutive wins that was broken a few weeks ago by the Colts … The motto of the executive leadership was: "WE ARE BUILDING A TEAM—NOT COLLECTING TALENT."
Their success was due to an unselfish mindset adopted by coaches and players alike.
Dare I say that the Colossians theme is that the Body of Christ is about building a team … not collecting talent …
I want to leave you with two observations …
You each have opportunities to be one of the Ghosts of the Dickens Christmas. You can remind others of different days when they were not so self absorbed, you can give people a little glimpse into their true character or you can point to a future that is imminent without transformation. Do you do it, or do you say “Bah Humbug”, the direction that person is on is their own choice and it isn’t any of my business.
I offer YOU are saying “Bah Humbug” yourself to the message here in Colossians.
You also at times have the chance to listen to others as they comment about where you are … reminding you of a different past, seeing a different present and future for you … Again, you could say “Bah Humbug” to that message, but you are in reality saying “Bah Humbug” to the Colossians scripture, and perhaps more importantly, you are saying “Bah Humbug” to the real message of Christmas …
Jesus came into the world for the express purpose of changing the very direction of our lives. You can keep on the wardrobe you had on before you experience, or you can be like Henry in our movie and see that the clothes you once wore, no longer feel right …
The invitation is there for you …
You can say Bah Humbug, or you can remember this passage from Colossians …
The choice is yours …
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Some illustrations w/in this sermon were drawn from Preaching Today: Remembering Henry, the Hirschbeck story, and the NE Patriots quote specifically.
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