Near the end of the story “A Christmas Carol,” Ebeneezer Scrooge sees a glimpse of a possible future with the ghostly spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. After the ghost of Christmas Future reveals the sad fate of Tiny Tim, he leads Scrooge into a graveyard and points him to a gravestone. As he leans forward to look upon it, he sees that it bears his own name and it prompts repentance and a begging for mercy.
Am I that man who lay upon the bed? No, Spirit! Oh no, no! Spirit! hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope? Good Spirit, your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life! I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!
The hope of transformation and a changed life is a universal, human longing that the story of Christmas can deliver.
Of course, I speak of a Christmas, which began with the Incarnation in Bethlehem.
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4.4-5
The incarnation of Christ is historical fact. God had a timetable in which prophecy came true in history. A virgin conceived. Bethlehem was the location. Angels declared it. Shepherds and wise men gave witness. His birth in history was God’s great emancipation; redeeming our lives from slavery to sin.
Yet, the overlooked lesson of Christmas is that the Jesus born in Bethlehem is also the Jesus formed in us!
my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! Galatians 4.19
The appearing of Jesus in history is not complete without His appearing in me!
What has been giving shape to your life so far? At worst, we can each answer that question uniquely by the people we hurt, the addictions that bind us, or the failures that broke us.
The Son takes shape in those, who abandon themselves to Him. Christ takes shape in a life willing to become clay in the Potter’s hands allowing Jesus to press the shape of His own nature into the clay of our soul. When we cease to be hard and resistant then His likeness will emerge. This is Christ’s life coming alive in us through the power of His Spirit. He reshapes our heart and mind so that it is no longer we who live, but Christ in us.
How will you measure His life in you? What could it look like? What could it mean for you? The possibilities are real; as real as the promise and potential of a brand new baby asleep near the warmth of his mother’s embrace.
The Spirit of Christ intercede that our lives may change. May the Spirit of Christ strive within you all through the year bringing a satisfying, God-glorifying transformation of your life to become more and more like Christ.
Thank you Mr. Dickens for capturing a universal human need in the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and reminding us of the hope of transformation contained in the story of Christmas.
