Facing The Yet To Come Transcript

We continue in the series we've been working on this advent: the redemption of Scrooge, or perhaps two of the most scary of the three ghosts or the four if you count Marley. This is one of the unknowns. It's one that we all can identify with because we all have a fear of the future because we can't define it, we can't explain it, and we can't predict it. There are things we can do to project out to see what's going to happen, and sometimes we're right, and sometimes we're wrong. More often, we consider how much we worry about the future and how little those things actually come about. We could be better at predicting the future that we try. It is this ghost that Scrooge is most terrified of. For that reason, we caught a glimpse in the previous week, where he had this desire and this fear that Tiny Tim would die, and now he meets the one who can show him. 

How many of us would respond to the ghost of Christmas future in the reality of facing the outcomes of our lives, the outcomes of our decisions, the outcomes of who we are, and how we have lived in this world? How many of us would face it with celebration and joy, and how many would face it with trepidation and perhaps fear? This is the question that lies before us because, while Scrooge was given glimpses of the natural outcomes of his actions and the way he treated people, that he would die alone and that thieves would pilfer his bedding and his sleeping clothes right off his body to be sold. No one would be there to watch, and no mourners would be present to mourn his passing or even to mark his passing. He would be dead, he would die utterly alone, and that, yes, tiny Tim would also die. It plays on the heartstrings Because it matches some of our fears and questions about the future. How will our lives ripple across time? How will our actions affect the lives of others? Will we be remembered well? Will we be celebrated when we are gone? Will there be those around us who loved us so that we will not be alone in our final, final moments on this earth and once our passing has happened? 

Sometimes, I long for some future glimpses. Sometimes, I would love to see what the future would look like and how it would unfold. But the future that we're talking about is not some distant future or general future, just like screw, just past wasn't. Just general Christmas is past, but his. The future that he sees, and I'm not sure I want to see, is the future my life has wrought. 

For I know I've made mistakes, for I know I make bad decisions. Sometimes, I do not live as Christ would have me live, and I repent of that. I seek to become more like Christ, grow in love with him daily, and treat others as God would have me treat them. But I know I am not there yet. I know I have a long way to go, and I fear sometimes those actions, those course words though, that raised voice At frustration or anger, will be the thing that ripples out. And when I think about those things, it inspires me to do the very thing that Christ has asked us to do: To grow in holiness, to grow in love, to send out those good ripples of a life lived in Christ, loving neighbor and loving God, so that the life and the future that I would see, the one inspired by my life and my actions, would be a benefit and a joy to see Rather than one Narrowed by fear and despair. 

Now, so all of us are somewhere on that Spectrum between the miserly Scrooge and the perfect Christ. Nobody in this room is on either end of it. If you've reached the Christ side, raise your hand because I have some questions and need inspiration. Some of us, and all of us, are in that range. Some days were a little better than others, some days were a little worse. But if we thought of our actions, we thought about our lives and our words in terms of this gift that was given to Scrooge, for this is that final gift. 

Each spirit brought a gift to him. They terrified him. At times, he preferred that he didn't receive them. At one point, he said he would rather receive a good night's rest than the gifts that the ghosts bring. But by giving them glimpses of his past, where there was joy and, yes, there was pain, where he could learn from and grow anew, glimpses of the way Christmas has brought joy and laughter and celebration to all corners of the world, where there is wealth and where there is war and famine, where there is peace, he could see that Christmas was not a humbug but one of life-giving and now this gift of the glimpse of the future, to show him that his deeds did matter, the things that he said, the words that he said, the things that he had done mattered and would have a lasting impact. 

This is a gift. It reminds us that we are not isolated, we are not alone, and there is a future, and it is one that we have a hand in shaping. But there is one place where we do get to get a glimpse of the future that's been ahead of us. There is one place where we can find those signs of the future, the signs of what can be and what will be, and where we participate in it, which is in the scripture. Mary is given a glimpse of the future through the words of the angel who says you will bear a child, and he will be known as the son of the highest, the son of God, and you shall name him Jesus; he saves. He will be Emmanuel, God with you, and all the kingdoms of the earth will be given to him in the next section. 

I encourage you to read it, perhaps if you have time. I know it's a busy day, and if you are returning to our Christmas Eve service or going to another, spend some time reading the Magnificant Mary's song of who this Jesus will be and her role in God's redemptive plan. That will bring justice and mercy, raise the downtrodden, and bring down the lofty. We are given, through scripture, a glimpse of the future that God has promised, one in which there is justice, one in which there is hope, peace, joy, and love, one in which we all long for this day, one a future that we can catch glimpses of in our Christmas celebrations, as we go about our lives, where this time of year things seem just a little bit better in how we treat one another. At least, if we look hard enough, we catch this glimpse of the future, and we know that this is the promise of God. So the question for us, as we seek to live out God's ways, as we seek to live out our lives so that they have those positive ripples into the future, wouldn't we want to send actions? Wouldn't we want to do things that shape our lives and the lives around us into the future that we know is coming? If we know there will be a world of peace, do we not want to live a life of peace now? If we know there will be joy in the end, would we not want to live out that joy now so that it expands and grows from us? If we want to know that there will be a future of justice, why would we want our actions, lives, decisions, and politics to be sent out into the future waves of injustice? 

We are given the gift, through the gift of the scripture, through the gift of Mary's declarations, through the promises of Christ himself, that the future is one in which God reigns, in which God is in control, in which the forces of evil, the forces of pain and suffering in this world that cause division, that cause anger that causes hatred will be defeated and will be no more, when people from all nations, all tribes, and all languages come together when there will be no more war and the implementations of war will be turned into implements of sustenance, swords being beaten into plowshares. This is the promise that God calls us, this is the promise that God gives us, this is the promise made possible through the birth of his son, Jesus Christ, and this is the future that we can live into in the here and now. We don't have to wait for the distant future. We can live lives marked by God's kingdom. We can live lives marked by the future that God has promised, where we are workers for peace, justice, community and, growth, and transformation, where darkness is dispelled, where hate is challenged, where we stand up to the powers and principalities of this world that would work against God's kingdom. 

We have been given a glimpse into the future. 

We can see the ripples that we make. 

We can see the lives that we transform, including our own if we open our eyes and are willing to look in places that would otherwise make us afraid if we are willing to face the future if we are willing to face the things that are yet to come. We have to boldly enter into the future and live with our words, deeds, actions, and spirit. But this is made available to us through God's help, through the presence of Jesus Christ, who renews us, invites us back to Him when we have gone too far in the other direction and reminds us to return home and to look and see. It can be terrifying and painful, but it can be joy-giving, it can be reassuring, and so my prayer for us this day. As you enter the Christmas season, this evening's celebrations, and tomorrow's time of joy and laughter, catch glimpses of God's kingdom in your midst. Hold on to them tightly, not wanting to let them go, and trust in the future at hand.