One of my favorite Christmas stories is
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch is an anti-social individual who
lives up in the mountains above Whoville and he really, really dislikes
Christmas . . . especially Christmas as the community of Whoville celebrates it
with all its noise and festivities. He
hates it! He hates it so much that one
year he decides that he is going to do something to put an end to it all . . .
he would sneak down and steal everything related to Christmas—the decorations,
the trees, the lights, and even all the presents. In his mind he was certain that it would end all
the noise and celebrating . . . finally he would have some peace and quiet.
And, that is what he does.
The Grinch sneaks down to Whoville and
steals it all . . . every last bit. Then
he hauls it all up the mountain . . . gloating all the way. Grinch believes that he has pulled off the
perfect crime and solved his problem . . . but, then, he hears it . . .
singing. There is singing coming up the
mountain as the people of Whoville gather together to welcome Christmas. He can’t believe his ears. It couldn’t be possible because he had taken
everything that was associated with Christmas . . . how could they still be
happy . . . how could they celebrate . . . they had nothing. But, there they were . . . celebrating.
Perplexed, the Grinch wondered as Dr.
Seuss explains: “And the Grinch, with his
Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be
so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages,
boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the
Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought,
doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit
more.”
So, what happened then? Dr. Seuss explains: “Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three
sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the
Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches plus two.” With a change of heart, the Grinch returns
everything to Whoville and joins in their celebration.
It came down to a change in heart.
In our scripture reading we get the rest
of the story about John the Baptist and his call to repentance. Now remember that in the Jewish faith, to sin
is to go down the wrong path or road . . . to repent is to turn around and go
down the right path or road. That was
what we would call the Old Testament understanding of sin and repentance. Yet, the people of the time that this story
takes places do not see it quite that way.
Instead they see the baptism of repentance to be a sort of maintenance
thing . . . like changing the oil in your car every couple of thousands of
miles; or taking a bath to wash the dirt off.
It was something you did until the next time you needed it. It made them feel good without having to
really turn around, deal with their sins, and head in the right direction. The baptism that John was preaching was one of
turning around and going in a new direction . . . going in God’s direction.
Apparently, John got tired of the people
misunderstanding what he was preaching.
In our reading this morning lays into the people harshly, calling them a
“brood
of vipers”. He tells them that
they are going to pay for their ignorance of his words . . . “The
ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce
good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John the Baptist scares them with what
he is saying. He scares them so much
that they begin to question him about what they must do to avoid this fiery
picture he is painting. They want to
know . . . “What should we do then?”
He tells them to have a change of
heart. He tells them to love others, not
by word, but by action. If a person has
two coats and see someone without a coat . . . give that person, the extra
coat. In not so many words, John is telling
them that they are to love others as they would love themselves . . . treat
others as you would want to be treated . . . and, to do it with actions and the
way that you live your life. He wants
them to embrace this idea of changing heart . . . changing heart to let others
in. To let others into the family, the
family of God.
The season of Advent can be a special
time of the year for those of us who follow Jesus as we focus on preparing
ourselves for the celebrating of the “gift” that is coming. We can fill it with lots of decorations, pretty
lights, wondrous carols, hymns, and songs . . . parties here and there . . .
presents . . . all the wrappings. We
keep ourselves busy in our preparations for the coming of Christmas during the
season of Advent. Yet, we sometimes
forget that this time of year in our spiritual journey is not so special unless
it influences the ordinary, non-special moments of our lives . . . unless we
have a change of heart.
Remember that Advent is a season that is
grounded in yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
We celebrate the Christ who has come, we anticipate the Christ who will
return, and we work on the Christ where we are in the present moment. Jesus came to change the world . . . to make
them turn around and head in God’s direction . . . to do God’s will. As the followers of Jesus, the expectation is
upon us too. We are expected to change
the world.
That is a pretty tall order. How are little ol’ us going to change the
world? We are not Jesus . . . not John
the Baptist. No, we are just every day,
ordinary people . . . not spiritual super heroes. And, that is a problem. Too often we do not see ourselves as being
very spiritual . . . at least not in the biblical sense that we read in our
bibles. We don’t think that the ordinary
things that we do in our homes, work, or play matters much when it comes
spiritual implications. But, we are
wrong. Everything that we do is
spiritually important. What we do has
the power to make a difference in someone’s life.
John the Baptist does not tell the
people to rise up and overthrow the powers that be when he talks of
change. Instead he tells them to
consider the things that they do for others . . . those who are in their lives,
and those who they encounter. He encourages
them to love them. In doing this, one
practices one’s faith . . . one makes a difference. It is a change of heart.
In my heart, when I pray during our prayer
time on Sunday morning, I think that it is important to ask God—during the time
of confession—to not only helps us to turn around in our repentance, but to also
give us the strength to not only turn around but to walk down that path of new
direction. In other words, to not only
turn around, but to give us a change of heart to live our lives as God desires us
to live them.
To have a change of heart. That is the goal of the Advent season . . .
to have a change of heart. John the
Baptist preaches it . . . Jesus shows us.
The rest is up to us as we stand on the nexus between Advent and
Christmas. We have turned around . . .
turned around because, like the Grinch, we know that the gift we are preparing
to receive is more than something that comes from a store . . . that it means a
whole lot more. It means embracing God’s
desire for love . . . love of God, love of others. It means having and living a change of heart. Amen.
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