THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN A GRINCH OR SCROOGE

MATTHEW 2                      

Pastor Rick Jackson

There is a new version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” this year. I haven’t seen it, but I have heard it actually has real Christmas carols in it and mentions the true meaning of Christmas. That is good if true. I have never seen Jim Carrey's version of the Grinch. I saw the Boris Karloff/Chuck Jones version of the Dr. Seuss classic decades ago. The Grinch seems like a more secularized version of Charles Dickens' immortal classic, A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge was stealing Christmas cheer long before the Grinch got started. I would rather be either one of those characters than the folks we'll look at now. These folks are ornery, sinful, and downright mean. And worse than that... they are real. And they have people today picking right up where these miserable sinners left off.

I. I'D RATHER BE A GRINCH OR A SCROOGE THAN AN ANTAGONISTIC EGOMANIAC LIKE HEROD

1. He was troubled that one might be considered greater than him [2:1-3]

2. He was deceptive in his opposition [2:7-8, 12]

3. He was determined to destroy the Christ of Christmas [2:13-19]

II. I'D RATHER BE A GRINCH OR A SCROOGE THAN THE APATHETIC RELIGIONISTS HEROD USED

1. They were troubled like Herod [2:1-3]

2. They knew what the Scriptures had prophesied [2:4-6]

3. They made no effort to seek the Christ

III. I'D RATHER BE A GRINCH OR A SCROOGE THAN AN UNREPENTANT INDIVIDUAL OF ANY SORT

Charles Dickens, though certainly not perfect, was a professing Christian. In, A Christmas Carol, it should be noted that Scrooge is confronted with:

1. A sinner's condemnation [Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.]

2. The testimony of saints (Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, his own nephew Fred)

-"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of

Scrooge's nephew..."

-"And how did little Tim behave?" asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his

credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content.

"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see."

-"I was only going to say," said Scrooge's nephew, "that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. I am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his moldy old office, or his dusty chambers. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it -- I defy him -- if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying ‘Uncle Scrooge, how are you?’ ...and I think I shook him yesterday."

3. A sinner's opportunity [Rm. 10:9-13] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

-"I will honour 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! ..."I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!”

...He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk -- that anything -- could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew's house. ... Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!