It seems that few seasons trigger the memories that Christmas does. Think back to some of your childhood Christmases. For some of us those Christmases are many years ago and yet we may remember some of those times bertter than what happened more recently. I remember Sunday School Chrismtas Programs that I participated in years ago and gathering with my family to open gifts, sing carols, and crank out homemade ice cream. For several years we enjoyed celebrating with a couple who had been married many years earlier on Christmas Eve. I remember the year I retunred to my office from hospital calling to find a note left my my secretary to go to the home of the dear lady who had prepared communion for our Chrismas Eve services and died of a heart attack when she returned home. Most of us adults and youth have some painful and pleasant memories that we associate with the Christmas holiday. Sometimes we are too busy, too tired, too hurt,or too sick to find the joy of Christmas. We may sing “Joy to the World,” but that joy may not always be what we are experiencing.

As we continue in our series about journeying from humbug to hallelujah, we are now ready to take a look at some of the hard things about Christmas. We know it isn't all lights and smiles and sugar plum fairies. In our first week we explored the theme of Christ being crowded out of Christmas. We saw that it takes an intentional effort to take the time to make Christmas special.

In my message two weeks ago we looked at breaking the Christmas chains forged in life. We saw that God’s greatest gift in Christ brings the power to change. Hopefully, you decided to focus on how God can set you free from of those negative chains through Christ’s power this Christmas.

Now we want to look at Scrooge's experience with the Spirit of Christmas Past. Remember that Jacob Marley’s ghost came to warn Scrooge that the consequences of his "humbug life" were more serious than he could ever have imagined. He informed Scrooge that he would be haunted by three spirits as Christmas Day was ushered in. The first would come as the clock struck one in the morning, and “‘without their visit,’ said the Ghost, ‘you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.’”

When Marley's ghost disappeared, however, Scrooge reconsidered the encounter, dismissed the whole thing as "humbug," and went to bed. Then, at one o'clock, he was indeed awakened by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Even as the ghost took Scrooge to visit his past, I invite you to make your own journey down memory lane. When you do, you may discern some of the central experiences that have shaped--and often controlled--your attitude toward Christmas, and life in general.

I. ROBBERY OF JOY BY MEMORIES     GO BACK TO THE EXPERIENCES THAT SHAPED OUR LIVES

The spirit takes Scrooge back to five scenes from his childhood. These encounters stir a mixture of strong emotions in Scrooge. They also give us the first glimpses of insight into the forces that shaped this now-miserable man.

1. We are robbed of joy by the memory of wounds we’ve received

The spirit of Christmas Past first took Scrooge back to his boarding school. It was a dark, lonely time where his only real friends were the characters in books that sustained him. Dickens doesn't fill in the details, so we are left to speculate as to why Scrooge was so lonely and desolate. The second Christmas scene, however, gives us a significant clue. It was the time when Ebenezer's younger sister came to the school, and indicated that their “father is much kinder now” and would finally allow Ebenezer to come home. Her comment indicates that Ebenezer was put in the boarding school not simply for his own good, but because of his father's rejection. Again, Dickens gives no details, but the message is clear: Young Ebenezer experienced times of bitter loneliness and separation from his family. The roots of humbug-itis are often found in the experiences of rejection and lost love. Two other scenes remind Scrooge that not only the wounds he suffered but also the choices he made brought pain that could be blamed on no one else. Here we see that our own decisions can steal our joy.

2. We are robbed of joy by the memory of choices we've made

Scrooge saw that he had smothered the Christmas spirit and quenched his own joy. He saw this through reliving an encounter with his fiancée, Belle. In this scene she confronts him with the radical change she has seen in him since he had become “a man of business.”

"Another idol has displaced me," she said, "and, if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come as I would have tired to do, I have no just cause to grieve."

"What idol has displaced you?" he rejoined.

"A golden one. . . . You fear the world too much," she answered gently. "All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one until the master passion, Gain, engrosses you."

When she asked if he still would have chosen her, with nothing to bring to marriage, his response is a long pause and then, "You think not." Belle responds sadly, “I would gladly think otherwise if I could. . . . I release you.”

Scrooge had dealt with his wounds through ambition: the spirit of materialism that we often use to try to soothe the pain of life. And his ambition robbed him of love. He chose his career over the dowerless Belle.

We, likewise, find that the intense experiences of family and extended family at this season may be tinged with memories of wounds we’ve received or bad choices we’ve made. We find ourselves remembering harsh words, disappointments, and interactions we wish had been different. How do we respond? Many have learned to cope in various ways. Some through overwork and others through underachievement; some through avoidance and others through confrontation; some through anxious drivenness to make things right, and others through hopeless resignation.

But we will never be free until we face these memories and allow the Lord to touch them. This is not our natural reaction. Like Scrooge, we may want to "extinguish" the truth. This is often our first response to pain and regret, but there is a better way.

II. REAWAKENING OF JOY

In spite of the past, we can choose joy.

Life is not all darkness and gloom, even for Ebenezer Scrooge. The Spirit of Christmas Past also showed him a memory of joy and the hope of future promise. Scrooge was taken back to Old Fezziwig's ball on Christmas Eve, a party which showed Scrooge the alternative of riches in the pleasures of life and love.

(SHOW VIDEO CLIP)

Dickens shows Scrooge observing this memory of his younger self dancing and having the time of his life:
During the whole of this time, Scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene and with his former self. He corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation. It was not until now, when the bright faces of his former self and Dick were turned from them, that he remembered the Ghost and became conscious that it was looking full upon him, while the light upon its head burnt very clear.
“A small matter,” said the Ghost, “to make these silly folks so full of gratitude.”
“Small!” echoed Scrooge.
The Spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig; and when he had done so, it said, “Why! Is it not? He has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money: three or four, perhaps. Is that so much that he deserves this praise?”
“It isn’t that,” said Scrooge, heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter, self. “It isn’t that, Spirit. He has the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count ’em up. What then? The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” (END()

At one time Scrooge had tasted the joys of life. We could say he enjoyed the dance, literally and figuratively. Why? Because he saw there was more to life than bolts of cloth and musty ledgers, more than production and profits. But he forgot that joy. Instead, he became consumed by business, crowding the joy out. If only he had remembered, there’s no telling how life might have been different.

Memories can remind us that things have been different before and could truly be different again. The gospel, as you’ll remember from last week, gives us the power to choose to respond differently to life. We can take steps to reawaken the joy of Christmas.

Take steps to reawaken the joy
The Spirit of Christmas Past shows us that our memories, far from being barriers, can actually become bridges to joy and freedom in Christ.

Frist of all, we can choose to focus on the memories that bring us joy. We can savor them and let them awaken the full range of life-giving feelings that are within them.

Second, we can let the Living Lord touch and redeem the painful memories. The power of our faith, you see, is that it is able to transform our memories. George Morrison wrote:
Did you ever think what a daring thing it was of Christ and Christianity to lay such an emphasis on memory? It is with the past that memory deals; and to enlist the memory in His service meant simply that Christ was not afraid to face the past. Any false prophet could lay the stress on hope. It is so easy to speak of an untrodden future. It is the glory of Christianity that it has a message for your past: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Only Christ could dare to exalt memory so. And it took Calvary, and pardon to the uttermost, and peace with God, to do it. ("Religious Uses of Memory," Flood-Tide, p. 4)

We can bring our memories before the Lord in prayer and ask him to transform them by his presence. We can ask him to reveal himself in them so that he gives us, in effect, a new memory of our memories. Experience the power of Christ, the Lord of Time, releasing you from the pain of the past so you can joyfully embrace the present and future.

Third, we can invite someone to be with us in this holy season. This is what we see with Mary, following the visit from the angel during which she learned she would conceive and give birth the Messiah. Mary found herself in a significant predicament. What looks to us like the highest of honors could well have looked to her like the making of a scandal. What would she do? What would she tell Joseph and her family? What would her future hold? We can imagine there were many emotions swirling around Mary, including fear and anxiety. Her joy may well have been dampened, if not quenched.

What did she do? She sought out someone who could share this time with her. Someone who understood her heart. She went to be with her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant (at an advanced age) with the child who would be John the Baptist. They encouraged and supported each other. In fact, during her time with Elizabeth Mary gave one of the most beautiful expressions of joy and praise in all Scripture, the Magnificat. [READ Luke 1:46–55.]

Mary found joy with a spiritual partner. You could call it a dance partner, to recall the image of Old Fezziwig’s party. Pray that the Lord will give you someone to walk with you, to share with you, to make new memories with you. Someone who can help you rekindle the joy.

Early in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge revisits one of his happiest memories--Fezziwig’s party, in which a dance scene gorgeously conjures images of community and acceptance. Are you struggling to revisit happy memories of your own? Ask someone to be your “dance partner,” someone for you to pray with, bake cookies with--whatever will help you create new, happy memories to cherish.

Are you hanging on to a humbug moment, something that’s happened already this season, or that’s carried over from Christmases past? Write it down! Not to dwell on the matter, but to heal it. Ask God to help you transform that memory. Pray about it, take what positive steps you can in the situation, and then watch him give you a new memory of your memories.

And from the suggestions for families with young children:
Just like adults, children can choose to make humbug or hallelujah moments. Work on these choices with a Humbug or Hallelujah Game. Make a chart together, matching each child’s name with squares for stickers. Each day, talk about when the child chooses to make a moment humbug or hallelujah, and add a sticker to the appropriate category on the chart. Give an incentive for going through December with more hallelujah choices than humbug ones.

Lastly, remember someone who may be going through a hard time and may not have the blessings you do. Ask God to show you how to bless that person. Do something unexpected to bring joy to him or her. Joy is even sweeter when it’s shared.

Christmas is a season of unspeakable joy. It brings the message that God loves us and sent his Son to live with us, to die for us, and to bring us the gift of eternal life. It proclaims the fact that life is more powerful than death, that light overcomes the darkness, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. True, Christmas can be a time of painful memories, but they do not need to control us. We can take steps not simply to deal with our memories, but to choose to make good memories now--for a Christmas we’ll never regret. We can say to ourselves, “I will make joyful memories with those I love.”

After all, it’s not the memories we have, but the memories we choose to make that will determine our joy in Christmas.

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