WEEK FOUR: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Charles Dickens’ classic story A Christmas Carol may be my favorite of all the Christmas stories we see on screen this time of year. And I think I might be justified in that opinion when we see just how many different versions of this tale have been made into movies and TV specials throughout the years! I’m sure everyone reading this has a favorite version of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his spooky visits from three spirits on Christmas Eve who show him the error of his ways and encourage him to change moving forward. Scrooge has a true overnight turnaround, going from a miserly miserable man on Christmas Eve to a generous gregarious guy on Christmas morning!

We love seeing the end of the story, but one of the most impactful scenes actually happens toward the beginning when Ebenezer Scrooge finds the ghost of his former business partner in his living room. Jacob Marley warns him about what awaits him in the afterlife, visually represented by a large, ominous, laborious chain that Jacob is forced to wear and carry with him everywhere he goes. He explains the purpose of the chain when he says, “I wear the chain I forged in life! I made it link by link and yard by yard! I gartered it on of my own free will and by my own free will, I wore it!” He pleads with Scrooge to take his warning seriously and emphasizes the gravity of his request by sending the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future (“yet to come”) to give Scrooge a rare opportunity to see the ripple effects of his decisions and actions through the course of his life.

All I can think about when I imagine Jacob Marley’s chains is how big and heavy my own chains would be if each mistake, each hurt, each wrongdoing were to add a link to my own life’s chain. Selfishness, deceit, envy, hatred… what if all of our sins stayed with us and even followed us into the afterlife? Well, here’s the good news (right in time for Christmas): Jesus made it possible for these chains of sin to be lifted from our shoulders when we accept the free gift of salvation through him. Not only are we no longer bound by these chains, but every link of that chain completely disappears as we experience freedom in God! What a gift, and what a great reminder of why the arrival on earth of Jesus our savior is absolutely worth celebrating!