Living Life Via A Christmas Carol

Living Life Via A Christmas Carol
I woke up this morning, not with cheery Christmas music stuck in my head, but with the pleas of a ghost, ringing in my ears. "Business!?! Mankind was my business". It was the immortal words of Jacob Marley, from Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. I know, it’s strange. Christmas is not for two and a half months! But, the words were not words escaping a dream of my musings of a Christmas to come or Christmas’ past. They were clear, present, relevant.

You'll recall that A Christmas Carol begins on Christmas Eve with the death of Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge's business partner. Seven years after his death Marley returns to Scrooge as a ghost wrapped in chains. Here is the text from that scene - from Dickens' A Christmas Carol. As you read, I've highlighted the prevalent words, the parts that impacted me to my core:

    At this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that Scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear in-doors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast. Scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. 'Mercy!' he said. 'Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?' 'Man of the worldly mind!' replied the Ghost, 'do you believe in me or not?' 'I do,' said Scrooge. 'I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?' 'It is required of every man,' the Ghost returned, 'that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world-oh, woe is me!-and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness.' Again the specter raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands. 'You are fettered,' said Scrooge, trembling. 'Tell me why?' 'I wear the chain I forged in life,' replied the Ghost. 'I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?' Scrooge trembled more and more. 'Or would you know,' pursued the Ghost, 'the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was as full, heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have labored on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!' Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing. 'Jacob,' he said, imploringly. 'Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob.' 'I have none to give,' the Ghost replied. 'It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond out counting-house-mark me!- in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me.' It was a habit with Scrooge, whenever he became thoughtful, to put his hands in his breeches pockets. Pondering on what the Ghost had said, he did so now, but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees. 'You must have been very slow about it, Jacob,' Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference. 'Slow!' the Ghost repeated. 'Seven years dead,' mused Scrooge. 'And traveling all the time?' 'The whole time,' said the Ghost. 'No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.' 'You travel fast?' said Scrooge. 'On the wings of the wind,' replied the Ghost. 'You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years,' said Scrooge. The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. 'Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed,' cried the phantom, 'not to know, that ages of incessant labor by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed! Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness! Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!'
'But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. 'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!'

The rich language of Dickens is hard to digest for a modern audience, but the truths of it are clear.
 'It is required of every man, that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world-oh, woe is me!-and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness.'
Marley warns: If you do not live the life God calls us to (whether man is told by others, or realizes what God has planed in his heart), you will be condemned to do so after death, to forever watch from a distance, to see clearly what you should have done, and not be part of the happiness, warmth and love you might have shared on earth. To be plagued and overwhelmed by regret. I think that is what hell must be like, in some part.

My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house-mark me!- in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole.
Marley never ventured out beyond his own door, to help those around him, those whose needs he saw clearly and did nothing! (Sound familiar?)

'Not to know, that ages of incessant labor by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed! Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness! Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!'Again Marley warns: What you do in life, the good and bad, and what you do not do is accounted for after death. Even at our best, we will not accomplish all we are capable of.Marley did not know that even had he realized his mistake and shown Christian kindness, (even in his small life and remaining time on earth), it would have been only a pale shadow of the good he could have done in his lifetime. He could only regret, but not make right the agony of a wasted my life. He mourned. If only I could go back!

But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. 'Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. 'Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!' Ebenezer: “But you always worked hard in your business, making a living. You were not a burden to society, and did what you should have done.” Trying to make himself feel and look better.
Marley: “Business?? What I should have done???? Mankind, helping others was what I should have done. The every day helping and befriending of man was what I should have done! Giving generosity and helpfulness - especially toward the needy or suffering -  showing compassionate treatment of those in distress, forgiveness, tolerance & patience, and kindness & grace, were all my business! Making a living is but a pittance compared to what I should have done.”

Whew!!!

While I do not believe that after death we will roam the earth as spirits without rest, I do believe that we will, near the moment of our death, have regrets. We will see things more clearly- see what was important, and wish we had spent our lives differently. Christ calls us to be like Him, to believe in Him, to commit our lives to Him, and in doing so, love and treat others as we would Christ, and at the least, ourselves. To seek out and care for those in need. He promises that if we care for the least of these that it will be as if we will be doing those things as unto Him!

If we claim to know God, we should know what He would have us do to serve and obey Him. We should help others, loving them as we love ourselves and serving them as if they were Christ.

What moves us to care for others? I believe all men know what God would have them do (take care of the poor, sick, hurt, etc). Evidence: If the average man saw someone in trouble, he would have the urge to help (whether he acts on this urge or not). All men have been created by God, in his image and share His heart without knowing where this "natural" inclination springs from - their creator. It is the power of God that transforms the hearts of His children to break for the orphan and widow, the fatherless and helpless.

So what does serving God mean? God does not need anything. Here, Jesus tells us.
Verse 35 - “For I was hungry and you have me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Verse 40 - “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

This clearly explains how to serve God, by serving others. We know the truth, now we must act.
We cannot be hypocrites (Matthew 15:8-9) to acknowledge Him with our lips, but not our hearts, lives or actions. We need to actually know God, by praying & reading the Bible & by knowing what His heart is like, follow the Holy Spirit & to seek after His heart, in action.

To “love your neighbor as you love yourself” Mt 22:39
To treat others as well or better than yourself. To see where people’s genuine needs are- whether food, water, clothing, hospitality or company - to meet those needs as if they (whether friends or strangers) were Jesus himself!

We need to seek out the poor, hungry, thirsty, lonely & imprisoned. We can not serve God only within the comfort of home. This was one of Marley’s mistakes. Though there are poor here, around us, the American poor is not suffering nearly as badly as those in foreign, third-world countries. We should do and give anything, as much and as often as we can, both here, and abroad.

I look at A Christmas Carol as a manifestation of God’s truth, open and plain in every day life. If, in life, we do not see, learn from, and live out the truths we experience around us, then we miss out on the richness of the life we could have.

The name Ebenezer means “memorial established in remembrance of what God has done for a person or group of people”. Charles Dickens chose that name for a reason.

Romans 1:16
    For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Salvation is for everyone!!!)

So, as a pre-Christmas thought: Christmas is about the gift of Jesus to the world. We celebrate by giving material gifts to our families and friends. I often feel that it is such a small piece of the big picture, and a poor sampling of what we can do, in honor of our Savior. And it IS! Unlike Jacob Marley, we have a chance! It is not too late for us! To go about our lives, and merely make a living and take care of our families in the comfort of our homes is a WASTE!!! It is only a drop in the vast ocean of our business. Christ calls us to share the good news of salvation and to serve others as if we were serving HIM! We can be a gift to others, by sharing the goodness of grace that was given freely to us. So, money, friendship, time, help, companionship, food, water???

Let’s go. What are we waiting for??