"God, bless us, every one!" - Tiny Tim
When A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843 it met with instant success and critical acclaim. Charles Dickens touched a nerve with his character of Ebenezer Scrooge who undergoes a complete transformation after supernatural visitations from his former business partner, Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future.
Apparently many people related to Scrooge. When his pinched, cold heart is restored to the innocent goodwill he had known in his childhood, readers jumped to their feet in their hearts clapping with abandon. And, before long, they were evaluating their own hearts and lives in light of the startling challenges found in the story.
The evidence suggests that Christmas traditions had been waning in England for some time and the reality is that this novella almost singlehandedly revitalized Christmas spirit. Did Dickens write The Christmas Carol to provoke a change in the barren attitudes that he witnessed?
Today, we need the same strong ideological, ethical and emotional transformation we see in Scrooge. Cynicism is once again creeping into our spirits and most of us have awakened to find ourselves in unpleasant places.
How can I return to the joyful enthusiasm of my own childhood in the celebration of Christmas? Joy returns when I fill the tradition with the truth, compare my attitude to the plum line of Scripture, and then let it transform me.
In Matthew 5:45 we read that our heavenly Father "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." God generously sprinkles common grace and care upon all of His creatures. And, therefore, because we call ourselves disciples of Jesus, we are to imitate God and love both our neighbors and our enemies.
This is only possible because we can clearly see in Scripture how God has made His will and His character known. It is the purpose of the children to manifest the nature of their Father and it is the nature of the Father to give common grace.
It may interest you to know that A Christmas Carol has NEVER been out of print. God's blessing rests upon the timeless truth of "Good Will Toward Men" that is found as a theme in the story because it is bathed in the truth of God's common grace falling on the just and the unjust.
So, Tiny Tim's prayerful benediction is indeed appropriate! God bless us, every one!
