SCROOGEITIS

Judges 13:2-7,24-25; Ps 71 My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory; Luke 1:5-25

Tis the season to be bombarded by all the Christmas classics: Rudolph, Frosty, Christmas Story, Its wonderful life and of course A Christmas Carol.

So I thought I would include this morning a little word from Scrooge, Mr Ebenezer himself.  Here we go, "Every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart."

How's that for Christmas Spirit. 

We will be encountering probably a fe people in our goings and comings this season with a little bit of the chip of scrooge on their shoulder.  What shall we do with these people? 

We should do what Jesus ask us to do: bless those who curse you, do good to those who hurt you.

When we celebrate Christmas and enter into the Spirit of the season we are in actuality experiencing what Elizabeth experiences in today's gospel passage about the conception of John the Baptist. 

Elizabeth, when she discovered she was pregnant after being barren for so long has these words to say, "so has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others." 

At Christmas, as we follow the the star to Bethlehem we discover that God has removed our disgrace as well.  God's grace and favor rest on us. 

The best way to enter into the Spirit of Christmas is to be grace for us, give the grace we ourselves receive from God. 

This is why we bless those who may be experiencing a bit of scroogeitis. 
Rather than wishing them to be boiled in their own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through their heart. 

Tis the season to be grace filled and graceful and pass on the grace to others.