Christmas Present: “Jesus is Coming! Get Busy!”

Luke 1:26-38

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.” Dickens wrote these words in 1843 during the height of the Industrial Revolution. London was a world-class city with dazzling shops… dark alleyways. The rapid urbanization made cities like London, Manchester, and Birmingham vastly overcrowded, with unsafe working conditions—hunger was rampant. People of means rode in fine carriages, while the poor slept under bridges. In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act made it even harder for them to obtain assistance, forcing people into destitute workhouses which separated families and were intentionally designed to be worse than any conditions outside. The society of Victorian England was deeply Christian, but all too often, they neglected compassionate love after the way of Christ.

Dickens’ goal was to stir the conscience of a nation. In the preface to A Christmas Carol, he wrote, “I have endeavored in this ghostly little book to raise the ghost of an idea.”

Having worked in a factory himself as a boy due to his family’s straitened circumstances, Dickens always felt a kinship with people who were struggling, particularly children… In 1843, Dickens visited schools for the poor in the slums (called ‘ragged schools’ in reference to the worn clothes of many attendees), where he encountered children who lived as thieves and prostitutes to survive.(Biography.com)

His intent as he wrote was “to strike a hammer blow on behalf of the poor man’s child.” The idea was to expose the hypocrisy of a nation that was deeply Christian yethad replaced the compassionate love of Jesus with duty and obligation.

For Mary, her present context was no better—and perhaps worse. The common person suffered under the weight of high taxes to Rome and the temple, living on a subsistence level. Meanwhile, their ruler Herod the Great, rather than defending the people, looked to his own interests, and served as a lapdog to Rome. He was a powerful, paranoid, and cruel sycophant who wantonly massacred infants as described in Matthew 2.

This is why Mary responds to the Angel’s announcement that she will bear the Messiah, “Let it be done to me as you have said.” All she needed to feel the power of hope was a promise from God that in her time, the Messiah was coming. Knowing the context—the present in which she found herself—she was rejoicing because she knew the Messiah would meet the moment, the same kind of moment Dickens was hoping England would rise up to: to bind up the brokenhearted and to bring good news to the poor.

She rejoiced because she would have known the scriptures of Zechariah 9:9—“Your king comes to you, humble and riding on a donkey.” She would have known Isaiah 11—that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, and with righteousness he shall judge; with equity he shall decide for the meek. She would have known Isaiah 53:9—that he would do no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

He would be nothing like Herod!

And indeed, we saw throughout His life that Jesus Himself saw this as His mission, for He tells others that He is gentle and lowly of heart, and that He was anointed, as Mary said, to bring good news to the poor.

When the Ghost of Christmas Present took hold of Ebenezer, he was taken to various places around London. In one scene:

Dickens incorporated a glimpse of the devastation He witnessed in real life. Scrooge discovers a feral boy, Ignorance, and a girl, Want. The two children are described as “wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable.” When Scrooge asks if they can be helped, the spirit throws the miser’s earlier words back at him, asking, “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” (Biography.com)

He then visited the humble abode where his clerk, Bob Cratchit, lived. He was struck as he looked into that home, for he saw not despair in the midst of poverty; he saw not anger in the midst of isolation, but instead he saw a loving family for whom the spirit of Christmas shone beyond their present circumstances—even as it did with Mother Mary.

And in this scene, we begin to see his cold, stony heart melt when he gazes upon Tiny Tim and hears that without some kind of help, Tiny Tim’s future would not exist. It was the power of seeing real people not only suffer in devastating circumstances but also having within them a spark of light and life. And Ebenezer begins to change.

Our present Christmas here on the Upper East Side is glorious. It is my favorite time of year. First of all, the thousands of people singing Christmas carols in front of our church; the Lessons and Carols Service; Christmas Eve and candlelight. We have so many incredible blessings. And for this, I am truly thankful.

But indeed, sadly, there are numerous parallels between our time and Victorian England when Dickens wrote his ghostly tale. Wealth inequality is at perhaps its greatest height it has ever been. People—hard-working people—cannot afford a roof and medicine and childcare and good food. At least they can't afford all of those put together. Which one of those is optional? If I had to choose—for you—what would you cross off your list if there wasn’t enough money in the bank?

Now, we are not nearly as cruel as Ebenezer. But we are not too far off—roundingpeople up, treating people who have lived here all their lives since they were children as criminals, throwing them into cages as they are torn from their families.

I don’t pretend to have the answer to the immigration challenge for our nation. But I believe deep in my heart that Jesus would not approve of what happened to Ms. Belloca. A few weeks ago, Lucia Lopez Belloca was flying home for Thanksgiving to surprise her family. Instead, she was seized at the airport and swiftly deported to Honduras—a country she had not been to since she was nine years old.

In some ways, it does feel that we have become like Scrooge. “He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog days, and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.”

And in some ways, like Scrooge, it seems there is a spiritual emptiness while Cratchit’s is filled. Dickens paints so well the striking dictum of Jesus, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Bob Cratchit and his family had a wealth of spiritual love that made their home a little piece of the kingdom here on earth.

Since Christmas is about Christ—and it is; it’s right in the name—we have a responsibility.

Years ago, I was standing at the airport counter when the agent started dancing a jig; I was completely flummoxed. He said, “I am getting busy!” and he pointed at me. I had forgotten my shirt said, “Jesus is coming! Get busy!” Forgotten what it represented. I thought it was a fun T-shirt, but at that moment I realized I was a witness. I had a responsibility—as the young people say—to “represent.”

This is the essence of Advent: getting busy right now to prepare for His arrival, to be sure when He comes, He will be proud and be able to see that we love Him, not by our words but our actions, by caring for those whom He treasured.

We have the foundation well established at Brick. And as a congregation we work through:

• Summer Steps, which gives children from economically diverse homes a start on the path for the best education on the planet.

• The Angel Tree, which brings your donated presents to children whose parents are incarcerated.

• The Tuesday Night Dinner Party, which creates a feast for those from the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter.

Our incredible Grants Committee and Women’s Association work so diligently to offer His love on all our behalf:

• Trinity Place Shelter, which “creates a safe, affirming shelter where LGBTQ youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in New York City can access the skills and resources needed to exit the cycle of homelessness.”

• Health Advocates for Older People, which “[provides] tools, techniques, and support to age with vitality and independence.”

And there are many more. The list goes on. We do so much—but we could do more. With rising fixed costs, our grants budget has shrunk. That is our stewardship challenge: to be sure our budget reflects His priorities.

These programs change lives. I have seen it.

In 2017, I had the amazing experience of attending a Women’s Leadership Luncheon when I lived in South Carolina. Four women were recognized, each very professional and accomplished, but the last woman, Wilma Moore, had a story.

As she came to the podium, she was bent over in tears, overwhelmed by the moment. She had suffered self-hatred, devastating addiction, and years and years of heartache and pain, including extreme violence and poverty as a child and later the murder of her son. She freely told not only what happened to her but the many times she had failed herself and others.

But before those hundreds gathered, she shared how our Lord magnified her true self, revealed her inner beauty, strength, and worth. This happened through community programs just like the ones we support.

So now when she looks in the mirror, she sees someone of worth, of power, of love, and of hope. Jesus showed her her true self, and it sent all our hearts soaring. Incredible.

We stood up and cheered—cheering not only her courage but the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave her this gift.

Let’s get busy—right now, in the present. Each act can change a life…especially yours. Amen.