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salvation
rediscover Christmas (part 4 of 4)
summary
Jesus says, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." All of
the other voices out there, even at Christmas, can't give us the gift that the true meaning for Christmas
will.
introduction
The Ebenezer Scrooge character in Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol, starts out as a rather
“unpleasant fellow”. Yet, as those familiar with the story know, he is transformed by an epiphany of
Christmas, facilitated by the spirits who visit him. Such sentiments are truly heart-warming.
Could Scrooge’s experience be more properly called a theophany, given the presence of the spirits
(i.e. was God making himself known to Scrooge)? Is it possible that a true experience of Christmas
opens us to a supernatural experience of life itself?
salvation
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(John 14:6)
The angel Gabriel, as well as Zechariah, Simeon, and Ann all announced that, with the birth of Jesus,
salvation had come into the world (Luke 1:30-33, 67-69, 2:8-14, 28-32, 36-38; cf. John 10:10b, 14:6).
They didn’t say that salvation would come, but that it had now come into the world.
Our focus on his death is misguided to a degree, as his death only made salvation possible and
efficacious — although it did also introduce the sacrificial aspect of Christian living (which is, quite
likely, the emphasis that turns Christian living sour).
Salvation is not for life ever after this life, but for abundant life here and now (John 10:10). We are
saved from our sin — by the grace of God, through faith (Ephesians 2:8) — but saved into the way, the
truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Given the context of this verse, it is clear that “the way” is the focus and key term. The apostle
Thomas has revealed that he does not understand what Jesus is saying about himself, about God,
and about heaven. Thomas’ confusion is not a failing on his part, because for John, the author of this
gospel, God is inaccessible in his transcendence. Thus, Jesus has come precisely to make God
known in his fulness. But even more than being simply an agent of revelation, Jesus is the way to
God — the only way — he is the conduit through which salvation is made possible.
Jesus, as the way, reveals the truth about God and his creation, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. Looking upon Jesus, considering his life and mission, grants us a perfect and complete glimpse
of the nature and power of God.
Without this glimpse, what can we really know about God and the
world in which we live and the nature of those with whom we interact?
This is not merely a glimpse of something good and perfect, as if we were looking at an art piece.
Jesus, as the way, gives life. He did so as an agent of creation (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:15-17;
Revelation 3:14) and does so now, as an agent of salvation (John 10:10). We might wonder whether
it is even possible to have life without a knowledge of Jesus and relationship with our creator?
Therefore, Jesus is the way that reveals the truth about God and gives life to people. This point
makes clear that salvation is ultimately about God’s love for us and his desire to be with his creation
(John 3:16). Why should God not treat us as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10)? Instead, he extends
his hand of grace and mercy and offers us the Son, born in a manger, to do with as we please.
conclusion & response
Thus, Christmas gives us a glimpse of our salvation. It is a gift to us from our God, who loved us
enough to create us, who continues to sustain us, and who perseveres in desiring a life-giving
relationship with us. Will we welcome Christmas? Will we receive the gift of the Son, by faith? Will
we live as the saved ones, his followers on the way, all year and eternity long?
Ebenezer Scrooge started, in Dickens’ novel, as a grumpy and miserly and lonely man. But God, in
his infinite mercy, granted Scrooge a supernatural encounter, and he was transformed:
“Good Spirit,” he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: “Your nature intercedes for me, and pities
me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!”
The kind hand trembled.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the
Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell
me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”
In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and
detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him.
Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom’s hood and
dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost.
Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the
time before him was his own, to make amends in!
“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits
of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I
say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!” [...]
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a
second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew,
or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration
in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever
happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and
knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their
eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough
for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it
was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.
May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!
It is one thing to say, “God bless us, everyone”; but it quite another to open our hearts, as did Scrooge,
and receive that blessing, especially at Christmas. If the Scrooge character could do, can you?
sermon delivered by Ian Forest-Jones
at Hurstville Church of Christ
on Sunday, 23 December 2007 at 10am
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