12-27-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
​December 27, 2024
Yesterday, December 26, I was a little slow arriving at the office. Jennifer was already here working. I wasn’t exactly 18 1/2 minutes late, but I was very mindful of the time. If you remember in the classic story A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchit runs to work knowing that he is late, only to discover that his boss, Ebenezer Scrooge, is waiting for him. Bob apologies by saying, “I'm very sorry, sir," I am behind my time… It’s only once a year, sir.” Of course, Scrooge gives Bob a raises and promises to help care for Bob’s family. The line that always catches my attention comes from the narrator, “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.”

Today, we might say that someone is “true” to their word, but I believe Charles Dickens intended to convey a deeper meaning with phrases like “better than his word” and “infinitely more.” However, I’m not sure what these phrases actually mean. Do we have a habit of defining “true” to the lowest possible standard? Unknowingly, do we ask ourselves how society or those around us would judge being “true to my word,” and no matter how low the bar might be set, that becomes our standard of being “true”? What would it mean to strive well beyond anything those around us might define as caring, compassionate, generous, or kind? What would it mean for us to persistently challenge ourselves when it comes to the limits we might have imposed on ourselves? In our own prayer life, setting aside what society or friends might think, how might God be challenging us to reach for even greater expressions of selfless giving?

​Thank you, Gracious God, for every example of self-giving love, even someone like Ebenezer Scrooge, who was birthed out of the imagination and skilled set of a great writer. If there is room for me to grow, I pray for the capacity to see that growing edge and the fortitude to push myself toward even greater faithfulness. Amen.