Scrooge: Are you the spirit whose coming was foretold to me?

First Spirit: I am.

Scrooge: Who and what are you?

First Spirit: I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Scrooge: Long past?

First Spirit: Your past.

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December 1967.

Three days before Christmas. I was spending my second week in the hospital and fully expected to spend the holiday there. My family had brought in a small Christmas tree and tried to create some sense of holiday cheer in that rather bleak space.

There were flowers in the room and a family friend had sent a red boot made of papier-mâché filled with artificial holly and ivy, as well as candy and gum. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from the Christmas tree, carols playing on the radio. A member of the nursing staff poked her head in and when she saw the boot with the holly and ivy asked if she could take a piece of the greenery and make a corsage. One by one other staff came by to grab a piece of greenery and soon the floor staff were all wearing just a bit of Christmas green. The boot was empty and there was one person who did not have a corsage. Not knowing quite what to do I made the red boot her gift.

I felt wonderful about the evening. Sharing that bit of Christmas with the people caring for me made it a special moment.

My grandmother did not see it that way. She was incensed when she realized that not only had I given away the greenery but the boot as well. What would our friend think if she knew that I had given her gift away? Odd reaction. I thought it was my gift to share.

Fifty-seven Christmases later as I reflect on that Christmas past, I wonder what God thinks when I withhold God’s gifts from those who need the light of God’s love. As I understand it God sent the Son into the world to save the world, to bring light to those who walk in darkness. To sacrifice his life for the sins of the world. It is my responsibility to share in words and actions the meaning of the incarnation.

Sadly, we in the church too often forget the mandate to be light in the world. It is often the case that people see only selfishness and bigotry in the body of Christ, rather than the light of God’s Son.

We look around at our Sunday morning congregations and wonder why numbers are steadily decreasing. Numbers are decreasing because people do not find hope, light, peace, and salvation in our churches. Rather than finding “God with us” we present a judgmental, unloving, image of God that is unwelcoming and unforgiving.

The Gospel of John says that “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 NRSV)

The Message paraphrases this verse beautifully by declaring, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (John 1:14 MSG)

We have seen the glory of the Father in the life of the Son. We have seen the attitude of God toward those who are different from us. We have seen the love of God in the gift of salvation freely offered to each of us.

The light of God cannot be overcome. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5 NRSV)

Christmas past reminds me to live the light of God’s presence into the present and future. Reflecting on that thirteen-year old’s moment in the hospital reminds me that God’s love is to be given away, not hoarded.