Can Christmas be Ruined?

This week we continue our Advent Worship/Study series called The Heart That Grew Three Sizes, based on the Dr Suess’ story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. From the story, we learn that the Grinch hated Christmas and hated the Whos. Because of his hate, he was determined to ruin Christmas. But can Christmas be ruined?

I have been thinking about this a lot recently because as a kid I learned from Christmas movies that villains ruin Christmas and heroes save it. It seems like most Christmas movies targeted toward children have a very similar plot, you generally have a villain who is trying to steal, destroy, or ruin Christmas in some form or fashion, and then you have the hero who may not be the ideal hero, but he/she will try and eventually save it. What is it that most villains try to do to ruin Christmas? Well, most of them attack the traditions of Christmas, such as stealing presents or stopping Santa Claus. This is what the Grinch tries to do. He tries to ruin Christmas by stealing everything tradition he can. He steals decorations, trees, gifts, and even the Who-hash from the fridge. The Grinch believes that he has stolen everything, but at the moment he deems himself successful he hears something that he doesn’t expect to hear… the Whos down in Whoville singing with Christmas cheer. (That rhyme was unintentional.)

In this story, the villain is clear, but who is the hero? We could say the Whos for singing despite everything being stolen or we could even say the Grinch whose heart was changed, but the truth is that there is no hero in this story. Instead, what wins is not a hero, but love. The true meaning of Christmas is that in Jesus Christ love came down to earth and lives within us and nothing can steal that from us.

This Christmas let us remember that even if every tradition were taken from us, Christmas will still come, because Christ came. Love lives in us because Christ live in us. Join us for worship this Sunday at either 8:30 or 10:45 AM as we continue this conversation.

In God’s grip,

Pastor Chuck Church