James T. Cleland - "The Three Holy Ghosts of Christmas" (December 6, 1970)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
(holy music) | 0:36 | |
- | Our Father God said the son's innocent child, | 4:56 |
by his innocence he has judged our face | 4:59 | |
in the coming ways. | 5:02 | |
He's led us together to express our sin | 5:04 | |
and take (indistinct). | 5:06 | |
Almighty God knowest our temptations | 5:16 | |
and the weakness by which we are often betrayed. | 5:20 | |
Comfort us with thy mercy when our sins rise up | 5:24 | |
and shame us. | 5:28 | |
Grant that we may not only have a Godly resolve | 5:30 | |
for our past sins, but that we may | 5:33 | |
have grace for (indistinct). | 5:36 | |
We pray thee to forgive us, Lord, | 5:40 | |
of all our transgressions, our broken vows, | 5:42 | |
our duties left undone, our weak faith, | 5:47 | |
prince of peace, our lack of hope for this advent. | 5:51 | |
Our tendency to make with this burden | 5:55 | |
a selfish celebration. | 5:58 | |
Our preoccupation to official and all other ways | 6:00 | |
by which we die in heart. | 6:04 | |
We make this prayer for pardon in the name | 6:07 | |
of Jesus, amen. | 6:10 | |
He has made us holy, yes, the Lord, | 6:15 | |
the mighty one. | 6:18 | |
His mercy ensures generation to generation | 6:19 | |
for those who fear him. | 6:22 | |
Praise to the God of Israel, for he has turned | 6:25 | |
to his people, saved them and set them free. | 6:28 | |
As he promised, he has raised up a river | 6:31 | |
of victorious power. | 6:34 | |
He will lead his people to salvation | 6:36 | |
by the forgiveness of our sins. | 6:38 | |
For in the tender compassion of our God, | 6:42 | |
the morning sun from heaven will rise upon us. | 6:44 | |
It will shine on those who live in darkness | 6:47 | |
under the cloud of death. | 6:50 | |
Dye our feet in the way to salvation and peace. | 6:52 | |
There are two announcements, first, | 7:02 | |
there are no tickets for Zion | 7:06 | |
on next Sunday afternoon at 7:30. | 7:08 | |
The first anvil been going eight years, | 7:14 | |
but the glory (indistinct). | 7:18 | |
(holy music) | 8:23 | |
The lesson today is from a Christmas Carol | 11:56 | |
by Charles Dickens, | 11:59 | |
the second last to the last paragraph. | 12:00 | |
Scrooge was better than his word. | 12:05 | |
He did it all, and infinitely more. | 12:07 | |
And to Tiny Tim, who did not die, | 12:11 | |
he was a second father. | 12:14 | |
He became as good a friend, as good a master, | 12:17 | |
and as good a man as the good old city, | 12:21 | |
or any other good old city, town, or borough, | 12:25 | |
in the good old world. | 12:29 | |
Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, | 12:32 | |
but let them laugh, and little heeded them; | 12:35 | |
for he was wise enough to know | 12:39 | |
that nothing ever happened | 12:40 | |
on this globe for good, at which some people | 12:42 | |
did not have their fill of laughter | 12:46 | |
in the outset. | 12:47 | |
And knowing that such as these | 12:49 | |
would be blind anyway, he thought it quite | 12:51 | |
as well they should wrinkle up | 12:53 | |
their eyes in grins, as have the malady | 12:55 | |
in less attractive forms. | 12:57 | |
His own heart laughed | 13:01 | |
and that was quite enough for him. | 13:04 | |
He had no further intercourse with spirits, | 13:08 | |
but lived upon he total abstinence principle | 13:12 | |
ever afterwards, and it was always said of him | 13:14 | |
that he knew how to keep Christmas well; | 13:19 | |
if any man alive possessed the knowledge. | 13:22 | |
May that be truly said of us, | 13:27 | |
and all of us. | 13:29 | |
And so, as Tiny Tim observed | 13:31 | |
God bless us, every one. | 13:34 | |
(male mumbles indistinctly) | 13:39 | |
(holy music) | 13:42 | |
Lord (indistinct). | 14:23 | |
Let us pray. | 14:26 | |
We thank thee, our Father, | 14:37 | |
you have come to us as a man. | 14:39 | |
To live as one of us in order | 14:43 | |
to show us the way. | 14:45 | |
As men thank you for the sounds of life, | 14:49 | |
the cry of a child, the sounds of teaching | 14:53 | |
in the classrooms. | 14:57 | |
The sounds of laughter, playing. | 15:00 | |
The sounds of worship, of music and (indistinct). | 15:03 | |
And the sounds of wind (indistinct). | 15:08 | |
We thank thee for the silence and rest | 15:14 | |
in good times, the silence of learning. | 15:17 | |
The silence of joy and (indistinct). | 15:23 | |
The silence of worship and praying. | 15:28 | |
The silence of sleep and rest. | 15:32 | |
We thank thee for words, | 15:37 | |
which contain the gospel. | 15:39 | |
The words of the evangelists who tell | 15:42 | |
us the story. | 15:44 | |
The words the prophets promised | 15:47 | |
to deliver salvation, | 15:50 | |
and for the words of Charles Dickens | 15:53 | |
who wrote about Scrooge, the man who changed. | 15:56 | |
Remember, Father, it's all the church | 16:02 | |
in the world hear from a new vision, | 16:05 | |
a new wisdom and a fresh understanding | 16:09 | |
of the tasks you tell us to keep. | 16:13 | |
Remember, Father, the wisdom of this university, | 16:17 | |
give us strength to accept the truth in our mind | 16:22 | |
and to use our knowledge wisely. | 16:26 | |
Friends, folks, (indistinct) administrators, | 16:30 | |
teachers, or students that they come | 16:34 | |
with your mind of right purpose | 16:37 | |
and the constance that you were and (indistinct). | 16:40 | |
Remember, Father, a mercy for those of the church, | 16:46 | |
and those who have heavy hearts, | 16:49 | |
troubled minds, and bodies in pain. | 16:52 | |
Be merciful to them, give | 16:58 | |
them strength and patience for the homecoming | 17:00 | |
and the certainty of you. | 17:04 | |
Remember, Father God, those who are near to us, | 17:10 | |
our friends, and our families. | 17:14 | |
Surround them by love | 17:18 | |
and make their cup filled with joy | 17:20 | |
and that they may (indistinct). | 17:24 | |
Hear O'Lord, our prayer, blessed be thy name, | 17:29 | |
from a difference of weakness and purpose, | 17:34 | |
from carelessness and sincerity. | 17:36 | |
From dishonesty (indistinct). | 17:40 | |
From self-love and justice to others, | 17:44 | |
and from all temptations of pleasure. | 17:49 | |
From the (mumbles indistinctly). | 17:53 | |
To confirm us with life in you. | 17:57 | |
Strengthen us (indistinct). | 18:01 | |
Move from us fear (indistinct). | 18:05 | |
Grant we may never (indistinct). | 18:09 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 18:13 | |
Our Father, who art in heaven, | 18:21 | |
hallowed by thy name. | 18:24 | |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 18:26 | |
on earth as it is in heaven. | 18:29 | |
Give us this day, our daily bread, | 18:32 | |
and forgive of our trespasses | 18:35 | |
as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 18:37 | |
And lead us not into temptation, | 18:41 | |
but deliver us from evil. | 18:44 | |
For thine is the kingdom, | 18:46 | |
the power and the glory forever and ever, amen. | 18:48 | |
(people chatter indistinctly in the background) | 18:59 | |
- | Did you know it was one man | 19:26 |
with which is- | 19:29 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 19:30 | |
Did you know that to die, | 19:39 | |
one must forgive those that- | 19:41 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 19:43 | |
Do you know what it takes? | 19:47 | |
Of course you do. | 19:50 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 19:52 | |
and a Christmas Carol has been called | 19:54 | |
the greatest little book (indistinct). | 19:58 | |
One could take vows that it has done more good | 20:03 | |
than all the books during Christmas. | 20:07 | |
And well- | 20:13 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 20:14 | |
So, on this Sunday in advent, | 20:18 | |
to leave care from Christmas, let us look | 20:20 | |
at the simple book. | 20:24 | |
In particular that Ebeneezer Scrooge on the- | 20:27 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 20:32 | |
the villain of bah humbug. | 20:37 | |
Do you know, who knew how to treat Christmas well, | 20:43 | |
any man alive would- | 20:48 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 20:51 | |
How was Scrooge first presented? | 20:54 | |
He had a (indistinct). | 20:59 | |
Oh, but he was a tight fisted hand | 21:03 | |
at the grindstone. | 21:07 | |
A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, | 21:10 | |
clutching, covetous old sinner. | 21:15 | |
The cold within him froze his old features, | 21:20 | |
nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, | 21:24 | |
stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, | 21:29 | |
his thin lips blue. | 21:33 | |
And spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. | 21:36 | |
A frosty rime was on his head, | 21:41 | |
and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. | 21:45 | |
He carried his own low temperature | 21:50 | |
always about with him. | 21:53 | |
He iced his office in the dog days | 21:56 | |
and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. | 22:01 | |
Dear men- | 22:09 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 22:10 | |
let us diagnose the symptoms- | 22:13 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 22:16 | |
There are three lovely characteristics- | 22:27 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 22:31 | |
The first is the sarcasm with which he- | 22:39 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 22:44 | |
of wishing Scrooge a merry Christmas. | 22:47 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 22:52 | |
Scrooge's response begins with bah humbug. | 22:57 | |
And then (indistinct) to find kindness. | 23:04 | |
The Greek root of sarcasm- | 23:13 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 23:17 | |
The intention was to inflict pain by- | 23:32 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 23:36 | |
Second step towards Scrooge's malady | 23:42 | |
is seen in his inhumane behavior to | 23:45 | |
the new property tenant, | 23:48 | |
the sort of description for- | 23:51 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 23:53 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 24:03 | |
No, but men would rather die | 24:12 | |
than go there, he answers. | 24:14 | |
If they would rather die, they had better do it | 24:17 | |
and decrease the surplus population. | 24:22 | |
It's not my business, it's not mine. | 24:26 | |
There's a cruel, an indifference | 24:34 | |
to the sufferings | 24:38 | |
of others (indistinct), inhumanity. | 24:39 | |
He reveals an absence of any feelings | 24:43 | |
which normally characterizes a human. | 24:46 | |
It says that when the gentlemen were through, | 24:51 | |
Scrooge presumed the flavor with an- | 24:56 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 25:01 | |
Thirdly, his attitude to Bob Cratchit | 25:06 | |
and his clerk (indistinct). | 25:11 | |
This being dramatic, this pinpoint, | 25:15 | |
pinpointed in a callous, day to day, | 25:19 | |
face to face, man to man relationship. | 25:23 | |
From Cratchit's office fire | 25:29 | |
which was so small that it looked like one coal. | 25:31 | |
Wretched was the use to wear it, | 25:39 | |
his long white comforter indoors | 25:41 | |
to warm himself at the candle. | 25:45 | |
Scrooge pondered about retiring at the bedpost | 25:51 | |
when the clerk wished Scrooge, his nephew- | 25:55 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 25:58 | |
Scrooge was indignant when he realized | 26:01 | |
he had to pay taxes for Christmas day, | 26:04 | |
a day of waste for no work. | 26:09 | |
Now, many folk are (indistinct), | 26:15 | |
but there'd be so- | 26:21 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 26:22 | |
so insen... | 26:24 | |
Insensitive to a fellow creature | 26:26 | |
who worked under the same roof six days a week. | 26:29 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 26:35 | |
There and then were the symptoms | 26:43 | |
of a sick Ebeneezer Scrooge, of a man | 26:45 | |
who didn't know that he was sick. | 26:49 | |
Sarcasm- | 26:53 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 26:55 | |
Spirit of assisting partner, Jacob Marley. | 27:06 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 27:11 | |
John the Baptist (indistinct). | 27:13 | |
Even though we summarize the (indistinct)- | 27:19 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 27:24 | |
The man (indistinct). | 27:31 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 27:36 | |
reminds us to- | 27:38 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 27:39 | |
when a golden idol is replaced, | 27:44 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static). | 27:48 | |
There was an exclusive self-centeredness | 27:55 | |
about him, which made (indistinct), entitled, | 27:58 | |
and a count house (indistinct). | 28:03 | |
Who was it not? | 28:08 | |
A self-made man, who worships (indistinct). | 28:12 | |
Loyalty wasn't a big thing, | 28:18 | |
an ordinand love of wealth, | 28:20 | |
Scrooge was the deadly sin of absence. | 28:22 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 28:27 | |
And there was within Scrooge, | 28:29 | |
an absence of any capacity to love anybody else. | 28:31 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 28:36 | |
Never knew- | 28:43 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 28:44 | |
type discovery. | 28:47 | |
He said, "Man, kindness was my business, | 28:49 | |
the common welfare was my business. | 28:53 | |
Charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence | 28:58 | |
were all my business." | 29:04 | |
Christmas night, Scrooge was completely unaware | 29:08 | |
that the clock looked down on this. | 29:13 | |
His love for money- | 29:18 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 29:20 | |
Love for all- | 29:23 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 29:24 | |
Scrooge was not for Christmas, | 29:33 | |
Christmas was a non- | 29:37 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 29:41 | |
I never- | 29:42 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 29:43 | |
And what is the remedy in here | 29:49 | |
for such a thing? | 29:51 | |
If one does not know- | 29:55 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 29:57 | |
It's an old cure, old yet ever true- | 30:01 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 30:06 | |
The description which unites | 30:12 | |
all which identifies Christmas, | 30:15 | |
we poke around (indistinct). | 30:18 | |
At all the goodwill- | 30:21 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 30:26 | |
one of two major themes, Christmas. | 30:35 | |
Just as we read Dickens own words about it, | 30:42 | |
just as (speaker drowned out by background static). | 30:47 | |
I've always thought Christmas and I | 30:56 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 31:00 | |
carols and presents are all in my mind, | 31:06 | |
or the long- | 31:11 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static). | 31:12 | |
And to think of people (indistinct)- | 31:22 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 31:25 | |
And not another- | 31:33 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 31:34 | |
Though it has never stood us in the path of- | 31:41 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 31:44 | |
I believe that we have forgotten and will- | 31:48 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 32:00 | |
Affirmation of love of anything- | 32:05 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 32:09 | |
Dickens reiterates the message to- | 32:11 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 32:15 | |
Love and propose a toast for Christmas- | 32:29 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 32:33 | |
To all our husbands- | 32:47 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 32:48 | |
Today, Christmas Day (indistinct). | 32:53 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 33:02 | |
Regardless of what Christmas means to me, | 33:13 | |
Christmas presents- | 33:16 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 33:18 | |
Now, granted that the theoretical remedy | 33:31 | |
would wield them in valid, | 33:34 | |
how is it applied? | 33:37 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 33:38 | |
No, the spirits of Christmas past, | 33:40 | |
present, and get to the past- | 33:43 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static). | 33:45 | |
Gather the three holy ghosts for Christmas | 33:58 | |
pulled and scared Scrooge into joining masses. | 34:02 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 34:09 | |
The Ghost of Christmas past | 34:12 | |
recalls Scrooge's time, pass back | 34:14 | |
to the days there of Scrooge's (indistinct). | 34:19 | |
Scrooge as he makes more, | 34:23 | |
at the moment- | 34:27 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 34:28 | |
so with that then comes sorrow, | 34:31 | |
and joy, and (indistinct) together. | 34:35 | |
Scrooge's reaction is, "Spirit, show me no more, | 34:39 | |
leave me, and want me no longer." | 34:44 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 34:49 | |
And that is a recollection- | 34:54 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 34:59 | |
may well be that a man made a man, | 35:08 | |
kept a man. | 35:11 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 35:16 | |
The second Ghost of Christmas Present | 35:26 | |
was a living giant, jolly, flooding (indistinct). | 35:28 | |
Surrounded by everything that make yule tide- | 35:34 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 35:37 | |
It was a different Scrooge through and through. | 35:40 | |
But the old miser was running- | 35:44 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 35:47 | |
He was not chained, but unchained, | 35:50 | |
and could it be that the spirit (mumbles) | 35:57 | |
wondered through the contemporary (mumbles)? | 35:59 | |
And everywhere the (mumbles) one of the- | 36:03 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 36:08 | |
He had a wallop (indistinct). | 36:14 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 36:19 | |
Scrooge saw how he was supposed to- | 36:25 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 36:30 | |
But the generation wants (indistinct). | 36:42 | |
It's a combination and fruit and love, | 36:47 | |
honesty and generosity. | 36:50 | |
Neither in isolation of the other, | 36:53 | |
but to (indistinct) together. | 36:56 | |
Scrooge was (indistinct)- | 36:59 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 37:03 | |
The Ghost of Christmas yet to come, | 37:18 | |
the third visitor crowned him- | 37:21 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 37:26 | |
Scrooge went on about- | 37:34 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 37:38 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 37:52 | |
but a flat (indistinct). | 38:03 | |
Right there was the third (mumbles) ghost, | 38:10 | |
here and then, (mumbles indistinctly). | 38:17 | |
It was not only the fear | 38:23 | |
of what may happen after death. | 38:24 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 38:27 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) talk | 38:33 | |
about going on an isolated, unborn, | 38:35 | |
almost anonymous day (mumbles indistinctly). | 38:40 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 38:45 | |
These made up the Lord's secret (indistinct) | 39:06 | |
the application of the good feelings | 39:10 | |
and the goodwill. | 39:12 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 39:14 | |
You know the outcome- | 39:29 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 39:33 | |
Scrooge comments and there he goes. | 39:41 | |
I will honor Christmas- | 39:45 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 39:47 | |
I will live in the months, | 40:01 | |
in the present and in the future. | 40:03 | |
The spirits of all three ghosts lie within me. | 40:07 | |
I will not (indistinct). | 40:11 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 40:17 | |
Scrooge's nephew- | 40:27 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 40:28 | |
Read about this Christmas shuffling, | 40:35 | |
(mumbles) must be generous (mumbles indistinctly). | 40:38 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 40:44 | |
He knew how to keep Christmas well | 40:51 | |
and (indistinct) alive (indistinct), | 40:55 | |
but there was a second (indistinct). | 41:00 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 41:08 | |
They've enchained his own (mumbles). | 41:21 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 41:24 | |
Scrooge (mumbles indistinctly). | 41:41 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 41:47 | |
At Christmas time- | 41:50 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 41:52 | |
a serial common parable of (indistinct). | 41:56 | |
A serial common parable of (indistinct)- | 42:01 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 42:05 | |
He's free to choose (mumbles indistinctly). | 42:08 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 42:13 | |
(indistinct) above and he's going alone. | 42:32 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 42:40 | |
God keep and bless you, everyone. | 42:54 | |
(holy music) | 43:06 | |
(soft singing) | 49:54 | |
(holy music) | 51:10 | |
♪ Now and forever ♪ | 52:21 | |
♪ Glory God ♪ | 52:32 | |
(holy music) | 52:49 | |
- | Giver of all complete and separate (indistinct), | 54:13 |
(mumbles indistinctly) that he may bring peace | 54:20 | |
and goodwill, amen. | 54:25 | |
(speaker drowned out by background static) | 54:37 | |
(soft singing) | 54:54 | |
(holy music) | 56:44 | |
(male mumbles indistinctly) | 56:57 | |
(people chatter indistinctly in the background) | 57:02 | |
(footsteps resound) | 57:25 | |
(people chatter indistinctly in the background) | 57:34 |