There was a day when churches overflowed with worshipers during Advent through the Epiphany. Now, however, parents no longer take their children to manger scenes erected in churches. Nor marvel at the wonder that the Christ Child had been born for them. Instead, they go to shops and malls, and marvel at the wonder of the computers, phones, high-tech toys and electronic gadgets that have been manufactured for them. We become a bit crazed during the Christmas season. The distractions are so enticing, intrusive and pervasive that we simply have no sensory capacity left to absorb the “Christmas Story.” Unless it’s an abbreviated Yuletide carol or entertaining Christmas “story”. Perhaps the most popular Christmas tale features the earthly, fictitious Ebenezer.
Ebenezer Scrooge was the main character in Charles Dickens’ short novel, “ A Christmas Carol”. Infamous for being a cold-hearted miser, Scrooge characteristically despised Christmas. To him it was a wasted day…a day of indolence and irritating juvenile antics. His disdain was famously captured in the phrase, “Bah! Humbug!” His Last name has entered the English language as a pejorative title for greedy, selfish contrarians. But it’s his First name that possibly reflects Dicken’s more intricate and reformative intent.
“Ebenezer” is a compound Hebrew term and descriptive name. It simultaneously means “Stone of Departure” and “Stone of Help”. The name is anchored in a Biblical account of God’s people in the Promised Land (1 Sam 4-7). While facing a most formidable foe (the Philistines), the Israelites found themselves in an area named Ebenezer. They were wholly outnumbered, out maneuvered and desperate beyond measure. Thirty thousand Israeli men were killed, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the enemy. More than 20 years would elapse before there was any relief for the Israelites.
One single Obstacle stood in the way of their Rescue and Redemption. Nothing more than this:
their Refusal to Repent.
Oftentimes we will find ourselves Reflecting on life during the Christmas season. Afterall, it’s a national holiday. A time for Rest, Relaxation and Recreation. Yet with all the potential for goodwill, good times and good outcomes, we can suddenly get sideswiped with Disappointment, Disdain and Depression. Christmas is more often than not a bittersweet season. How can that be? Children don’t seem to suffer such incongruous thoughts and feelings. But frankly, children are of infantile consciousness, having endured little of life’s disasters, and they carry precious few responsibilities. Adults, on the other hand, are a long way down the rocky road of real life. We have experienced the seasonal Christmas “good cheer” Dissipation and Disintegration year after year. The “Holiday spirit” doesn’t last long. Because the “Holy” is gone, and the prevailing “spirit” is bad. Sin has infected Christmas just like everything else around us. No wonder when Christmas rolls around, we woefully whisper…“Bah Humbug!”
I imagine the Israelites felt much the same. Enemy upon enemy, battle after battle, short victories followed by long droughts of Despair and Destitution. All the while, the Way back staring them in the face. But there was an obstinacy lurking inside them…and frankly, in us as well. A pride. A stubbornness. A rebellion against the obvious. It’s evidence of an infection. Something is very wrong, but we push it away again and again. Repeat that for a few years, and our consciences become dull at first… and dead in the end. We need to take an exit ramp before it’s too late.
We need a Departure point. A momentous and monumental “Stone of Departure”… an “Ebenezer”.
The Israelites finally took that exit ramp. They chose to admit the obvious, embrace the conviction, and proceed down a new road: Repentance. It literally means “a change of direction”. Christmas holidays do not need to be bitter. They can be sweet. But we need to “change direction” and make a Departure from our Sin . And like Israel, it begins with Repentance.
A marker must be laid down. A Stone of Departure. We must determine we are done with our Sin. And then run the other Way…to Jesus.
Too many people get caught up in the Emotions of Christmas…and forego the Essence. It’s all about Emmanuel, “God with us”. God made Man. God Incarnate. The Son of God coming as the Son of Man. To Redeem, to Save, to Restore, to Reconcile us to the Father. As Moses…and Hannah….and Paul the Apostle prophetically declared…
“For I proclaim the Name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He… Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you... For their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies themselves acknowledge such.”
“No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any Rock like our God.”
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers…. drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
Most of the world is “celebrating” Christmas in full blown carnality, ignorance and deliberate distraction. But truth be told, most adults will find themselves Reflecting on life during the holiday. For those willing to embrace rather than ignore such discord, there remains a Way out. Look to the crib… the Infant Jesus. Look then to the Man… the Prophet. Consider His Mission…to reconcile all to the Father. Bend your knee, lay down your burden and Repent. Set your Stone of Departure…and never look back. Repent. Believe. And be saved. And God will meet you, rescue you, and deliver you. Just as He did the Israelites.
“Then Samuel took a Stone and set it up… and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has Helped us.’ “
Not Dickens’ Ebenezer. But rather the Eternal Ebenezer.
Jesus…our Rock of Help.
Many blessings and prayers from the “Pastors of the Least” and the Cowley family to you and yours.
