Stories

Marley was dead. There was no question of that. Dead as a doornail – that must be clearly understood if we’re going to get anything out of this. 

Scrooge knew Marley was dead? Of course. Scrooge was Marley’s partner, sole legatee, sole assign, and only mourner. Though the only mourning he did was to mourn the loss of a morning to transact business. The morning that comes before noon, that is. But, he made up for it by getting a terrific bargain in the afternoon – in Marley’s honor of course. 

He had never painted out Marley’s name on the sign outside their establishment, really not so much in honor of Marley as he didn’t want to waste the money. He kept the door to his office open so he could keep an eye on his clerk, Bob Cratchit, who had a regular habit of putting down his pen to warm his fingers by the candle. 

Scrooge was such a tight-fisted, mean, bitter old sinner that no one wanted much of anything to do with him, unless they had no other choice. No one, that is, but his nephew. 

“Merry Christmas, Uncle!” exclaimed his nephew one Christmas Eve as he burst into the office. Scrooge had not seen him coming or he would have shut the office door. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his nephew any more than anyone else, but rather he looked so much like his mother, Scrooge’s sister, that it reminded him of things he found to be … distracting from his work. 

“Bah!” replied Scrooge. “Humbug!”

“Christmas a humbug? Surely you don’t mean it!” 

“What is Christmas but another excuse to separate people from their money?”

“Why, it’s the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ – the Creator and Savior of mankind!” 

“Bah! Humbug!”

“Uncle, it grieves me to hear you talk that way. I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t given my life to Christ at the knee of my mother – your sister – when I was a wee child. I wish you’d repent and give your life to Christ, also.” 

“I wish every Christian was boiled in his own pudding and buried with a crucifix through his heart!”

“Uncle, let’s not argue. I came to invite you to Christmas dinner tomorrow. Please join us.”

“Free food, eh? I suppose you’re going to sing Christmas Carols.” 

“Yes, we always do.”

“And read Scriptures.”

“You know that it’s the tradition passed down from your mother and my mother that we read the nativity on Christmas Day.”

“Then I’ll see you there …” said Scrooge. 

“Wonderful, Uncle!”

“… if I see you in Hell first!” Scrooge cackled out a wicked laugh. 

“Uncle!” 

“Good afternoon!”

“Please reconsider, Uncle” implored the nephew. 

“Good afternoon!” insisted Scrooge. 

That night Scrooge snuggled up into bed after eating a cold gruel by his meager fire. 

Suddenly the doors and windows began to rattle and the room began to vibrate. There in the middle of the room stood the ghostly figure of old Marley.  

“Ebenezer Scrooge!” exclaimed Marley.

Scrooge didn’t answer but only gaped in disbelief. 

“Scrooge – I have been given a gift – a few minute relief and I chose to spend them on you – my only friend in life. Listen carefully for your immortal soul is at stake. You must repent! You must turn from your selfish, sinful ways and trust in Christ. It’s too late for me but you might yet be saved!”

“You look fine.” Replied Scrooge. “In fact, you look better than when you were alive!” 

“Yes, I have a perfect body that doesn’t grow old or die or rot … and most importantly – it doesn’t burn up it just burns and burns and burns forever! If you don’t listen to me, you too will have a perfect immortal body that will suffer for all eternity.”

“Well I guess I’ll see you in hell!” replied Scrooge.

“You think this is a joke? I don’t see anyone in hell! I’m alone – all alone!”

“No, it’s not a joke; it’s something bad I ate for dinner. There’s more of gruel than ghoul about you!”

“In life I was a miserable selfish stubborn sinner like you and now I pay for my sin and there is no one to pay it for me. I didn’t have to take my debts upon myself – Jesus Christ had already paid them!”

“Debts? What debts you were very wealthy when you died. You were an excellent man of business!”

“BUSINESS!” cried Marley. “Glorifying God – Evangelizing the lost – serving my fellow man, these were my business and I neglected them every bit as much as you do. I dug a pit of debt to that business in my life that I cannot get out of and you have dug upon your pit these 7 years.” 

“What do you want from me? I’m not going to become some religious hypocrite over a bad dream!” 

“I was warned that even if someone returned from the dead you wouldn’t believe. Therefore, you are going to be visited by three angels from God. You better listen to them!”

And then Marley disappeared and Scrooge was left alone in his room. 

Scrooge was just about to convince himself that he had been asleep when the room was filled with bright light. When Scrooge’s eyes had adjusted he made out a tall figure standing by his bed. 

“I am the angel of Christmas past,” the figure said.

“Long past?” asked Scrooge.

The angel grabbed Scrooge around the arm and pulled him from the bed. “Come. You’ll see.”

As soon as Scrooge’s feet touched the floor he discovered he was standing on grass. Looking around he found himself outside and there were some men around a campfire nearby. The angel took Scrooge over to them. 

As soon as the men saw the angel, they made exclamations and fell back in fear. 

But the angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring Good News which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sing to you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager.”

Suddenly, there was with the angel an army of angels surrounding them and the glory of the Lord was shining all around them, and they said, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward man.” 

Just as suddenly the angels disappeared and Scrooge was left standing there with the men. The men began saying to one another that they should go into Bethlehem and see this thing that the Lord had made known to them. So they went quickly and Scrooge followed along as best he could. 

When they got into the city they quickly found Mary and Joseph and the baby was lying in a manager and wrapped in swaddling clothes, just as the angel had said. 

Then Scrooge felt a hand upon his shoulder. Turning around he saw the angel. 

“I get it – it’s the baby Jesus,” he said sarcastically. “But there’s the thing I don’t get. Supposedly, here lies not only the savior – but the creator of the universe – God incarnate – King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If he really was all those things, why would he have been born like this? He could have had himself born in a palace. Why allow yourself to be debased like this, without a house, or a crib, or even a proper diaper? No – this doesn’t work – this is not someone who had control over his meager circumstances. This just a man born into poverty like so many others, who grew up and got a band of fools to follow him in a failed rebellion against the Roman Empire.”

The angel replied, “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Saying this, he looked at Scrooge with disgust and pushed him away. Scrooge stumbled over something behind him, fell backward and landed on the bed and bounced once. Looking around he was once again in his own room and it was once again dark. 

“These dreams are getting stranger and stranger!” he exclaimed to the darkness. He got out of bed and started to stoke the fire which was almost out. 

“Scrooge!” said a loud voice outside his door. “Scrooge!”

Scrooge went to the door and opened it and there stood a man in a radiant flowing robe with flowing hair and beard and a Christmas wreath for a hat. 

“I suppose you are the angel of Christmas present?” sneered Scrooge. 

The man just laughed heartily and said, “Come Scrooge, you have much to see.” 

As Scrooge stepped out the door of his bedroom he stepped into the small dining room of a large family for there were many chairs crowded around a little table. 

“My goodness!” exclaimed Scrooge. “Such a large family – what fool had so many children?” 

Just as he finished speaking Bob Crachit walked through the door and all the children swarmed to meet him and hug him and climb up on him to kiss his cheeks. 

“I should have known!” said Scrooge. 

Bob laid the goose he had bought at the butcher upon the table. 

“Ha! What a scrawny little bird!” exclaimed Scrooge.  “That will never feed all these kids! What an idiot! Why didn’t you get a bigger bird, Bob?” he mocked. 

“That’s all he could afford on what you pay him.” 

“So, this is my fault? I never told him to have all these kids.”

Scrooge spun around to face the angel and suddenly he realized that the angel was no angel but rather – somehow he knew it in his heart – Jesus himself. The holes in his hands became visible as he stretch them out and the Christmas wreath now revealed itself as a crown of thorns. 

“When you’ve done it to the least of these -- my brethren – you’ve done it unto me,” Jesus said and then turned and walked back into Scrooge’s bedroom. 

Scrooge noticed two tiny feet plodding along beside Jesus under his tunic. 

“Jesus, two of Bob’s children snuck in here under your tunic,” said Scrooge. 

“They aren’t Bob’s children.” Jesus stopped and turned back again. Then he opened his tunic to reveal two filthy children with fangs for teeth and claws for fingernails, hissing and scratching at his thigh.

“Oh such nasty, vile things. Why do you keep such miserable children?” asked Scrooge.

“They aren’t my children, either,” said Jesus. “They are yours. This boy is called ‘Selfish Conceit’ and the girl ‘Malice Toward Others.’ Don’t you know them? You brought them into the world when you rejected me and you have nourished them every day since.” 

Scrooge turned his face away in shame and hid his eyes with his hands, “Put them away!” 

When there was no reply, he looked up and they were gone. 

He tiptoed back to his bed looking everywhere for what might come next. 

Did that shadow in the corner move? He stared hard at it and indeed it was moving and walking toward him. Then the shadow stood up a tall man with no distinctive features, but all of black. 

“Are you the angel of Christmas future?” The shadow didn’t reply, just put up a hand and bony back hand beckoned him. 

He was walking on grass. Tombstones around him. The specter pointed out one in particular. He’d seen it before. He had designed it. It was large and had his name in big letters. 

“So, I’m going to die – I know that. Everyone dies. But people will remember me. I will leave a legacy and my name will live on.” 

He walked to the grave and strained to see the death date, which had not been entered the last time he’d seen this granite. 

“The ground is soft here. Hey! I’m sinking. Hey! Hey!  Help me! Help me! I’m sinking down into the grave!  It’s hot – it’s so hot – OUCH! I’m on fire. AH! I’m burning – I’m burning. Help me! Somebody help me – I’m on fire! Ahhhhh!”

Then he was back in his bed wrestling with the covers. The sun was shining in through the window. 

“Morning at last!” He ran to the window and flung it open. 

A boy was passing by on the street below. 

“You, boy! Boy! What day is it?” 

Now, the boy said, “Why it’s Christmas day sir!” but what Ebenezer Scrooge heard was, “Today is the day of salvation.” 

Scrooge knelt at the window and prayed, “Oh Lord God forgive me! Please help me to be the man you created me to be. I repent of all my selfishness and greed. I pledge to live for your Glory from this day forward, with your help.” 

And that is how Ebenezer Scrooge … lived ... happily … ever after.