December 2024 | Lessons from the Grinch

Lessons from the Grinch

Its no secret that Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.  Perhaps that’s  because of     family traditions.  It may be due to the music that’s  familiar yet stirs my heart. But most importantly I think it’s because I love the joy of the season, the joy of experiencing the inbreaking of the holy into the mundane.   I love a good story with a happy ending and Christmas embodies just that. 

One of our family traditions is watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas on the night of Thanksgiving as the kick-off for the holiday season.  There’s a lot of theology in that  children’s story!  The Grinch, along with his trusty dog Max, rides his sleigh from Mt. Crumpet to steal all the Who’s Christmas trappings and with them all their joy.   As I’ve thought about this story, I can’t help but wonder… if the Grinch were to look down on my household during Christmas, what might he plot to steal?  What would he consider most important to each of us and take it,  in the process  stealing joy?  Would it be the cookies and nut bread rolls, the Christmas tree, the gifts under that tree, our  selection of Christmas music?  Maybe he would take our outdoor lights and decorations welcoming family and friends.  It’s an interesting question isn’t it.  

The Grinch’s transformation is central to this story.  After all, we are told his heart grew three sizes that day after his rampage.  However, we would do well to pay attention to other themes with lessons to be learned at  Christmas time. 

To be fair, the Who’s have  a lot to say in how this story will end,   because forgiveness is one of the hallmarks of the tale.  It’s also a    hallmark of the season.  At the end of the story, we see that the Grinch, the one who represents the outsider, the other, the one who is different and excluded was the one at the head of the table, carving the roast beast as they all sit together in fellowship.  It sounds very similar to Holy Communion doesn’t it?  A shared meal together? All equal and loved?  Reconciliation and forgiveness? What a beautiful visual. 

We often mistakenly think that the point of Suess’ story is the condemnation of the commercialism that surrounds the holiday, and in part that’s true.  But the true gift of this children’s tale is the joy of reconciliation.  It’s what Christmas is truly all about, humanities reconciliation to a holy and loving God.  Our Lord is about reconciliation, a return to relationship which came through Christ’s birth, life and death.  Our Christmas trappings all have the potential to point us to the story of Christ’s birth; but these “things” aren’t the  miracle itself.  This is where the Grinch gets it all wrong… and Dr. Suess gets it right. 

  The Savior’s birth is God’s in-breaking into   creation to “bring good news to the poor…    release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, (and) to let the oppressed go free”- Luke 4:18b (NRSV) This is great news for all people… Jews and Gentiles, Men and Women, Rich and Poor,  – all people.  Transformation,                reconciliation, acceptance, forgiveness.   Friends, ask God that the Holy One is present and at work in your lives in all these areas    during this season of love.  Merry Christmas my dear friends.

In Gentleness and Joy, Pastor Sue Hadley