Undeserved Gifts

Two of the most enduring Christmas stories are "A Christmas Carol" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." In each of these tales there is a character that is so unChristmassy that we now use scrooge and grinch as common nouns to refer to people who are struggling with the Christmas spirit. But I was thinking about these two stories and why they have become so integral to the Christmas tradition and especially why we remember and care so much about two people who for most of their stories are pretty terrible people. And I think it's because both Scrooge and the Grinch act out the true meaning of Christmas. They're both horrible people who make life more miserable for everyone around them and they don't deserve a second chance, but they get one anyway. And they get that second chance for the same reason that we all do. Because God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the true meaning of Christmas. Whatever we say about Santa's list of naughty and nice, none of us get presents on Christmas because we deserve them, nor do we give presents to our loved ones because they deserve them. None of us deserved the gift of the Son of God nor the chance at redemption that He gave to us, but God gave us this greatest of gifts all the same. We remember Scrooge and the Grinch because they are like us. We spend so much of our time miserable that we can never live up to the best version of ourselves and resentful that our fellow brothers and sisters who are just as miserable as we are get forgiven for their faults so easily. Sometimes we are even resentful that we ourselves are forgiven so easily, and believe that we ought to have received a good deal more punishment than we got. But more importantly, we remember Scrooge and the Grinch not just because they represent the worst in us, but they actually also represent the best that we can be. Scrooge and the Grinch go from being the biggest enemies of Christmas to its biggest supporters. Rather than having a heart several sizes too small, the Grinch's heart grew to be larger than anyone else's. Scrooge went from believing that his employee wasn't worthy even of a lump of coal to practically adopting the whole family. "A Christmas Carol" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" remind us that Christmas and the practice of gift giving aren't about reciprocity or quid pro quo. We give gifts because we love those we are giving gifts to, not because they deserve it but because they don't deserve it and we love them anyway, just as God gave us His Son and Christ gave His life for us, not because we deserve it but because we don't deserve it and They love us anyway.