un-scrooged 12-03-2025

This is the first week of our Advent Season, the week of Hope. And I’m drawn to one of my favorite Christmas characters, Ebenezer Scrooge. I know, odd choice considering his name has become synonymous with a grumpy, stingy, miserly Christmas hum-bug. But that’s the point. If you read the last chapter of Dicken’s classic, you’ll read where Scrooge becomes un-Scrooged. The theme of A Christmas Carol is hope. If Scrooge can change, there’s hope for all of us, even the demon lady of the New Testament. You may know her as Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ closest followers who was freed from seven demons at the word of Jesus. Advent hope means we are not tagged with what we were but known for our new redeemed life received only by Jesus, the living Word. And oh, Mary Magdalene, no longer the demon lady, we know her as the first to see our resurrected Lord Jesus. Mark 16:9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. Jesus is hope for all! PK