Scrooge awoke in his bedchamber in the middle of a snore to find the clock once again at the stroke of one, and thinking he had the upper hand on Ghost number two, he thought he was ready for anything. What he got was something totally unfamiliar to him – a feast! He got extravagance. He got a belly laugh. He got participation. He got a tour of the town, and as they looked in on various homes, from rich to poor, he got joy unleashed. The joy was infectious, and it drew Ebenezer in, to where he was no longer an observer but a participant.

Life in the Spirit is engaged, and engaging. It is all about entering in. There is no Spirit in the observance of a thing, but in the partaking. Weighing… judging… assessing… discriminating… these are activities of a Pharisee bent on remaining aloof to the situation. “Come in, and know me better, man,” was the invitation of Christmas Present, and that, in itself, was an invitation to partake.

How much of my life is standing around on the outside? I prefer the outside like many prefer the back row. From there you are an observer, a judge, a critic. But the extent to which I am watching is the extent that life is passing me by.

In 2 Corinthians 2:17, Paul says that we are being lead in a triumphal procession in Christ. That means we are in the parade, not watching it.

Arise, partake, my friend. “Come in, and know me better, man.”

There is joy in the Spirit – an innocence – a forgetfulness of self… an abandonment. You will witness it below as you share in a brief Christmas message from my son, Christopher and new daughter, Elizabeth. (I hate the term “in-law.”) These two are participating in their love — still reveling in the joy of being found. We would think them and us ill-used to only talk about it.

It was a clever trick of Charles Dickens to allow us, as observers of the story to catch the miserly Ebenezer losing himself in a dance, a game, or a lusty laugh. We know he is only participating in the shadows of things – that he can see, but not be seen – yet he is so desirous of taking part that doesn’t matter to him.

It makes his conversion more believable because he has already done this in his imagination and his dreams. We are thinking the joke is on him when it’s really on us. We are the ones observing. We are the ones doing nothing. Our test comes when we walk out of the theater, put the book down, close the computer, or turn off our phone. Will the Spirit have us? Are we being lead in the parade or merely watching it? Only you and I can answer that. “Come in, and know me better, man.”

Please enjoy Christopher and Beth’s personal Christmas greeting to you (see below), and please consider your gift to the Catch at this time of year. We are seeking the funding now to kick us into increased influence for the kingdom of God in 2013. There are 70 million people who use the Internet at any given time. They are our audience. Let’s do this together.