The Muppet Christmas Carol with Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney
Coming up on the Men at the Movies podcast, we wish you a merry Christmas with The Muppet Christmas Carol. Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, this story is a reflection of the gospel—Scrooge is a man in misery until a supernatural intervention leads to transformation and joy. How does it happen? By revealing the truth of the past to explain the present resulting in the changed future. Merry Christmas, and let’s explore God’s truth in this movie.
Quotes
Great villains are characters we root for, we relate to, and hope for their redemption.
Scrooge is an image of cold, hard law, but he learns through his redemption of the power of grace.
The lie of the world is, “Work hard. Work long. Be constructive.” If we just try harder, we can achieve the life we want.
God wants us to be good because He knows that’s what will satisfy us.
Scrooge has to go into his past because it explains why he is the way he is in the present.
So many Christians believe Jesus saved us from our sin, but we have to work our way through our sanctification, through our story. Jesus wants to redeem our sin and our story.
The God of eternity isn’t just focused on redeeming our present, but our past and our future as well.
Scrooge knows that he’s alone, he’s empty, and he chose it.
You can’t change the past, but you can change how you act today.
It takes the supernatural to help us see hidden things we can’t see, to peel the veneer from our eyes to see our real life.
The word coming to me has to change me first before I worry about changing other people.
The sorrow of conviction and repentance will end in joy and transformation.
Themes
The Christmas Carol as a reflection of the gospel: Scrooge as a miserable lost soul, a supernatural intervention, and a transformed life results.
Bah Humbug means false behavior, or you’re deceiving people. When Scrooge says, “Bah, humbug,” he’s accusing those people of selling false hope, that Christmas is a sham.
Scrooge as a great villain because we relate to him:
He is transactional-does everything with the focus on what he can get out of it.
Inner resistance to give and be generous
Inner resistance to reconcile with family
Inner resistance to see work as redemptive
The message of the world: “Work hard. Work long. Be constructive.”
He is powerless to change on his own. He needs the supernatural intervention to look at his story with new eyes.
The life he’s living isn’t really the one he wants, but it’s the only thing he knows. He feels stuck. He doesn’t know a way out.
Supernatural intervention begins with a grounding in reality.
There is another life.
You have a soul that will last beyond.
This life matters because there are consequences in the next one.
Transformation and redemption begin with the question, “How have I…?”
Resources
When he was asked how much money was enough, Rockefeller replied, Just one more dollar.
“An appetite for good brings much satisfaction, but the belly of the wicked always wants more.” - Proverbs 13:25 (MSG)
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” - Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 (ESV)
“You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!” - Galatians 3:1-4 (MSG)
“The most important things about a man is who he is and who he is becoming. - Dallas Willard
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” - John 16: 7-11 (ESV)
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” - Hebrews
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” - James 1: 22-25 (NLT)
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” - James 1: 27 (NLT)
Questions
How generous are you with your time? Money? Affection? Presence?
How easy is it to reconcile with your father? Mother? Siblings?
What is your approach to work?
How does your heart respond to the principle of “Work hard. Work long. Be constructive?”
How have you given Jesus your sin but not your story?
What moments have impacted the man you are today?
How have you turned to a woman (or women) as a way out, as a rescue from your misery and aloneness?
What choices in your past have hurt you or the ones you loved?
Where do you feel, “If I just had a little more of this, my life would be good?”
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Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster
Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston
Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).
Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock.
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