Muppet Christmas Carol, Week 2: “Wherever You Find Love”
Read Matthew 3:3-12:
3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Consider these questions:
What word or phrase stands out to me as I read this passage? Why?
If I closed my eyes, and entered into the passage in my mind, what would I feel? What situation in my life today would relate?
What is an invitation for me from God and from this passage of the Bible?
Offer this opening prayer:
O Lord, open my heart so that I may receive your teaching and encouragement, open my lips so that I might declare your praise, and open my mind to the deep possibilities of faith that you place before us in the Season of Advent. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Important Words from This Week’s Song
A cup of kindness that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
And it is the season of the spirit
The message, if we hear it
Is make it last all year
This Week from the Film:
When the Ghost of Christmas Present arrives, the mood shifts instantly. He is larger than life, booming with joy, generosity, and warmth. He laughs easily, moves with delight, and fills the room with a presence Scrooge has never encountered. He grabs Scrooge by the hand and sweeps him into the heart of everyday life in London: people cooking meals, children playing games, neighbors greeting one another, families celebrating with modest means.
None of the scenes are luxurious. In fact, most of them show people making do with what they have. Yet joy saturates everything. The Ghost shows Scrooge the beauty of ordinary goodness. Small acts of hospitality. Simple meals. Music and laughter shared in tight quarters. He wants Scrooge to understand that the Christmas spirit isn’t a magical force floating through the air; it’s the lived kindness of real people.
As the Ghost guides Scrooge from home to home, Scrooge begins to soften. You can see him watching with curiosity, even amazement. He is starting to grasp that there’s another way to live, one rooted in generosity instead of scarcity. For the first time in years, Scrooge looks like someone who is paying attention.
“It Feels Like Christmas” is a joyful anthem about the character of Christmas as something embodied—something relational. The song insists that Christmas is found in generosity freely given, in kindness shared without calculation, in the warmth of human connection. The Ghost sings with a tone that is almost pastoral. He points to the places where the spirit of Christmas is alive: in gratitude, in community, in laughter, in the habit of giving without expecting anything in return.
The theology running beneath the song is simple but profound. Joy is not a seasonal mood; it is the fruit of a transformed heart. When we align ourselves with compassion, generosity, and shared life, the feeling of Christmas rises naturally. The song reframes repentance from Week Two’s scripture: rather than a grim duty, it becomes the path toward real joy.
This Week from the Bible:
Matthew’s picture of John the Baptist is intentionally striking. John is a wilderness figure. He stands outside the centers of power wearing rough clothes, eating what the land provides, and calling people to a radical change of life. Nothing about him blends in. His message is a jolt meant to wake people up.
The central word John uses is “repent,” which in Greek is metanoia. It means far more than feeling sorry or guilty. It means changing direction. Rethinking your priorities. Reorienting your life toward God’s purposes. It’s a movement of the whole self. John is not shaming people. He is clearing the road for joy. His baptism is a sign that people can step into a new way of living.
John’s sharp words to the Pharisees and Sadducees underscore that repentance is not a performance. “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” In other words, show a life shaped by generosity, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You can’t claim heritage, tradition, or religious identity as a substitute for actual transformation.
His agricultural imagery helps make this practical. Trees are judged by their fruit. Chaff is separated from grain not because it is evil but because it is useless. This is not about annihilation; it’s about clearing away what does not nourish life.
The One coming after John will baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Fire in scripture often purifies rather than destroys. It burns away what is false so that what is true can shine. It’s a picture of healing.
This connects naturally to “It Feels Like Christmas.” When people turn toward generosity, joy rises. When we release what is unhelpful or self-centered, new life emerges.
Repentance becomes the pathway to joy.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What part of the Ghost of Christmas Present’s joy stands out to you?
How do you understand repentance: as shame or as invitation?
What “fruit” looks like joy in your life?
Where do you sense God calling you toward a healthier pattern?
Closing advice from the wisdom of John Wesley:
“The repentance which is not to be repented of is a change from sin to holiness, from sorrow to joy.”
In other words, we should always celebrate when someone moves from being self-absorbed to being delighted by holiness and joy. Think of the parables of Jesus that point to the delight in heaven over one sheep, one coin, one son, one sinner returned to the fold or the family than over 99 others already righteous and found who have no need of repentance.