You gotta hate the Grinch, he stole Christmas. And because we’ve read the book seen the tv special, watched the movie and can sing the song we all know that someone who doesn’t like Christmas is a Grinch. And nobody wants to be a Grinch, do they?

In this post, I want to see 5 signs that will enable you to identify the grinches in your life. To do that, we’re going to look at a grinch whose story is told in the Bible in Mathew. 2:1-18.

You know you’re a grinch if . . .

. . . . you get upset when others invade your territory. (vs. 1-6)

In Dr. Seuss’ story, he introduces the Grinch as at the ledge outside his cave which overlooks the village of the Who’s. He’s there on that ledge with his arms crossed, his head slightly tilted to one side, a scowl on his face, and his foot tapping on the snow-covered ground. He is irritated because he hears music from the village below. They’re blowing their horns, and whistling their whistles, and singing their songs and making such a racket that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot shut it out. He wanted nothing to do with Whoville, the Whovillers or Christmas.

There was another grinch whose territory was invaded – Herod. He had been placed in charge of the whole land of the Jews by the Emperor of Rome. He had been given the title “the king of the Jews”. Not everyone was happy about Herod’s role. Most of his subjects hated him. He spent all of his days in a paranoia that he was going to lose control at any time. He killed off anyone whom he considered to be a threat to the throne. Imagine Herod’s reaction when wise men from the east enter his court and say: “Where is the king of the Jews?” King of the Jews? That was Herod’s title! Someone was stepping on some dangerous ground. They were invading Herod’s territory. Herod was mad! Someone had invaded his territory and threatening to take something that belonged to him.

Every Sunday, God’s Holy Spirit wants to invade our territory.  He wants to invade you with joy and peace and love. But there are certain areas of your life that you’ve posted “No Trespassing” signs on. And if He starts to walk into that territory, the defenses go up, and you get disturbed. “I’m the king of my living room!” If Jesus is not King of all, He is not king at all.

. . . . you pretend to be something that you’re not. (vs. 7-8)

The Grinch knew he was hated in Whoville. But there was someone else who was loved just as much as the grinch was hated – Santa Claus. Then a light came on, and that giant ear-to-ear, devilish smile covered his face. He would go to Whoville as Santa. But rather than deliver presents, he was going to steal every present under their tree. They wouldn’t accept him the way that he was. He would pretend to be something that he was not.

Herod had the same plan. When he discovered that there was someone who was threatening to invade his kingdom, he quickly called together the chief priests to find out what the Bible had to say about where this new king was to be born. The teachers told Herod that it was prophesied that the King would be born in the city of Bethlehem. He called the wise men back and told them these words: “Go, and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.” (vs. 8) Herod had no desire to worship Jesus. He was only pretending to be a worshipper of Jesus to keep the wise men from learning the truth and to get what he wanted.

There are spiritual pretenders. People who pretend that everything is okay between them and God. There are other pretenders in church who think that if you knew the real person sitting next to you, you would reject them just like the Grinch thought he would be rejected without his Santa suit. If you feel like you have to wear a fake ear-to-ear smile or nice clothes to be accepted and loved in this church, you are fooling yourself.

. . . . you can’t join others in their joy. (vs. 9-15)

With his Santa suit on, the Grinch and his dog, Max, headed down the mountain into Whoville and began going from house to house retrieving all the things that Santa had left for each little boy and girl.   Instead of joy, he held onto his bitterness. He headed up the chimney with all the toys, packed them all onto his sled and carried them to the highest peak of the mountain.

Herod too was surrounded by joy and could have joined in but refused to do so. When the wise men received his message about where the Christ was to be born, they quickly headed off toward Bethlehem. They were overjoyed! Their journey was complete! They were getting ready to be introduced to the King of the Jews, the King of kings, their king. But Herod chose to keep his distance. Jerusalem, where Herod was, was only 2 miles away – just as close as downtown Adrian from our church.

Herod was close and yet so far. There’s nothing I can do to change Herod’s situation. But there are others that are close to joy too whose situations I can help to change. All around us, on these streets of Lenawee, there are persons who are searching for joy and peace. People who are so close to joy, but not willing to take the risk of reaching out. What about people in your neighborhood?

The Grinch and Herod both were so close to joy. But since they were unwilling to join in, they decided instead to try and steal the joy of others.

. . . . you get infuriated when your plans don’t work out. (vs. 16)

When Herod discovered that he, the trickster, had been tricked.  He was furious! In his anger, Herod came up with a new plan. If he couldn’t know where the one baby was, he could still make sure that he was destroyed. Why is it that children are the ones who suffer most when adults are unwilling to follow God’s plan for their lives?

The Grinch had his plan too. He placed all the stuff that he had gathered from Whoville on his sled, and then whipped little Max into pulling that overloaded sleigh to the highest cliff of the mountain. He was going to throw everything over the cliff to be destroyed on the rocks below. But his plan didn’t quite work out the way he thought either.

. . . . your heart has never been changed. (vs. 17-18)

By the time that little Max was able to reach the top of the mountain with the sleigh, it was Christmas morning. The Grinch paused to listen to what was going on down in Whoville. He knew that Cindy Lu and all the whovillers would be waking up soon and would be rushing to their who trees to open their who presents. But all that they would find would be a few pieces of torn who wrapping paper, a who hook or two that who ornaments once hung on and maybe a burnt out who bulb or two. He expected to hear the sound of crying form whoville. But to his surprise, instead of the sound of who crying, he heard the sound of who singing. And then he understood. The joy of Christmas comes not from the presents, the decorations, the food or anything else on the outside. It comes from something that is on the inside.

Unlike the Grinch, Herod awoke that Christmas morning to the sound of weeping. Hundreds of mothers weeping, not because their children’s presents had been stolen, but because their children had been stolen. We know how the story ended for Dr. Seuss’ Grinch. He became a part of Whoville. He didn’t need to pretend anymore. He joined them in their joy, carving the roast beast himself. He joined in the master plan. And all of that happened because his heart was changed. He wasn’t a grinch anymore. He was a Who. That’s where the similarity between the two stories ends. Herod’s story has a different ending. Herod’s heart was never changed, he died, and history tells us that it was only a year later. This was his chance, but he missed it. He remained a grinch forever.

Are you a grinch? Has your heart ever been changed? The Grinch’s heart was changed was changed by what he heard. Listen to this promise of God. God offers to change your heart. You don’t have the ability to change your own heart. It is the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for you that can take your sin away and can take your bitterness away. Let God change your heart today.

Do you know any grinches? How do you respond to them? Reach out to them this Christmas, and let them see the joy of Christ shining through your life. Who knows what impossibly hard heart just might be changed?!

You might also like to read some similar articles: Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Almost Didn’t Happen, Merry Christmas Charlie Brown.