The plot of "A Christmas Carol" really kicks off when the ghost of Jacob Marley bursts into Scrooge's room. There have been countless adaptations of Charles Dickens' book, but Marley always has this to say: "I have come for your sake, Ebenezer. I have been sent to warn you and offer you a hope and chance of escaping my fate."
You see, Jacob is in a state of perpetual torment, dragging along a long chain that he forged in life, link by link and yard by yard. And he comes to Scrooge to kind of say, "Look, this afterlife that I'm experiencing stinks, and I don't want you to go through the same thing." It's clear, then, that everything that follows - the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-To-Come - are all sent to give Scrooge a chance to escape facing the gates of hell. Which is great for Scrooge, because that's certainly where he's headed.
So why is it that you've never seen a version of "A Christmas Carol" where Scrooge makes it into heaven?
I mean, it makes sense that that's where he'd go. By the end of the story he's turned his life around, giving money to the poor and living a life of love and friendship. So there's been a change, but the ultimate fulfillment of Jacob's goal isn't shown. We don't quite get there. When's the last time you watched a romantic movie where the film ends right before the guy and girl actually decide to declare their true love for one another? Or what if Lord of the Rings had ended right at the part where Frodo is holding the Ring over Mount Doom? If that happened, would you say, "Oh, it's fine, I know they're gonna get together anyway" or "We all know the ring's gonna get destroyed so it's all good"? No! You'd say, "What?! How does it end?"
Here's what's going on. Jacob came to save Scrooge's eternal future, for sure. But he also came to save Scrooge's present. Scrooge was living a miserable and thoroughly undesirable life. He had no friends, no family, everyone hated him, and he didn't even want to do anything with all of the money he'd spent his years hoarding. Scrooge had built this life for himself intentionally, thinking it was "the way to go". And it was this life that the visits of the ghosts changed. At the end of the story, Scrooge is loved by everyone, he's part of Bob Cratchit's family, and he's actually happy. And it's his present life that Charles Dickens decided to end the story with.
I propose that Jesus did something similar. I think Jesus came to save our present just as much as he came to save our future. Jesus didn't come with a bunch of things for us to do so that we'd get into heaven. He didn't prescribe a medication that was supposed to hold us through just until we died. He came that we might have life, and have it to the full. And not life later - life now.
You look at Scrooge at the end of the story and you don't see a guy scared to death about hell, or someone who's really bitter about the inconveniences of his other-worldly experience. He's not being nice just to get into heaven. He's changed his life because he's seen the value of this new way of doing things. In that sense, heaven isn't the goal for Scrooge as much as it is a natural conclusion of his new life. Heaven is something we all should be excited about and look forward to, but if everything you do is just so that you'll get there, you're missing the point. Jesus placed incredible value on the here and now. He showed us that we're here on Earth to glorify God. And he also showed us that nothing will make your life more meaningful than a life in pursuit of Him. Scrooge had immense wealth and a thriving business, but it was all meaningless. It wasn't till he started shaping his life to look more like what Jesus taught us that his deeds on earth started having real significance.
It's because of Jesus that we have a chance to spend eternity with our Father in heaven. That's something the whole world needs to know. But the world also needs to know that it's because of Jesus our life today has meaning. A life following Christ is its own reward. That's why Scrooge's story ends where it does. And a life following Christ is greater than any of us will ever fully realize while we're here. Heaven is an eternity of icing on the cake.
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