Luke 12:35-40; 2
Corinthians 1:3-7
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
One of the complaints that Christians
often voice at this time of year is that Christmas has become too commercialized
and too secularized. Far too many people observe the holy day of the
Christ mass without any acknowledgment of Christ at all. Everything's
about parties and presents and TV specials without any reverence for, or
meditation on, the main focus of Christmas, namely, the incarnation of our
Lord, His taking on of our flesh to save us. Santa Claus gets more
attention than Jesus.
Perhaps, however, this problem can begin
to be corrected by understanding where the legend of Santa Claus comes from and
the actual historical basis of who he is. Most of us have heard of Santa
Claus referred to as St. Nick or St. Nicholas. And, in fact, that's where
the name comes from – Santa is the
word for Saint and Claus is a shortened form in Dutch of the
word Nicholas. Santa Claus, St. Nicholas.
Now, Santa Claus has become the stuff of
fairy tales and has been influenced in many ways by pagan notions. But St.
Nicholas was a real person who lived in the early fourth century A.D. Since
December 6th is the day on which Nicholas is recognized in the church, we shall
focus a bit on his life this evening and meditate on what it has to teach us
about Christ and Christmas.
Nicholas was born into a wealthy family
in Asia Minor, what is now Turkey. Having become a Christian, Nicholas
chose not to pursue a life of riches but instead devoted himself to the
church. He eventually became bishop of a city called Myra. Myra was a
decadent and corrupt city, and Nicholas became well known for transforming it
by his pious hard work and preaching of the Word of Christ.
St. Nicholas was also known for his love
of those in need, such as poor widows and orphaned children. As bishop, he saw
to it that the church worked to care for the needy. Perhaps his giving of
gifts, especially to impoverished children, is part of what formed the Santa
Claus tradition.
There is one story in particular about
Nicholas that stands out above the rest and is the most famous. There was
a man in the city of Myra who had three daughters. But this man did not
have enough money to provide his daughters with suitable dowries necessary for
them to get married in those days. Without being able to marry it was
likely that they were to end up as prostitutes. Nicholas was deeply
troubled about this, and he decided to help. But he chose to do so in a
way that wouldn't draw attention to himself. Evidently taking from his own
resources, Nicholas prepared three bags of gold. On three successive
nights St. Nicholas went to this man's house and threw a bag of gold into one
of the open windows – one bag of gold each night for each of the three
daughters, sufficient to provide each of them with the necessary dowry. Later
on when this story was told in colder regions, Nicholas was portrayed dropping
the bags of gold down the chimney. Still to this day three golden bags or
golden spheres are the sign of a pawnbroker, in remembrance of how Nicholas purchased
these three daughters out of hock, you might say, redeeming and rescuing them
from the fate that awaited them.
There are many more accounts of Nicholas
helping others, too. For instance, once there were three men who were
falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death. But Nicholas stepped in
and spoke in their defense and was able to secure their release and give them
their lives back.
It's interesting that in all the stories
of St. Nicholas that I've seen, the number three keeps popping up – three
daughters without dowries, three falsely accused men, three sailors whom he
rescued from drowning. And this is fitting, for Nicholas was a steadfast defender
of the Trinitarian faith, someone who proclaimed belief in the one and only
true God who is threefold: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In fact, it is quite possible that St.
Nicholas was one of the bishops present at the Council of Nicaea, which
defended and confirmed the teaching that Jesus is both true God and true
man. It is from this council in 325 A.D. that we get the Nicene Creed,
which we confess here each week. A certain false preacher named Arius was
teaching that Jesus was not of the same substance as the Father, that the Son
of God was a created being, god-like but not true God. The Council of
Nicaea roundly rejected that heresy and reaffirmed the Scriptural position that
Jesus is both fully divine and fully human in one undivided person, true God
from all eternity. There is even a legend that St. Nicholas punched the heretic
Arius in the nose!
Whether or not Nicholas was present at
that Council, he was a defender of that faith, faith in Christ the Son of God
as the only Savior from sin and death and the devil. Nicholas preached
Jesus, baptized people into Jesus' body, absolved people of their sins in
Jesus' Name, fed them with the life-giving body and blood of Jesus. This
is the real St. Nicholas. He wasn't a Santa Claus taking attention away from
Jesus. He was a preacher drawing everyone's attention to Jesus. He wasn't
one making a list and checking it twice to see who was naughty and who was
nice, for he knew that his people were both sinners and saints at the same time
and that all desperately needed Christ's forgiveness and mercy.
By God's grace the love of Christ was
shown forth both in St. Nicholas' preaching and also in his life. We give
attention to the generous deeds of Nicholas because that ultimately draws our
attention to the infinitely generous love that he himself first received from
God. It was that love of God that was working through Nicholas in his
life.
After all, just consider his
deeds. Nicholas sacrificed and gave of his own resources to save the three
daughters. Is that not what Jesus did for us? He sacrificed and gave
Himself for us to rescue us from being eternally violated by death and the
devil. He redeemed us not with bags of gold or silver, but with His holy
precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. So it is that we
are now worthy and prepared to be His holy bride.
Likewise, Nicholas stood in to defend
those facing death, risking his own name and reputation. Is that not what Jesus
did and still does for us? He stood between us and eternal death on the
cross and thereby kept us from having to suffer that most capital of all
punishments. Furthermore, the Scriptures say that even now Jesus is
standing before the Father as our advocate, speaking in our defense, responding
to every charge laid against us with the merits of His own blood and
righteousness. Through Him we are set free to be people of God.
The same love of Christ that was at work
in St. Nicholas is at work also in you. For in your baptism you were
crucified with Christ; and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you and through
you. The Lord is working in you so that His boundless love which has been
shown to you might spill over to others, in the giving of yourself, in the
giving of gifts – not so that you can feel good about yourself or draw
attention to yourself, but giving that is anonymous and entirely for the good
of others, like a bag of gold through an open window at night. That's why
I think it is a fine tradition for someone who gives an anonymous gift to say
that it's from Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. For such a gift is given in a
spirit that reflects the love of Christ as Nicholas did, and ultimately it
seeks to give glory not to ourselves but to God who is the true Giver of every
good and perfect gift.
Indeed every present that we give is a
sign of that Greatest Gift of all, the Christ child in the manger – given to us
almost anonymously, noticed only by shepherds on that night, recognized and
received only by few throughout His life. But hidden within the wrapping
of His lowly humanity dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily full of
grace and mercy. Jesus is Love in the flesh for you. There is no greater
present than that. That is the ultimate gift St. Nicholas sought to give.
So is there such a person as Santa
Claus? Of course there is. If you don't believe in the existence of St.
Nicholas, you might as well not believe in the existence of Mary or Joseph or the
shepherds or the wise men. Sure you're not going to find him sliding down
your chimney. But he is with us whenever we gather for divine service. For
in Christ's presence dwell angels and archangels and all the company of heaven,
all the saints and believers who have gone before us. Thank God that St.
Nicholas lives. He lives forever because, just like you, he was baptized
and believed in Jesus, who was born, and died, and rose for us all.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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