Hope is on the way 8: Saint Nichols day

Elizabeth was doing the sermon at Sandhurst Baptist church this morning.

Elizabeth started the service with, “When you woke up this morning was there a bag full of candy and maybe even a present in it waiting for you?

If you answered yes, you're one of the special ones who participate in a tradition known as St. Nick's Day.”

Tia and Rebekah have been talking to each other about Saint Nichols day for a while now.

Everyone at church said very loudly “TODAY IS SAINT NICHOLS DAY!!, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?” Very surprising it did get everyone attention who was walking by the chapel.

Elizabeth goes on saying, “Before there was Santa Claus, there was Saint Nicholas, known traditionally as the “bearer of gifts”. On December 6th many Europeans still celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, and many Christmas traditions were originally a part of this holiday.”

Rebekah butts in saying, “Who is Saint Nichols?”

Elizabeth answer Rebekah question “We may think of Saint Nick, Father Christmas or Santa Claus as being a mythical person, but Saint Nicholas was a real 4^th Century Greek Saint who was admired for being kind and helping those in need. He was renowned for secretly giving gifts and placing coins in the shoes of the needy. In one story Saint Nicholas helped a man who had three daughters who couldn’t marry by throwing bags of money in their house when they came of age, but being very modest he did it in the night so the man would thank God instead. He is the patron saint of children, unmarried girls, and sailors.”

“Now I have a story to tell you too. Listen do not interrupt. Yes that includes you Rebekah!” Said Elizabeth

A gift in the night

Nicholas wrapped several gold coins into a cloth bag. He smiled, feeling cheerful for the first time in months.

He had been a happy child. His loving parents taught him about God and to do God's work by helping others. Now he was a teen, and both his parents had just died. Nicholas decided to become a priest in his uncle's monastery. He could not bring his great wealth, so he followed his parents' example of helping others with it, giving it away before he joined his uncle.

A neighbour man had troubles with his business and became poor. Now his three daughters could not get married. Nicholas had heard about this and made his plan.

He left his house quietly late that night. He wanted to give a gift in secret, so he kept to the shadows. The home of the three young women was dark and quiet. Nicholas snuck up to the window and dropped the bag of gold inside. Then he ran!

Soon there was great rejoicing in the neighbourhood as the eldest of the daughters got married. Nicholas smiled and prepared another bag of gold.

The happy family never expected to get another gift. However, a second bag of gold arrived, with no giver in sight! Amid rejoicing, the second daughter was married.

The thankful family now dared to hope for help for the third daughter. The father stayed awake late into the night, waiting and listening.

It all happened as before, but this time the father chased and caught Nicholas. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he shouted. "We are so grateful!"

"Sh! Sh!" Nicholas said. "I'm happy to have helped. That's thanks enough for me! Please, please don't tell anyone it was me!"

The father left quietly, but he must have told someone that it was Nicholas, who told someone, who told someone else, for you are hearing about it hundreds and hundreds of years later!

Let’s sing a song called saints of advent before I actually start on the sermon.

Saints of Advent, Christmas joy,

Yours the message we employ

Waiting for our Saviour dear

As we sing that Christ is near.

Gifts and generosity,

Nicholas, the people see

In the stories of your fame,

Children, sailors hail your name.

Shine in darkness candles bright,

Lucy's image brings us light.

Martyred saint your name recalls

That Christ's light shines for us all.

John the Baptist herald's cry,

Gives a signal, Christ is nigh.

His are words that do compel

Hope in Christ, all shall be well.

Thomas, once with doubt did sigh,

Now, My Lord and God, he cries,

Christmas leads to Calvary,

Resurrection sets us free.

Holy Joseph, none compare,

your devotion, love and care,

Guardian of the Holy One,

shows that new life has begun.

Blessed Mary, full of grace

Chosen by the Lord's embrace,

Mother by whom God is born

On that wondrous Christmas morn.

Mary, Joseph, John, we pray

Lucy, Nicholas, we say,

Thomas leading songs of praise,

As our prayers to Christ we raise.

Today, the Feast of St. Nicholas, the ancient precursor to the modern Santa Claus, will pass without much ado. Some will try to encourage us to resurrect St. Nicholas to save us all from Santa’s powers for we have gone astray.  To those well-meaning souls who would rid Christmas of its flagrant consumerism, I can only offer up a feeble, “Baa Humbug!”

The very best traditions about St. Nicholas suggest that he was a protector of children while the worst tradition has him providing dowries so that young girls could be married off by their father rather than be sold into slavery. Meanwhile, the modern character Santa Claus grooms children to take up their role as consumers in the cult materialism. Some parents may bemoan the little gimmie-monsters that their children become, but most adults are rendered helpless by our own remembered indoctrinations and so we join in what we choose to deem as harmless fun.

T’is the season for contradictions.  ‘Tis the season when we prepare to celebrate  the incarnation of God in human form while also waiting for Santa Claus to come down our chimneys. Face it; most of the folks dashing about in the malls are more worried about the imminent arrival of Santa Claus than they are about God. I’d even go so far as to say that a good number of people have unconsciously substituted Santa Claus for God.  Santa Claus and the baby Jesus get into some pretty fierce competition at this time of year; and in the culture the larger loyalty belongs to Santa.

Besides, I don’t believe that consumerism is the most dangerous thing about Santa. So, before you accuse me of being a Scrooge or even a Grinch, ask yourself who it is that most children worship at this time of year, and I think you’ll agree that Santa is the one we’ve all been trained to bow down to, and not just at Christmas. It is difficult to deny that sometimes our view of God has been more influenced by Santa Claus than by Christ?  I dare you to compare the number of children standing in the lines at the shopping centre to get their picture taken on Santa’s lap to the number of children in Sunday School? So many of us made that same trip to see Santa when we were little and when we finally got to Santa’s lap, he asked us the big Judgement Day question that Santa always seems to ask, “Have you been good this year?” There’s only one way to answer that question – even though we may have been as deviousness might qualify us as servants of that other mythical character that begins with santa and ends with n.  For all too many people this laptop confession begins a pattern for interactions with an image we create of the Father-God, who watches and records our offences, making a list if only for the purpose of forgiving us because an appropriate blood sacrifice has been made on our behalf.

Think I’m being harsh? Just listen to that song that pours from muzak speakers, the song that spells out a theology of Santa Claus.  “Oh, you better watch out.  You better not cry.  You better not pout. I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.  He knows when you’ve been sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.  He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. Santa Claus is coming to town.” The trouble with the theology of Santa Claus is that we keep applying it to God as we try to turn the Creator of all that is and ever shall be into a list-checking, gift-giver, whom we better watch out for, lest we be punished. Why then are we surprised that when our Santa-god fails to deliver or bad things happen to good people, that our childish faith in the Santa-god isn’t enough to sustain our trust?

Santa in his present incarnation is indeed pernicious, but like most mythical characters, he cannot be killed and any attempts to resurrect St. Nicholas to replace him are doomed, for the power of Santa’s materialism will always defeat the dim memories of St. Nicholas and his chocolate money. If we are going to break free of the cult of materialism, perhaps we out to try to convince Santa to use his mystical powers for goodness sake!

Yeah, that’s right, I’m going to say it, it’s time to let old St. Nick and his young assistant Santa die, so that a new Santa can be born; a Christmas resurrection if you will. We need a new Santa capable of changing our consuming ways. If the Coca Cola Company could use the advertising industry to transform St. Nick into Santa, surely we can resurrect Santa using the modern persuasive powers of social media to redesign the old salesman extraordinaire into a mythical character with powers fit for the needs of this century.

Blue santina

SANTINA- all decked out in her Advent blue!

Imagine if you will, a new and improved Santina, all decked out in Advent blue, she has the power to open young minds to the needs of our neighbours and travels the world via her magic transporter beam, to gather the hopes and dreams of the poor and oppressed into one internet feed, which she magically imprints in our hearts and minds, so that we change the world, creating peace through justice!

Oh, wait, we already have such a character. We don’t need St. Nicholas or Santa Claus, nor any new-fangled Santina.  We need the One we’ve always needed. The One who comes in the guise of a person. The One we seek is Christ. The One who lives and breathes in, with, and through us to create peace on earth through justice and love. The One who uses our hands, our feet, our lives to change the world!"