Sunday, December 23, 2012

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
John 1:1-5, 14
There was a cartoon in the paper recently.  A little girl is sitting on her father’s lap.  They are reading a book about the Christmas story.  She asks: “Did Santa Claus and Jesus go to school together?”
We chuckle at her naïve question—but don’t we all suffer from the same kind of confusion?  How can we help it when the two appear together so frequently in Christmas settings?  Santa’s sleigh is right next to the manger scene in gaudy lawn displays, in department stores, and in home decorations.  There’s even a picture (meant, I’m sure, to show the proper relationship between the two) of Santa kneeling at the manger.  But does this send the right message?  Like the little girl in the cartoon, won’t people confusingly connect the two?
The original Santa Claus—St. Nicholas—was a religious figure.  He was known for his generosity in providing gifts to those who needed food, clothing or other essentials.  He did his good works in the name of Jesus and out of his commitment to live his life for Christ.  Similarly, the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslaus” is about a ruler who cared so much for his subjects that, in the name of Jesus Christ, he put himself to some discomfort to provide food, drink and firewood for a poor peasant out struggling in the cold, deep snow of winter.
How we have corrupted these images!  We expect Santa Claus to bring not just the necessities of life to those who can’t afford them, but to meet our every wish and desire.  Remember the song, Santa Baby?  Is this what St. Nicholas intended us to become?
Don’t get me wrong!  I’m far from Scrooge.  There’s no “Bah! Humbug!” in my vocabulary.  At our house we watch every sentimental Christmas movie we can, and even shed tears during Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street.  I believe Santa Claus should be part of every child’s growing up.  The longer kids can retain their innocent belief in Santa the better.  Santa Claus provides us with one of the few positive role models whose image has not been tarnished.
What concerns me is confusing Santa with God.  When our prayers are indistinguishable from letters to Santa, when we expect God to provide us not with what we need but with what we think we want, when we confuse God’s blessings with Santa’s bag of goodies, we are in danger of settling for a lesser god, one we create in our image rather than the other way round.
Jesus told us that whatever we asked for in his name would be granted; but when we ask as if we’re taking a walk through F.A.O. Schwartz, we’ve misinterpreted Jesus’ words and trivialized the act of prayer.  When we ask for things and don’t get them perhaps we should take another look at our wish list to see if we’re asking for the wrong things.
First century Judah looked for a military messiah whose mission was to free her from the bondage of the Roman Empire.  God sent a Messiah to free the nation from the bondage of sin.  The religious leaders wanted a messiah who would reaffirm their version of the law.  God sent a Messiah who called them to return to the law’s core message:  love God, and demonstrate our love for God by the way we treat the rest of creation.
Let us remember that Jesus came as the Word made flesh to show us what God intended us to be.  The Son of God came not to be ministered to, but to minister; not to take, but to give.
As we prepare our homes for the celebration of Christmas, let us prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah who will not necessarily give us everything on our wish list, but who promises to teach  us how to live so that what he does gives will be sufficient. 

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