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Santa
and St. Nick
A
Homily for Christmas 2004
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
2:1-14
I
would be willing to bet that you did not come to church this
morning expecting to hear a homily on Santa Claus. But he
is the fellow I would like to discuss with you today. I am
convinced that if we understand the history of Santa Claus
it will help us appreciate more deeply the meaning of the
birth of Christ and apply that meaning to our lives.
The
history of Santa Claus begins with a real historical person.
His name was Nicholas, and he was a Christian, a believer.
In fact he was a bishop. Nicholas was bishop of a town called
Myra in Asia Minor , which is present day Turkey . It was
a seaport on the Mediterranean coast. We know that Nicholas
existed because in 325 the Great Council of Nicea took place.
This council gave us the creed which we will profess in just
a few moments, and Nicholas was numbered among the bishops
that attended the council. The most significant thing we know
about Nicholas was that he was committed to help people who
were in desperate need. The most famous story of his providing
such help has a direct connection to Santa Claus.
It
seems there lived in Myra during the time of Nicholas a poor
man who had three daughters. All three daughters were ready
to be married. But they could not take this step because their
father could not afford to provide them with a dowry. In the
world at this time an unmarried woman would be disgraced,
and it was the responsibility of the family to provide daughters
with a sum of money to arrange a marriage. The poor man did
not have the money and so his daughters were prevented from
having their own family and children. It was a desperate situation.
The man even considered selling one of his daughters into
slavery so that he could raise money to marry off the other
two. But he could not bring himself to do this.
Nicholas
heard of the situation. One night he went out quietly with
a bag of gold which he threw into the window of the poor man's
house. The next morning when the man found the gold he was
delighted and gave it to his eldest daughter for her dowry.
But there were two more daughters and so on two subsequent
nights Nicholas again went out and threw gold into the poor
man's window so that all of his daughters could enter married
life.
Now
you can see in this story the beginnings of Santa Claus. Remember
that at this time of history people married much earlier than
today. Marriages were usually arranged when a girl was about
12 years old. Therefore, the action of Nicholas coming at
night and secretly providing gold for the children of the
poor man eventually developed into the story of the kindly
old man who brought gifts to all the children of the world.
Now of course it took centuries for St. Nicholas to become
Santa Claus. But you can hear still the connection in the
names. You can hear the word “Saint” in the word “Santa” and
of course “Claus” is the last syllable of Nicholas.
For
most of history, Santa Nicholas came on his feast day, which
is December 6th. He would come at night with his horse and
his wagon full of gifts for the children. But in the early
1800's the American writer Washington Irving re-wrote the
story and said that Santa Nicholas drove his horse up onto
the roof so he could come down the chimney. In 1821 the author
Clement Clarke Moore wrote a famous poem in which he changed
the story a bit more. Now instead of a horse and a wagon Santa
Claus had a sleigh and reindeer, and instead of coming on
his feast day, he came on the “Night before Christmas.” For
most of history Santa Claus was dressed in green because he
was a bishop and green was the episcopal color. But in 1931
the Coca Cola Company launched a famous ad in which Santa
Claus was dressed in red (for obvious promotional reasons).
The color stuck and Santa became “the man in the red suit.”
So
how does this history of Santa Claus help us as believers?
How does it guide us in our worship of Christ, the newborn
King? It allows us to make a contrast. A comparison between
St. Nicholas and Santa Claus. For there are two qualities
of St. Nicholas that are largely absent in our culture's perception
of Santa Claus. I believe that if we can reclaim these two
qualities, they will deepen our appreciation of what we celebrate
today.
Santa
Claus is always connected with gifts and the
magic of the season . St. Nicholas is connected with
service and faith . Yes, Santa's gift giving
originated with St. Nicholas but St. Nicholas did not give
gifts simply to bring a smile to children's faces. He gave
gifts in order to rescue those in desperate situations. Had
Nicholas not recognized the need of that poor man and his
daughters their lives would have been ruined. So the gift
giving of Nicholas was not simply to make children happy.
It was an act of service, an act to save those in need.
And
why did Nicholas act in that way? Not because he was a jolly
old fellow. But because he was a person of faith. Nicholas
was a believer. He understood the meaning of the feast we
celebrate today: that God so loved the world that God sent
God's only son to be one of us—that Jesus was, in the words
of the angel in today's gospel, our Savior. Therefore, if
God has saved us, then we in turn are called to save one another.
If God has loved us, then our role is to do what Nicholas
did, to serve others because of God's goodness.
This
then is what the history of Santa Claus provides for us on
this feast of Christmas—the realization that we should celebrate
this day in faith and service. In faith because we believe
that God has become one of us and saved us from evil and sin.
That faith makes us generous to one another because God was
first generous to us. Out of God's generosity we reach out
in service. Moreover, our service should not be limited only
to the people that are closest to us but should reach out
to those truly in need: the poor, the lonely, the sick. Like
Nicholas we are called to serve those who find themselves
in desperate situations.
Now
these two qualities of faith and service are truly at the
heart of Christmas. But I am not sure that you could identify
them in that “jolly old elf” that visited your house last
night. Yet both faith and service can be found in the origins
of Santa Claus. The gospel calls us to make faith and service
a part of our holidays and a part of our lives. To do so would
be a genuine blessing. Because if we could remember what God
has done for us in becoming human and then choose to care
for the least among us, I assure you it would be the best
and surest way to a truly Merry Christmas.
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