This
morning, let’s take a trip back through time. We’re traveling to the little
town of Demre in the country of Turkey; although we’re going to visit it many
years ago when it was called Myra, before the country of Turkey even existed.
We’re going way back to the year 343, to meet a bishop named… Well, I’ll tell
you his name in a minute.
This bishop
has had a very interesting life. He was born in the year 270, so that would
make him a ripe old age of 73 right now. He almost didn’t make it that far,
though, because he was thrown into prison by the Emperor Diocletian and very
nearly executed. You see, he has always been the most devout kind of Christian
– the kind that emperors don’t like! His parents died while he was still a boy,
and he was raised by his uncle who was a bishop himself. He entered the priesthood
almost as soon as he became an adult, and became a beloved church leader. In
his later years, he was a part of the Council of Nicea that developed the
Nicene Creed. But he isn’t remembered for that – at least, that’s not why we remember him. We remember him for his
generosity! Although this bishop inherited quite a bit of wealth from his
well-to-do parents, he gave it all away while traveling the countryside in his
parish tending to the poor and sick. He was especially fond of children, and
gained a reputation as their protector. The most famous story about him
concerns a man who had three daughters of marriageable age, but no money for
dowries so that they could marry. To save them from a life of misery, the
bishop tossed three bags of gold down their chimney one night. As luck would
have it, the girls had hung their stockings out to dry on the hearth; and when
they woke up in the morning, their stockings were full of gold. Have you
guessed the bishop’s name yet? It is Nicholas – Saint Nicholas. Because Saint
Nicholas died on December 6, his feast is celebrated on that day. Christians
all around the world will celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas on Tuesday by
giving gifts on December 6.
That beloved
bishop would be amazed to see how much he has changed over the past 1,673
years. Here in the United States, he is no longer the simple bishop of the
early church. No, he is now Santa Claus, the elf-supervising, toy-producing,
reindeer-wrangling North Pole resident whose Christmas Eve journeys are tracked
by no less than NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command). On
Christmas morning, children receive stockings full of gifts that have magically
appeared overnight. Even if a child isn’t the best behaved, Santa Claus will
put something in that stocking. About the worst thing that a child ever receives
is a lump of coal.
But… that’s
not the case everywhere in the world. Let’s visit Switzerland for a moment and
see what St. Nicholas is like in that country. He travels garbed in a rich red
robe, wearing a bishop’s hat and holding a staff. There, his name is
Samichlaus, and he uses a sure-footed donkey to get around to all the villages.
But Samichlaus travels with a side-kick named Schmutzli who is as threatening as
Samichlaus is friendly. Samichlaus brings treats of tangerines, chocolates, and
gingerbread to good children, but Schmutzli puts bad children into a gunny sack
and takes them away so that he can eat them for Christmas dinner! In
Switzerland, Christmas doesn’t guarantee an automatic haul of toys, games, and
electronic gadgets. Schmutzli makes children think twice about their behavior.
So… what
kind of Santa Claus do you expect on Christmas morning? Is it one who gives to
all children… or is it one who travels with Schmutzli promising consequences
for bad behavior? We can ask the very same question about the Messiah that we
await so eagerly during Advent. What kind of Messiah are we expecting – one who
promises blessings unconditionally, or one who also threatens punishment? That’s
a question that is worth more thought than we usually give it. Jesus offered blessings, to be sure;
but he also spoke out clearly against selfishness, greed, and oppressive
systems of power. John the Baptist predicted that kind of Messiah when he
proclaimed, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that
does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering
his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
(Matthew 3:10-12) And Jesus’ own mother sang before his birth, “The Mighty One
has done great things for me— holy is his name. He has scattered those who are
proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has
sent the rich away empty.” (from Luke 1:46-53) Those texts describe a Messiah
who promises consequences to our behavior!
But don’t fall
into the trap of thinking that Jesus is in the business of punishing us. Jesus
doesn’t punish us! Jesus does indeed condemn greed and oppression, and he tells
us to change our behavior; but he helps us do that not by punishing us, but by changing
our hearts. Like Santa Claus who sneaks quietly down the chimney in the middle
of the night, Jesus sneaks into our lives when we least expect him; and then he
invites us to take a good, long look at ourselves in the mirror. When we do, we
recognize all the things that are unlovable in ourselves; and we realize that
the only thing we deserve is a lump of coal. But Jesus never leaves us a lump
of coal. Jesus always leaves us blessings! John the Baptist may have expected a
punishing Messiah, but John the evangelist described someone very different:
“God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world
might be saved through him.” Jesus isn’t anything like Schmutzli who kidnaps
naughty children for his Christmas dinner. On the contrary, Jesus came to die
for naughty children – including us.
As we await the
arrival of the Messiah this Christmas, we might do well to remember how he is
like Santa Claus: loving, generous, always quick to reward the good. But the
Messiah offers us blessings not just on Christmas Eve, but on every day of the
year! Now that’s something to be truly thankful for this Christmas!
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