December 6, 2015: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
Well, it’s that [singing] “most wonderful time of the year!” Advent – a season filled with preparation and anticipation. A joyful season of shopping in crowded malls, writing out lots of Christmas cards, deciding which large family gathering will be grudgingly attended this year. Wait a minute – what’s so great about this season anyway? Oh yeah! Jesus! The hope and anticipation of the birth of Jesus, our Christ.
Yes, this is a season of preparation, and not always one that we take on with great anticipation and joy (although I do confess to being a bit of a Christmas elf myself). And John the Baptist, in the Gospel reading today, is asking us to prepare as well. To get ourselves ready for the one who can help us be all that we are meant to be as children of God.
That IS what Advent is all about – the anticipation of and preparation for Jesus coming into our world. And our lectionary, the Church’s prescribed Collects, and Scriptural readings since the Sunday after All Saints, are not only speaking of the moment when Jesus first came into the world, but of the one to come. Which, as I spoke about last week, isn’t a one time thing, but is continually happening in our hearts and lives every day. All these first and second coming proclamations reminds me of a t-shirt I saw in Provincetown once that said “Jesus is coming…look busy!” But busy with what?
We are already so very busy at this time of year dealing with the stresses of the holiday season, that we are easily pulled away from a place of mindfulness of the joy that one small child brought into the world. And with all the preparation for holiday feasts, and other events, it is hard to squeeze in time to prepare ourselves. The fact that the retail stores start putting up Christmas displays in October doesn’t seem to help us either. In fact, for many, it sours us on “the whole Christmas thing”. The Grinch is beginning to look like he was on to something.
In response, we often see signs and bumpers stickers calling us to “Keep Christ in Christmas!”. And, it is generally thought that some jolly old fella named Santa is the problem, the very image of everything wrong with Christmas. After all, without Santa, folks figure, all this retail insanity would just go away.
I remember a few years ago, Dana Carvey, a very talented comedic actor on Saturday Night Live, used to do a regular sketch as “The Church Lady”, who had her own talk show called “Church Chat.” The Church Lady found Satan in everything and everyone. During one sketch, her target was Santa, the Church Lady said,“Let’s see, what have we got here? Santa – We’ve got an S and an A, an N, a T, and another A. Hmm.. Who would help peel the focus from the baby Jesus on his birthday? Who could it be? Well I just don’t know. [and as she rearranges the letters that spell Santa, she says] Could it be…Satan!!” Afterall, they both wear red suits. You never see them together in the same photograph. Santa, Satan – it’s all so obvious!!!
Ah yes, Santa Claus – the reason Christmas has gone so wrong.
Well, I would like to share with you the opening lines of a story that I love at this time of year. Join in if you have heard it before… “Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.”
Talk about anticipation! This book brings back the feeling I had as a little girl, all excited about Christmas, hardly able to sleep on Christmas Eve, and hoping upon hope I might catch a glimpse of flying reindeer.
Our images of Santa in this country started with this story, writtten by Clement Moore, who was, of all things, a professor at The General Theological Seminary, the Episcopal Seminary in NY city. And Clement Moore’s father, Benjamin Moore being, not a painter as you might imagine, but an Episcopal Bishop! So in a way…our church, the Episcopal Church, has a deep tie to this story – go figure!
So, why bring this story up today? After all, isn’t it just this book that corrupted Christmas for all time? I know…you’re probably thinking, isn’t it bad enough we see Santa Claus on every street corner, do we now have to bring him into church? Well, in a manner of speaking, yes! Not the man in the big red felt suit. No, that big fellow is more an American version of St. Nicholas.
What is it really with America anyway, where we feel we have to Super Size everything. Leave it to us to make St. Nicholas in need of several weeks at a Club Med and a lifetime membership to Weight Watchers.
No, I am talking about the man about whom Santa Claus was based – St. Nicholas – a real person, who looked more like a short Greek sailor than a jolly old elf. You see, Santa Clause is an Americanization of SinterKlaas, Dutch for Saint Nicholas, and his story was brought over by Dutch sailors, among others.
And, in this Advent season of preparation for the coming of Jesus, St. Nicholas and Jesus are a perfect match. Really, they are! Let me tell you the real story of this marvelous Saint.
St. Nicholas was born to weathy parents in the Greek town of Patara, in what is now Turkey. He was orphaned at an early age, and, following Jesus’ call to serve the poor, he used his whole inheritance to aid the less fortunate. Nicholas dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra, also in present day Turkey, while still a young man. In fact, the candy cane, so popular around Christmas, is said to represent the Crozier – the shepherds hook that Bishops carry. And the gold chocolate coins that are often given out to children, are thought to represent the bags of gold that he freely gave to those in need. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 (from which we got the name of our Nicene Creed). Now, a little thing about that council meeting. St. Nick apparently already had a thing about who was naughty and who was nice. Not liking what one bishop had to say, he marched across the room and…no he didn’t give him coal – he slapped him! Yup – St. Nick was a real bad…well, you know. Anyway, he died December 6, in the year 343, having lived his life in service to others. And today would be his saint day, if we didn’t transfer saint days that fall on Sunday to another day. Yup – Dec. 6th is the feast of St. Nicholas – aka. Santa Claus – a true Advent Saint is good ole Nick!
Jesus and Nicholas… one man born of humble means, who came to call us to serve the poor and the oppressed; the other, born rich, gave all he had to those in need. One declared that the Kingdom of God belonged to those who listened as a child, he befriended society’s outcasts – the tax collectors and prostitutes, and he called to serve as his closest apostles, people of the sea. The other, having lived in service to all, is the patron saint of children, and also of pawn-brokers, prostitutes, scholars, laborers, travelers, merchants, judges, students, sailors, victims of judicial mistakes, and criminals. He is known as the friend and protector of all in trouble or need.[1]
St. Nicholas provides us a model of how we might prepare ourselves in Advent for the work we need to do. He reminds us that we are not here to serve ourselves, but to serve each other and God, in the name of Jesus. He did not just hear the words, but lived them into action, fighting poverty, injustice, and oppression. St. Nicholas is an example of how we, as those who follow Jesus, can live out our calling to love one another as he loved us.
This is the preparation we are being asked to do at this time – to prepare to live out what we believe, to prepare to open our hearts to where God is leading each of us in service to others, to prepare to be all that we can be as children of God.
But, how can we fit in all this preparation “stuff,” when our “to-do” lists are longer than Santa’s Good Girl and Boy list! It was easy for St. Nick, after all, he had the means, and Santa Claus has all those elves. Life for the rest of us can seem insurmountable, especially at this time, and with economic pressures mounting we can begin to think that we don’t have anything to offer, nothing to help us to prepare, as Advent beckons us to do.
It doesn’t help matters that, for reasons I can’t understand, people have decided to declare Christmas as a war zone – complaining about how we greet one another at this time of year, or God forbid – that there aren’t snowflakes on your coffee cups (how that has anything to do with Jesus is beyond me, but whatever) – and claiming that world is forgetting to keep Christ in Christmas.
In response, I saw a sign on Facebook that was being passed around that read…”Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the stranger and the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, go to church.”
You see, celebrating Christmas isn’t about lists, or coffee cups, but about life. It is about embracing who we want to be every day, rather than trying to be something else on the 25th. It is about being the body of Christ in the world – a world living in darkness. We need to bring that light out into this dark world, just as Jesus did for us…THAT’s what it’s about – living that out, not touting slogans about Christmas and judging the way others do it (or not).
In this season of Advent, we await the coming of hope and light into the world, and we remember most why we are here… to live out our lives as Jesus asked of us. That is the preparation we are asked to do – a ministry of presence. It’s not a tall order really, and doesn’t cost very much. It may look like an extended hand, or an extension of forgiveness. It is simply that we love each other, honoring the divinity within ourselves, each other, and all of creation – living as Jesus called us to live.
So yes, we should keep Christ in Christmas. The Christ that called us into action, called us into service, called us to live out our lives as God intended for us, her children. But, let us also keep St. Nicholas in Christmas too. St. Nicholas who modeled Christ’s mission in the world, who lived in service to the poor, and who showed us that it truly is “in giving that we receive.”
And, in the Spirit of both, let us give freely to others, live with the hope of a child waiting for flying reindeer, and serve each other an Advent feast of love and joy…in this season, and always.
Amen.
For the audio of the sermon from the 10:30am service, click here:
[1] Source: St. Nicholas Center at stnicholascenter.org.
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
December 6, 2015
Advent 2 – Year C
1st Reading – Baruch 5:1-9
Canticle 4 or 16
2nd Reading – Philippians 1:3-11
Gospel – Luke 3:1-6
