Let's talk about Santa Clause.
St. Nicholas:
Santa Clause can be traced back to the benevolent monk, St. Nicholas, hundreds of years ago in our modern day Turkey. Legend has it that he sold all of his wealth and traveled the land taking care of children and the poverty stricken. One particular legend that impresses me most is that he saved 3 young girls from sex slavery by giving their father money for a dowry for them to get married. Impressive. Another version of this legend is that he threw the money into the fathers window with it landing in a stocking that was hung by the fire. He didn't want anyone to know he was the giver. This resulted in homes hanging stockings by the fire in hopes that St. Nicholas would visit and give gifts. History tells us of a St. Nicholas living a radical life that our modern day David Platt would be impressed by. Material possessions and status did not seem to be important to this saint. He apparently loved his Jesus and lived out his faith in a real way. I would have liked to have hung out with this guy!
Big fat red Santa:
December 6 was St. Nichoas' date of death and marked future anniversary gift-giving celebrations in honor of his sacrificial life. At the end of the 1700's, St. Nicholas became known in the New York area by immigrant Dutch settlers who celebrated his life in December. St. Nicholas was declared the patron saint of New York by both patriot Pintard and writer Washington Irving as they fanned on the popular stories of St. Nicholas' care for others. St. Nicholas had the dutch nickname "Sinter Klaas" that gradually evolved into our modern day name of Santa Clause. Originally the image of Santa Clause was not that of a jolly round man dressed in red. Instead, he might be seen as an elf like male figure or a small framed man wearing an array of colors and chewing on a pipe. It wasn't until Clement Clark Moore's writing of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and Thomas Nast's own illustration of Moore's poem that produced our current jolly, round, white, bearded, and red dressed Santa.
Commercialization:
In the early 1800's, Department stores took off with the new found private, family centered, gift giving holiday with the big fat jolly guy as the symbol of it all. They would attract hundreds of customers by advertising a glimpse at Santa in their store. Here was born the commercial element to the holiday. Later in history, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer was created by Montgomery Wards to have a cheaper gift/promotional offer for their customers by Robert May in 1939. It was a HUGE success ($$) and quickly became a staple of the Christmas story. Coca-Cola also has a rich history with their friend Santa. Coca-Cola piggy-backed Nast's ever-changing depiction of Santa and began a holiday marketing with the happy Coca-Cola drinking Santa. The Salvation Army jumped on the Santa band wagon in the later part of the 1800's to help collect money for the many Christmas meals they were providing for those in need. Santa was just getting started back then. He seems to be everywhere now. Today, preparing for Christmas is signaled by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Department stores get us out and shopping a month early so we can spend, spend, spend on behalf of our Santa icon.
Santa, Jesus Christ, and December 25:
Santa Clause and Jesus Christ seem to be sharing the same day of honor in America. We consecutively celebrate our Lord and Savior's birthday and the legacy of St. Nicholas as we share gifts and spend time with family. The funny thing is that some biblical scholars don't even believe that Jesus was born in the month of December. There is no mention in our holy scriptures of Jesus' birthdate. It is a bit of a mystery. Some scholars say that Jesus might have been born in the spring because of the status of the sheep and weather. Others say that Jesus was both conceived and resurrected in the same month (March 25) therefore projecting his birth 9 months later on December 25. The ancient church did not acknowledge a special day for Jesus' birth, instead placed heavy attention on his death and resurrection. Some scholars believe that celebrating Jesus' birth on December 25 morphed from an already existent birthday pagan celebration of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun). Pagan celebrations of Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, etc. were also common and contributed to December being a festive month. It appears that the church leaders chose to absorb pagan rituals as opposed to outlawing them in hopes that more attention would be drawn toward God and the birth of Jesus. Christmas is a marriage of both secular and religious symbolism and tradition when you take into account the extensive history.
Somehow there became a merger of the hypothesized birthday of Jesus on December 25 and the death of St. Nicholas on December 6. This merger reflects the Christmas we currently celebrate in America without most even considering how such a merger occurred.
What would St. Nicholas think of Santa Clause being created in his image? I think he would be embarrassed by the attention and would redirect the attention to God and His ability to provide for our needs and bless us beyond our wildest imaginations. He would instruct us to keep our eyes on Jesus, God's son, and not on any sinful earthly man. He would want us to enjoy the spirit of giving to others less fortunate than ourselves and honor the most vulnerable of us all..children. I think he would see himself as unworthy to share such a holy day with Emmanuel. Then, I think he would wonder how his physique became so round and why his wardrobe only consists of the color red.
What does Jesus think about sharing His man-made birthday with a man like St. Nicholas? I think he would wonder why his people would need any other figure but himself to celebrate such an important moment in our history. Baby Jesus changed everything. He came to save us from our sins and eternal separation from God. In that moment he became hope. He bridged the gap that we couldn't cross on our own. He lived his life in perfection. There is no "saint" that ever lived that could even come close to His exemplary life. We don't need another example in which to live our life after. Jesus was it. St. Nicholas lived his life attempting to live as biblically as he could. He just chose to obey scriptures more than most so he sticks out. He kinda became famous. Most of us would hear his story and think about how we could become more like him. He represented good in this painful world. His life challenges us on to greater things. The truth is that he was only doing what God called him to do and what Jesus had already perfectly done before him. Jesus loved children WAY before St. Nicholas was ever on the scene. Jesus did not acquire for himself worldly wealth or even a home in which to rest his head. Jesus traveled performing miracles and great wonders. Jesus is all we need. Any other symbol is mere confusion and a lacking substitute. Our protestant reformers fought hard for freedom in this area.
Imaginative children and Santa:
Chuck and I tell our children that Santa is not real. When others find this out we instantaneously become the grinch and come close to warranting a CPS call. Such awkward moments! :) Santa is so engrained in the jolly happy season of Christmas that to extract him seems cruel and anti-Christmas. Chuck and I are not the grinch and we do not desire to steal Christmas away from our children I promise! We seek to make it very magical and fun. We have created fun traditions that support more of our belief system. We read the scriptures on the birth of Jesus out of The Jesus Storybook Bible on Christmas Eve. We explain to our kids that we exchange presents on Jesus' birthday because the wise-men brought presents to our Jesus. The star on our tree represents the bright star that led the shepherds to Jesus. They go to sleep Christmas Eve in great anticipation of opening presents much like the anticipation of God's people that were waiting for their promised savior. Macon knows all about St. Nicholas and the history I have written here. She knows him as a really nice man alive a LONG time ago that had a big heart for children, sick people, and the poor. What's funny is she still tries to convince Chuck and I that Santa is alive and real. We just laugh and keep telling her the truth.
James Dobson disagrees with me. He is quoted as saying “I don’t believe that those early, early fantasies really interfere with later Spiritual beliefs. I haven’t seen any evidence of that, either in the life of my kids or in the lives of those I have had anything to do with. To allow a little bit of fantasy in a child’s life enriches his intellectual life and I think he needs it. Children thrive on fantasy. It enriches our mental existence. Reality can be a pretty cold and hard place. I think children need the fantasy that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and other childhood mythical creatures bring."
While I agree with him that children "thrive on fantasy" and that it is healthy for them, I disagree that the fantasy should be encouraged when it is paired with our saviors birthday and death/resurrection. My daughter thinks that the princesses at Disney World are real and that they live happily ever after in Cinderella's castle. I have no problem fanning this fantasy with lots of fun and excitement. I can't quite do the same when the Easter Bunny, egg hunting, and Santa watching competes with Jesus' most important days. Especially when our holidays are so busy and fast paced.
Having children really forces you to evaluate everything. I never gave Santa much thought until we began having children. I realized I didn't know anything about the history of Santa and Christmas. I, like most, was blindly drug around by the Christmas "have to's" and finished the Christmas holiday with a sigh of relief that the madness was over. I wanted to reevaluate everything so that Christmas became intentional and what we wanted it to be. My intentions in writing this post on Santa isn't to proclaim the "right" way to celebrate Christmas or to make you feel bad for celebrating Santa in your home. I have many friends that celebrate St. Nicholas in their home with very creative explanations to their children so that the main focus is still Jesus. An example of this is that "imagination is a gift from God and the imaginary character of Santa Claus reminds us of a man who lived a long time ago whose devotion to God is worth remembering". My true intentions are only to provoke thought so that whoever reads this might think through their celebrations of Christmas. Christmas deserves to have deep meaning. A holy reverence. Lots of intentionality. It deserves close inspection. Remember, Satan is always lurking around anything that brings God glory. He seeks to distract. He can be found all throughout Christmas celebrations as appetites for greed, entitlement, and status are fed in the very rituals meant to honor our savior. Scary reality. So maybe what I'm saying is that there is a word of caution as we approach the activities surrounding December 25. We should be aware of anything that would distract from Jesus clearly being the reason for celebration. Without Jesus, we are no different from the pagans that celebrated the "unconquered sun" every December.
Resources:
www.history.com
www.biblicalarchaeology.org
www.stnicholascenter.org
