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The Santa Question
What About Celebrating Christmas? And the real store of St. Nicholas For
years, Christians have debated about the right way and time to celebrate religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter.
Many are concerned because the dates and some of the traditions in current use may have been influenced by pagan religions.
As Christians, we do need to be aware of these things. At the same time, we need to
remember that God is the One who instituted the concept of holidays. He instructed Israel to have feasts and special memorial
celebrations in the Old Testament, knowing it is beneficial for men to continually remember and praise God for all the good
things He has done for them.
We should make no apologies for wanting to commemorate
and thank God for the greatest gift He ever gave us - His precious Son, Jesus. Some of the feasts and special memorial celebrations
in the Old Testament that God instituted were and still are big and awesome celebrations.
Instructions
for celebrating the life of Jesus are not specified in the New Testament, except for the instructions given regarding Communion
in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34.
But there are certain principles we can follow. Colossians
3:17 says, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by him."
As far as the celebrations of birthdays and special celebrations Colossians
2:16-17 makes it quite clear that we are not to let anyone else judge how we choose to celebrate a holy day or special religious
festival: "Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or
a new moon or a Sabbath. Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value.
But the reality - the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it - belongs to Christ!" (The Amplified
Bible).
As long as we are celebrating the reality of the One Who is the real reason
for the celebration, we are not condemned whether we have a Christmas tree, or not, or whether others are celebrating at the
same time for reasons other than to glorify God.
The next question for many parents
is one of the most difficult issues with the way Christmas is celebrated is what to do with Santa Claus. Opinions range from
allowing the children to believe in the jolly old elf who drops presents down chimneys to not even mentioning him.
While there is always a danger in teaching children to believe in a story that later they find out is untrue,
no matter where they look, no matter what TV shows they watch, Santa Claus will be mentioned. There is no way to shield them
completely. Perhaps, armed with the background of Santa Claus, we can use the true story of St. Nicholas and the myth to help
support the Christian aspects of Christmas.
I understand that there are some people
who love Santa Claus so much that they forget about Jesus and there are some churches burn the present day Santa Claus in
effigy. I believe both extremes are too much. It’s better to remember the real Nicholas, who can serve as an example
of how to really keep Christmas.
I have heard at least a dozen times over the last 40 years
of some who teach that Santa Clause is the same as a cartoon character. There have been many characters that have been made
into carton such as Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone and others. But to tell our children that these characters are only cartoons
is not fully correct even though the stores about them are tall tales and far-fetched. The truth is that all of these characters
were real people just as St. Nicholas was. The real story of Christmas is the story of Jesus-God's
precious gift to us. Our Heavenly Father is the real Gift-Giver. As far as St. Nicholas is concerned, it would help to know
who he really was.
St. Nicholas should be an inspiration to us all. St. Nicholas
was a godly man whose reputation for giving to people caused him to be a revered example of what compassion and giving are
all about. He was not a jolly fat man who climbed down chimneys, and he didn't have flying reindeer. The
Stories of his life are full of Christian beliefs and values and are the real background for today's mythical Santa Claus.
Santa Claus' real name is St. Nicholas. Nicholas grew up being taught about Jesus,
and gave his heart to Him when he was very young. He did everything he could to be obedient to the things Jesus commanded.
Nicholas and his parents lived in Turkey in the third century and were Christians.
Nicholas' parents had prayed and asked God for a child, much as Abraham and Sarah had done. Nicholas was born in AD 270
about 230 years after the birth of Jesus in the seacoast town of Patara (Pa-Tara) in Asia Minor, which is present day Turkey.
From the time Nicholas was born his parents considered him a gift from God. Diligently, they taught their young son devotion
to God and to be very generous to the poor. St. Nicholas grew up knowing the real Gift Giver. When Nicholas was only nine
years old his parents died, but instead of being bitter, Nicholas poured out his love on all the people around him. He seemed
to have a special gift in expressing his love, especially to the poor and needy.
Ordained as a young teenager, Nicholas entered the priesthood at age 19. His uncle, the bishop who ordained him, prophesied
that Nicholas would offer guidance and Kindness to many people, that he would eventually become a bishop, and that he would
live a life of enlightenment. Eventually he did become the bishop of a small, coastal village, and his influence spread into
many nations.
Many accounts have been written about the life of Nicholas and it was said that
he would spend all night studying God's Word to bring it to the people. He was known for helping the poor, for praying,
fasting, and standing steadfast in faith and goodness. Many miracles were brought about through his prayers. Included among
the accounts of his ministry is the report of twin brothers who were raised from the dead. It was written that one could hardly
keep count of the virtue and goodness he spread around him.
One particular story
of Nicholas' goodness is the reason many pictures show him with three golden spheres. These represent three bags of gold
that he gave to a poor man so his three daughters could be married. The man was so poor his daughters had no dowries, and
he was so desperate he was planning to sell them into what we would call white slavery.
To keep that from happening, Nicholas threw a bag of gold pieces through the man's window in the night so no one would
know who had done it. He wanted God to get the credit for it. Because of this, the eldest daughter had a dowry. She was no
longer an outcast and could be married. Legend and I quote Legend states that the bag landed or dropped into a wet sock that
was hanging from a fireplace to dry.
Not long after that, Nicholas did the
same thing for the second daughter, saving her from a similar fate. When he did it for the third daughter, the father caught
him. Nicholas made the father swear an oath that he would never reveal who was responsible for those gifts as long as Nicholas
was alive.
An article located at Northwestern Lutheran Magazine states that,
Rather than taking the focus away from Christ, as Santa Claus does, St. Nicholas actually helped to confirm some
of the basic Christian beliefs about Jesus, Pappas said.
Bishop Nicholas was
likely present at the Council of Nicea (Ni-see-a) in 325 A.D. That meeting of church leaders confirmed the Christian belief
that Jesus was not just a man but was actually God in the flesh.
All Christian
churches — Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant — affirm the Nicene (Ni-see-a) Creed, which resulted from the Council,
and many still recite it during their worship services today.
"We believe
in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God
from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father," reads the Nicene Creed. "Through him all things
were made.
"For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. ...
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. ... We look for the resurrection
of the dead, and the life of the world to come," it states.
Pappas said
St. Nicholas represents the unity of the early church around these and other basic beliefs. "He lived at a time when
all churches were one."
Even when Nicholas was thrown into jail for his faith, he would
not give up his love for Jesus. In the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian commanded all the citizens of the Roman Empire,
which included Asia Minor, to worship him as a god.
Christians believed
in one god and one god alone, so their conscience would not allow them to obey the Emperor's order. Angered by their stubbornness,
Diocletian (De-O-Cle-Tion) warned the Christians that they would be imprisoned. The Emperor carried out the threat and St
Nicholas who resisted too was also imprisoned. For more than five years, St Nicholas was confined to a small cell. He suffered
from cold, hunger, and thirst, but he never wavered in his beliefs. In 313, when Diocletian (De-O-Cle-Tion) resigned, and
Constantine came to power Nicholas was released, and he returned to his post as Bishop of Myra.
As he grew older, he traveled and enjoyed using his money to help people. When he was nearly 50 he decided
to become a pastor. This is when his story really begins. He continued his good works and became even wiser and more understanding.
When Nicholas died on December 6, A.D. 343, he is said to have quoted Psalm 11 with his last breath: "In the Lord I put
my trust."
Many Christians began to follow his example in Christ and give
gifts to the poor. It became popular to hold a feast and worship service in his memory on Dec. 6. People would even dress
up like him, hold children on their laps, and give them gifts.
Stories of Nicholas
spread throughout Greece and into Russia. He became the popular patron saint of Russians, who called him "Nikolai, the
wonderworker".
In 1087, the remains of St Nicholas' grave were transported from Turkey
to Bari, Italy, where a basilica was built in his honor. Soon after, his popularity spread throughout Italy and across Western
Europe. December 6, the day of his death, became St. Nicholas Day and the custom of gift-giving on December 6 began in France
and spread across all of Europe.
You can see similarities between the better characteristics
of the Santa Claus character, who gives gifts at night, not to be seen by anyone, and St. Nicholas' gold-piece throwing.
But how did the story of such a man of God get turned into a story of an elf workshop at the North Pole?
Today doctors wear green, nurses wear white, and football players wear pads, jerseys, and helmets. Ministers
at the time of Nicholas wore a uniform too. They wore a long red coat to remind people that the blood of Christ cleanses us
from all sin. The stole around the collar was a symbol of the yoke of Jesus, a simple reminder we are all his servants. The
hat wasn’t a stocking cap, but a miter symbolizing the helmet of salvation.
For 22 years Nicholas watched over his church. He loved having children sit on his lap while he told them stories about
Jesus.
Nicholas soon became a patron saint, like a sports hero. In Holland the
Dutch pronounced his name as Saint Nicklaus. As they came to America and spoke quickly, to the untrained ear it sounded like
they were saying "Santa Claus." The Germans, because of the Lutheran Reformation, focused their attention on the
Christ child. In German the baby Jesus is called the "Krist Kindle." Again spoken quickly this would sound like
"Kris Kringle," which later was applied to the Santa Claus legend because Christmas was celebrated near the time
of St. Nicholas’ day.
Christopher Columbus brought the first celebration
of St. Nicholas Day to the New World when he landed in the West Indies on December 6, 1492, and named the harbor Port of St.
Nicholas, in honor of the patron saint of sailors.
With the Protestant Reformation
of the 1500s, the worshiping of the saints was denounced, and St. Nicholas Day was no longer observed in England. Actually,
According to the Bible, all those who have excepted Jesus as Savior are considered Saints. Some times though many people will
call someone a saint even today who do many go things.
The Puritans made it illegal
to mention any saint’s name. During the 1600s it was forbidden to light a candle, exchange a gift, or sing carols. Still,
people will celebrate what they want. If we don’t teach them how to sing and feast to the glory of God, then people
will learn how to do it without glorifying God. That’s what happened to St. Nicholas.
All of these traditions blended with immigration to the New World. As the English and Dutch came and intermarried, Father
Christmas and Sinter Klaas blended into one figure.
Dutch Americans eventually
adopted December 25 as their day of celebration. The "legends" grow as store tellers added to the St. Nicholas store
in the same way as the stores grow about Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone. Legends have been created about the North
Pole, flying reindeer, elves and other things.
In 1823 Sinterklaas/Saint
Nicholas' metamorphosis continued with the publication of Clement Moore's poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas (Twas the
night before Christmas...). Clement Moore, a dentist, in 1820 wrote the poem for his sick child to cheer him up. The poem
told children that St. Nicholas lived at the North Pole, drove a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, and had a tummy that shook
like a bowl full of jelly. (Actually St Nick was probably thin from fasting.)
Almost
40 years later in the 1860s cartoonist Thomas Nash drew pictures of a plump and kindly Santa Claus with a long white beard
(probably true), rosy cheeks (probably not), dressed in red (true), and with a sack of toys on his back (probably not, since
the people were very poor and need food more). The cartoons were for the illustrated Harper's Weekly. This image of Santa
Claus was becoming ingrained in the minds of the American people. By the end of the Civil War, St. Nicholas the bishop was
generally known in the United States as Santa Claus. As time went on this image of Santa Claus traveled across the globe,
back to Europe, to South America, and elsewhere.
In 1925, a large corporation,
the Coca Cola Company, ran an advertising campaign of Santa Claus further defining him as a large man with a red and white
fur suit, black boots, and a long, flowing beard which is the closest depiction of our present-day Santa.
The American Santa Claus, like America itself, came from a melting pot of Old World cultures and characters.
He is the Dutch Sinter Klaas and the Lutheran Kris Kringle who bring gifts to children. His red garment is lined with fur
like the German version of Nicholas, and he spreads merriment and cheer like Father Christmas. And a team of reindeer, borrowed
from a Russian legend, where ran deer really do pull slays, accompanies Santa Claus on his journey through the night.
The tragic part in all this is how the ministry part of St. Nicholas has been forgotten. He was popular because
of his reputation of honor, his godly ways, and his giving nature. It was reported that the man had such fullness of God that
even the dead were raised as it was foretold by Jesus when He said " and much greater miracles then these will you see,"
and in keeping with the writing in Acts. We need to remember all the parts of St. Nicholas ministry as we would for Marten
Luther, Calvin, Moody, Charles Finney, Billy Graham or any other post-Acts or pre-Acts characters. Pre-Acts being the heroes
of our faith, and post-Acts because the book of Acts is still being written. I can also add heroes to my list that I know
personally. It is a shame that such a powerful man has been hidden in the tales of a little fat-bellied, pipe-smoking cookie
eater.
The story of the true St. Nicholas is a beautiful picture of the giving
that Christmas is really about. St. Nicholas represents the giving heart of our Heavenly Father, Who doesn't give switches
and rods or coal but who always gives only good gifts.
The greatest gift of all
is the gift of Jesus Christ to us from God the Father. Jesus is our hope, redemption and victory. He is our advocate with
the Father, our blood-covenant Friend Who will never leave nor forsake us.
The
real St Nick wouldn't have cared much about any of those things. To him, the real meaning of Christmas is, of course,
Jesus! He was and is the GREATEST GIFT. The sharing of mercy, the giving, the loving, the not letting the right hand know
what left hand is doing, the seeing the need of others and filling that need, the bringing of healing to the sick, the redeeming
from bondage, the becoming as a child or you will not inherit the kingdom of God ministry of this man, St. Nicholas, I see
in my father and mother and their fathers and mothers, in myself and everywhere I look at this time of year. May God keep
the ministry that started with St. Nicholas in motion until the Son of God returns.
Yes, I believe in Santa Claus and I also believe in Aslan in "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" in the "Chronicles
of Narnia". I know that Narnia is real because I have been there. My 5th grade teacher read us the book when I was 11
years old. Many of us put our heads down on the desk as Mrs. Mackie read. No one fell asleep. Mrs. Mackie was one of the greatest
storytellers of all time and second only to my grandmother. When Mrs. Mackie read I could see the wardrobe. I pulled on the
knobs and went into the wardrobe. I could smell the old clothes hanging there. When I stepped through the wardrobe into Narnia
I could hear the snow crunching under my feet because there was no sounds to be heard. I meet the beavers and I was in there
home. Lucy was my friend. I saw Aslan die on the cold dark stone table to do away with the curse. Aslan did not deserve to
die. Aslan forgave Edmund and never ever talked of his tracery again. It was only 2 years later that I meet the sprit of Aslan
again. The Aslan for me died in my place and promised to never ever mention my sins and shortcomings again.
I also believe in the spirit of Luther who proclaimed we know longer must earn our salvation. I see his spirit
in my pastors whenever they speak. I believe the spirit of Dwight L Moody has been passed on also ever time I go to a Sunday
school. It was Moody who had the burden to see a school where children could learn. I know that there is a heavenly Father
because I see Him in my fathers’ eyes. This is the same reason I believe in Santa Clause, I see his spirit has been
pasted on in my fathers’ eyes and every other fathers eyes. I saw Santa in my living room. He ate my cookies I left
for him and the coffee with canned cream and just a little sugar. I knew exactly how to make the coffee because that’s
how my dad drank his. Several years later I had to make the coffee black with no sugar for Santa because I was told that Santa
was having a cholesterol problem. I knew how to make that cup also because I had learned how to make it that way because my
dad had a cholesterol problem also.
C.S. Lewis states in the introduction of
"Letters To Children," When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found
doing so. Now I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness
and the desire to be very grown up.
Last year on Thanksgiving Day 2002, I was
looking for and down loading some Cultic Christmas music for Doc Cooley. I came across the song "The Little Drummer Boy".
Because I had learned at a very early age how to see and imagine so well as a child because of the storytellers in my life,
I can still do so now as an adult. As I listened I was taken back to the first time I heard the song when I was seven years
old. The picture and sounds in my mind was as real as if I had been there yesterday. I stood next to the Christmas tree and
could smell the tree. The song came on the radio and a little boy began to sing. "Can I play my drum for you?" "I
have no gifts to bring for I am only seven years old." "He smiled at me." There I was forty-five years later
praying the same prayer. Can I play my drum for you? Jesus never has asked me for anything but to play my best for Him. Abba
Father, Poppa Jeh was dealing very heavily with my heart. He was inviting me to crawl up in His lap. He wanted to minister
to me as a child, as His Child. I was his child. As an adult I was to big to crawl up in His lap. So how could I do this?
Jesus said, "let the little children come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of God. Jesus also said
that if we would not come to Him as a little child we could not inherit the kingdom of God.
This
is the pray that I wrote as I prayed. November 28,2002. "Father, I have to be a child first. Help me return to that place
Abba Father, Poppa Yeh. Let me play my drum for. Help me learn to be a child again. Call me for school. I do not want to be
in control, wake me in the morning. Set a table before me. Shoo me out the door to school and to go play. Father make my work
an enjoyable play." Since that prayer and that time last year I have not only been Sammy
to my family but I have been Sammy to my heavenly Father and the world. I invite you to crawl up in Poppas’ lap with
me and sing.
The information above was collected from many sources which included but was not limited to; News from Agape
Press, The Right Frame of Mind
What to Do With Santa Claus
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
December 1, 2003 BRIEF HISTORY OF SANTA
by: Juelie McLean From Navidad to Los Tres Reyes Magos
THE HISTORY OF SANTA CLAUS
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