My wife grew up celebrating St. Nicholas Day in her family. Every December 6th the children would be treated to candy and chocolates and a gift. That left my in-laws free to celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas (Christ's-Mass) Eve and Christmas Day. However, for myself and many of my friends the Christmas season was a strange mix of Christian celebration and Santa-stuff. As hard as our family tried to distinguish between Christmas fantasy and the real Christmas story of Jesus and his birth, the growling secularization of the Christmas season, has made the challenge even more difficult for today's Christian parents.
Often the challenge is made even more difficult than necessary as parents are presented with a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude to Christmas. Many are told that Santa Claus, Christmas Trees and Yule Logs should be forbidden within Christian homes. Consider, however, that it may be possible to recover some of the Christian festivals and traditions in an appropriate way, which will keep Christ central to the celebration, and at the same time give appropriate attention to the secondary characters of the season.
Saint Nicholas (Santa Niklaus) is a case in point. Our culture has turned a real-historical man of the ancient Christian Church into a "god". At Christmas time people sing songs about "Santa's" (Saint's) "Omnipresence" as he supposedly gives presents all over the world to every boy and girl all on the same night (December 24th). As well, the mythical "Santa" has "Omniscience" as he apparently knows whether any boy or girl has been naughty or nice and actually keeps a complete list for each person. Additional stories give "Santa" the eternal qualities and the "Omni-powerful" qualities that also belong only to the Divine. No wonder many Christians show great concern about our current "Santa" culture.
Christian parents who want to avoid the gross idolatry of our culture towards "Santa Claus" can correct many of the abuses by acknowledging that there was a real "SAiNT(A) niKLAUS". He lived approximately 270 - 340 AD and was the Christian Bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. His feast-day is December 6th and is celebrated the world-over by the giving of gifts and candy especially to children.
Legendary stories support his generous-giving nature as a Christian minister while history records that Saint Niklaus was one of the Christian bishops gathered for the Council of Nicaea during one of the most serious gatherings of theologians ever recorded. The Christian Nicaean Creed is the result of that historic gathering which defended the faith against the ancient heresy of Arianism. Niklaus would be horrified to learn that many people have elevated him to "god-head" status since he himself spent much of his life defending the orthodox Christian teaching that there is only one God in three persons - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In fact, Saint Niklaus is even reputed to have punched someone who taught otherwise!
While promoting the false stories about "Santa Claus" may create later doubt for the average child about the veracity of the rest of the Christmas story, acknowledging that there really was a "Saint Niklaus" who believed and worshiped Jesus Christ, supports a healthy celebration of Christmas.
May God bless your Christmas celebration this year!
In Christ,
Pastor David Dressler
