Advent is celebrated
around the world, but not in the same way.
On December 6, much of Europe celebrates St. Nicholas Day. “Old St. Nick”, “Sinterklass”, “Father
Christmas”, or Santa Claus” – no matter what the name,
St. Nicholas is honored
as a “giver of gifts” and that benevolent character has hung on for over 1700
years.
What is the
real story, and why should we celebrate this day in Advent?
In Advent, we are preparing for Christ’s
coming. Not just his first coming, but
his second coming also. How do we do
that? In most of our homes, giving gifts
is a common part of Christmas celebrations – whether they are believers or not.
While for many the Season of Advent is
nothing more than a time for “Christmas shopping”, there is a greater gift-giving
to remember. Scripture reminds us of the
greater gift given to us.
Ephesians
2:4-8
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated
us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God,
Jesus’ first
coming was God’s gift to us. That is why
the Apostle Paul wrote: “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
St. Nicholas Day is commemorated with gift giving. While we imagine the figure of Santa Claus in
movies and stories such as “The Night Before Christmas”, the real story of
Santa begins 1700 years ago in the ancient city of Myra, Turkey. Nicholas was born in the late 3rd
Century to an affluent family. While he
was still young, his parents died in an epidemic, leaving him an orphan and the
heir to the family’s wealth. While a
young man, Nicholas heard the words of Jesus to “sell what you have, give it
to the poor, and come follow me”.
Nicholas did that. He sold all of
his inheritance and gave it to the poor.
One of the legends
that came from his desire to follow Christ in divesting himself of his wealth was
the story of a family with three young girls whose father could not afford
dowries for them to be married. Their
options were grim until Nicholas found out.
Then one night he went to their home, and seeing stockings hung by the
mantle of the fireplace, he threw gold coins into the stockings. From that legend came the tradition of “stockings
hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there”. Almost everyone has some aspect of gifts in
stockings or under the tree. We have St.
Nicholas to thank for that. YET, there’s
much more to St. Nicholas than the giving of gifts.
Nicholas
followed Christ by seeking to serve him in the church. His piety and prayer caused others to seek
him out for Spiritual guidance and prayers.
He was elected Bishop of the church in Myra around 300 a.d. Shortly after that, the emperor Diocletian,
around 304, issued a series of edicts outlawing Christianity and imposing penalties
– up to and including death. Bishop
Nicholas was arrested, tortured, and put in prison for many months. In 305 Diocletian surrendered his throne, and
in 206, his successor Constantius died.
Constantius's son, Constantine came to power and ordered the release of
all Christians in prison. Nicholas was
freed.
Constantine
was the emperor who legislated that Christianity was to be accepted as a
legitimate religion within the empire. History
is not sure of the reason why, but nevertheless, Christianity began to grow and
thrive with the emperor’s edict (of Milan).
In the growth of the empire, Christianity became threatened once again – but not from the outside, but from within. The threat was from a group of people who became known as Arians, followers of a Priest named Arius who taught that Jesus was not God, but instead was created by God - thus God's son who once did not exist, and so therefore not divinity. The emperor Constantine saw the rift and realized that Christianity could become divided, so he called for a “Council” of Bishops and Doctors of the Church to meet in Nicaea, in Turkey, in 325 a.d. to come to an agreement about the opposing views. Bishop Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea and joined with the Orthodox side in the teaching of the nature of Jesus Christ as both, equally, divine and human. The heresy of Arianism was declared outside of the church’s truth about the real nature of Christ Jesus. The Nicene Creed is still proclaimed in the Christian church to this day.
So, on Dec.
6, which commemorates the death of St. Nicholas (in 346 a.d.), we celebrate
this faithful saint of the church whose legend lives on into our own modern
day. Outside of the church, his legend
lives on in the giving of gifts at Christmas time. Inside the church, his gifts were as a
model of following Christ – no matter what the cost and as a defender of the truth
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Happy St. Nicholas Day.
Peace
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