Santa and Jesus

Fir trees and angels. Elves and shepherds. Sheep and reindeer. Santa and Jesus. For many children, all these features combine in the one story landscape of Christmas.

I heard recently of a young child who was upset that mother had administered a mild ticking off. She went into another room and prayed audibly ‘Dear God, please tell Santa Claus to put my mum on the naughty list.’

At this time of year, the phrase ‘I believe’ is more often linked in films, adverts and greeting cards with the words ‘Santa Claus’ than with the word ‘God.’ In Miracle on 34^th Street, for example, when the reality of Father Christmas is being debated in a court of law, many New Yorkers find creative ways of signalling ‘I believe!’ as they go about their business.

But what do people mean when they make a sentence of the words ‘I believe’ and ‘in Santa Claus’? It’s not, I suspect, that they are convinced of the literal existence of the man with the white beard and red suit who spends the year with hard-working elves in a toy factory near the North Pole, apparently unaffected by global warming.

In the film Elf, the word ‘Believe’ spelled out in lights on a storefront is enough to prompt acts of generosity. To ‘believe’ is to open yourself to living differently. You turn your back on animosity and conflict, and embrace kindness and concern for others.

‘I believe in Santa Claus’ means ‘I commit myself to reflecting the generous spirit which Father Christmas represents.’

As human beings, we tell stories which help us express and make sense of our hopes, fears and longings, stories which speak to us more powerfully than ideas alone ever will, and hence bring us inspiration and a sense of purpose.

But of course there’s another story we tell at this time of year. The story of Jesus. The story of God coming among us in a unique way, in a small, vulnerable human body.

This story embodies the same values as the Santa story, calling us to a better way of living, calling us to make the world a kinder place not just for a season, like a brief no-man’s-land truce in a long winter of warfare, but for ever.

And the truth is that the Jesus story is a much better story. Jesus doesn’t just visit on 25^th December, but is with us 24/7/365. Jesus doesn’t deliver once-a-year-gifts, but moment by moment if we will receive them, he gives us the most precious gifts of all – love, wisdom, peace, courage, grace, joy.

Jesus doesn’t write off those on the naughty list, but tears it up when he detects in us a longing to be different. Jesus’ presence isn’t limited to the homes of the affluent. He’s also to be found with the most impoverished families in the world.

Jesus doesn’t simply provide a challenging example of goodness. Within us, he whispers constant encouragement to be good, and breathes into our hearts that spirit of self-giving to which the Santa story links us fleetingly and falteringly.

Jesus gives gifts not just in this dimension, but in an even fuller way in the dimension beyond death.

And Jesus demonstrates much more clearly than Father Christmas can what we are able to understand about the mystery of God.

It’s an altogether better story. But we can go further than this. What if, unlike the Santa story, the Jesus story is a given story; not simply one we have devised, but a true story; not one which simply points to the truth of God’s generous spirit, but which embodies that truth?

It is our conviction as Christians that in Jesus God has come among us, not simply speaking from far off, but coming to share the journey with us. This transforms everything. All other stories help us to the extent that they reflect this one, great, true story.

So why do we focus on the other story at this time of year at the expense of the Jesus story? Why as Christian parents do we give equal weight to Santa’s grotto and the stable in Bethlehem? Why do we not shout more loudly the story of a world enchanted not so much by elves and flying reindeer, as by the breath and presence of the God whose face we see in Jesus?

At Christmas, you will find Jesus in the heart of the celebrations. But you may find he spends more time with those who are lonely, desperate, hungry, afflicted in mind or body, reaching out to all those who suffer.

And you will find Jesus as you make your way to the stable where the outcasts are taking shelter and focus on the baby, and say ‘I believe.’

(Christian Viewpoint column from the Highland News dated 4th December 2014)