| It is that time of year again. It is the time when all too many assert that our culture does not change, cannot change or significantly diminish our spiritual convictions. This kind of thinking exposes a collective blindness, it is fantasy thinking. The throes of secularism have long been at work to ”sanitize” our society and culture from all vestiges of religious belief – chief among the targets of this insidious effort is the Christian faith. This Sunday is the feast of our Holy Father St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Thaumaturgos), Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. Perhaps more than any other figure in Church history, St. Nicholas has become the symbol of the power of the secular to change, to warp, and ultimately to remove what Christians believe to be their most basic human instinct – the desire for intimacy with the Living God and the bold proclamation (witness) that He is Lord of all.
The historic and secular transformation of St. Nicholas combined with the voracious impulses of consumerism, have completely shifted the meaning and nature of Christmas for many, even for believers! Fr. George Morelli, an Orthodox priest and practicing psychologist, puts this conundrum in plain language: “In the secular world, if life has no religious dimension, if God is not a part of personal life, then He will be abstracted from the culture as well. What then is left, except the accumulation of and the getting and spending on more things?”
From a Christian perspective however, it is quite different. Remember the words of Christ: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” (Mathew. 6: 21). These words of Christ were actually part of the “Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus expounded on what the Kingdom of God required. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal,” (Matthew 6: 19-20). How far we have strayed from the teachings of the Lord on His Kingdom! Even we Orthodox believers have fallen for the scam.
Consider what we have made of St. Nicholas. We see “him” (Santa) presiding over the Christmas drama in malls, smaller shops, on television, and in social media. Though we are experiencing a dangerous pandemic, ingenious ways have been found to continue to allow our children to parade to “Santa’s” chair (no longer his lap!), with the proper “social distancing” so our children can rattle off their Christmas wants. Our sanitized culture encourages even Christian believers to start manipulating the souls of children! I can hear the reaction now: “Oh, it’s harmless!”; “It’s fun and innocent.”; “They would feel left out of they couldn’t be part of American’s “Christmas” celebration!” Think a little harder: Will toys and video games, items that may very well end up in closets unused and forgotten, will these bring children authentic meaning to their young lives? Can they come to know God through them? Giving these things is one thing. Telling them WHY they are given is quite another. Comparing St. Nicholas the priest and bishop, with Santa Claus, zeros in on our struggle with secularism in our society.
First, the real St. Nicholas, as found in his icons, is a lot thinner. That is, he points us toward asceticism and self-denial as the prescribed path to our fulfillment. The real St. Nicholas is not portrayed iconographically as having a “little round belly,” nor does he appear as “a right jolly old elf” who provokes involuntary laughter. He appears as a man of God, a hierarch in the holy Church, someone of a serene countenance who comes from much prayer and fasting. Jolly ol’ St. Nick (Santa) calls his followers to eating and spending sprees, to buying more and more, even if they go into debt to pay for it, and his pre-Christmas feast day is known as “Black Friday.” St. Nicholas the wonderworker of Myra in Lycia calls his followers to take up their cross and follow Christ, and his pre-Christmas feast day is marked on December 6, in the middle of a fast. It is not characterized by a mad scramble to buy, but by worship of the living God.
Secondly, the real St. Nicholas carries a Gospel, not a bag full of toys which seem to be liberally distributed whether or not one is naughty or nice. Santa Claus is rarely without his sack of loot; St. Nicholas is never without the Gospel. As a bishop, his main task was preaching and rightly defining the Word of Truth, so of course he carries that holy Book. It contains the words which are the most precious to him, and which he constantly preached to his flock in Asia Minor. As his icon shows, it is his message to us today as well. And this message of St. Nicholas is identical with that of his Lord: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is what we wait for every Christmas – not a re-enactment of Bethlehem, but the Advent of Christ in glory.
Finally, the real St. Nicholas knows that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), whereas Santa Claus would have us believe that it is more blessed to receive than to give. Santa is about receiving—that is why young children do not traditionally ask each other, “What did you give others for Christmas?” but rather, “What did you get for Christmas?” The secular forces have made Santa the patron saint of consumerism. The authentic St. Nicholas knows that while it is important to receive graciously, almsgiving still results in receiving more grace. Obviously Christmas morning knows both giving and receiving, and parents will attest that the real fun is watching their children receive. There is good in both giving and receiving. St. Nicholas knows this and can keep the two in balance; Santa tends to forget and focus mostly on receiving. “Insofar as you give unto the least of my brothers…you give unto me…” Jesus’ words don’t end or lose their imperative when the decorations go up and the and “holiday” (?) sales start!
Fr. John Behr, former Dean of St.Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary and Professor of Patristics, in a Christmas sermons once wrote: “How many know the full theological meaning of the Nativity Feast? If we don’t, we become susceptible to the secularizing energy (fed by a commercial spirit) of the culture. Put another way, one of the most powerful things we can do for our families to counter the slide into the spiritual wasteland of the commercial culture is to deepen our understanding about the birth of Christ. Parents must teach themselves first, and only then they can teach their children.”
While this reflection may seem to you to be written by Ebenzer Scrooge, it is not. It is written to remind all of us not only about the true identity of St. Nicholas, whose feast we celebrate Sunday, December 6, versus his poor caricature “Santa Claus” , but about the Truth of the birth of the Incarnate Son of God — who came without drama, fanfare, wealth, or plastic charge card. This is the true and certain meaning of the Nativity. It IS a time of joy and celebration, not because of what we celebrate, but because of whom we celebrate, not because of what we get, but of what and to whom we give. The warfare between this holy faith and the chilly forces of secularism continues and therefore our challenge continues with it. The secular society is one without depth, without anchor, without transcendent meaning. It is the definition of “shallow” and survives on the surface creating more and more “shiny” distractions from the God Who gave it life..
Unfortunately, as aggressive secularism takes hold in the culture, families are lured in by it and leave off the important spiritual dimensions found in the Orthodox home church. There is no mention of Christ, no recounting of His simple birth, no reading at the table of a psalm of blessing or prayers of praise or thanksgiving. We gaze under the Christmas tree with great anticipation at the presents, not once talking about why the tree is there in the first place. These are the witnesses of the Great Feast. These are the counter messages to a society trying to deafen us with the siren songs “Come buy!” or “Don’t Miss the After Holiday Bargains.” While we do live in a multicultural, multi-religious society, that can be no excuse for purposely eradicating the holiness of ancient Holy Days like Christmas from the cultural memory. These are the days to stand up to the collective emptiness of a society whose center is swiftly coming unmoored.
O Holy father and holy Bishop, St. Nicholas, give us the courage to do as you did – to stand up to the forces seeking to remove, change, or dilute the Christ experience from among us. Make us bold enough to Christify our lives and those in our families, so as to embrace the new martyrdom of proclaiming and defending the one Lord of all ages and places. O blessed Nicholas, grant us to know why it is we come to bow before that chilly cave in Bethlehem so as to recognize the face of Love when He comes again in glory!
Asking God’s paternal blessing on each of you as we continue to make ready to remember the birth of Christ who is our Life, I remain
Faithfully yours in Him,
Fr. Dimitrios |
