Faith from the reigns of a Christmas Sleigh?

         I am a bit crotchety when it comes to theology and biblical studies. If you scroll back to one of my first blogs from Christmas last year (shameless plug, “Bah-Humbug”) I offered some commentary concerning the way we view the birth narrative of Jesus the Christ this time of year. To be honest I thought I took the cake when it came to being crotchety at Christmas until I came home to be confronted by my wife concerning our continuing open invitation to our obese and jolly old friend; Mr. Christopher Kringle. My wife had read several articles and blogs condemning or revoking his welcome into this holiday season. The reason for this proposal is because Mr Claus draws attention away from Christ and offers up a mythology which disheartens the young views of our own Christian stories that contain problematic contradictions and mythological components themselves. The proposal was simple; if you offer up a mythology that will later be discredited then that will plant a seed of doubt that will pollute the truth we receive in Christ. There are other objections centered on the pagan roots of the tradition and the “fairy tale”, as some describe it, which surrounds the tradition. It was odd to hear my wife so concerned about such criticisms. She is a wonderful wife and a good mother but she seemed to be questioning the impact of this tradition on our children along with her judgment as a mother.

        Well, first of all I was a little surprised. My wife doesn’t ask for my opinion on things theologically all that often, nor does she ask me for my opinion on how we care for our children. Most often we agree to disagree or she just ignores my theological ramblings. Just the fact she looked to me for my opinion made me concerned but it also raised my own concerns regarding our open invitation to our obese cookie eating friend who also drinks a beer or two on his way out the door every year. Perhaps we should revoke his pass? Maybe it is time for us to demythologize Christmas, as one of my dearest mentors and teacher advised me after I showed him a picture of my children sitting on Santa and Mrs Claus’ laps last night (yet, another red flag for me considering my great admiration for this brilliant theologian and mentor).

         I have and continue to explore our options for this tradition as objectively as possible. What I have found is that if I continue to pick at that loose thread on my tacky Christmas sweater the whole thing is just going to unravel into a ball of green, red, and white yarn on the floor. You see, the whole thing is grounded in something less than “truly” Christian. Pope Gregory hijacked the winter solstice along with other pagan holidays in order to evangelize to those outside of the Christian faith. It gave them the opportunity to find a bridge between their own traditions while finding a new hope in Christ. Essentially Pope Gregory adopted traditions that can be truly defined as pagan in order to permit a much more comfortable transition and conversion to the Christian faith. This is one of the many reasons I refer to our family Christmas tree as our pagan trophy case every year (again, this does not please my wife). It’s all a hijacked tradition, from the date, to the decorations, to the manner we give and receive gifts. So which parts should we sanitize and whitewash out of our holiday season? It seems like the one we are most frustrated with is ol’ Satan Claus. It reminds me of the old Dana Carvey SNL Church Lady skit from years back when Carvey's character rearranged the spelling of Santa to spell Satan.

         This all leads me to a realization. Perhaps we should take a page out of Pope Gregory’s book? With the decrease in church attendance and the constant complaints from church leaders concerning the draw away from Christianity into the secular, today I wonder what our condemnation of the “fun stuff” at Christmas says to those outside the doors of the sanctuary. I am finding that both fundamentalist Christians and progressive Christians are coming full circle and finding themselves of like mind regarding this condemnation of Santa Claus. So there is certainly hope that agreement can finally be struck somewhere I suppose, but here of all places?

        

         Paul Tillich spent a great deal of time discussing the power of symbol. Tillich believed that Jesus was in fact most powerful when held up as an existential symbol for all and I agree with Tillich. Tillich spent a great deal of time exploring the possibility that the Holy Spirit could work through all things to create traces of God through symbol, drawing attention to the truest of all symbols; Jesus the Christ. At one point Tillich claims that the Spirit can manifest itself in the secular and the superstitious stating; “In this way the Spiritual Presence has used antireligious media to transform not only a secular culture but also the churches.” He implied this positively.

         Tillich’s point aside let’s consider for a moment what Santa actually does. He gives gifts to children without regard or credit for himself, on the day set aside to recognize the birth of Christ. It would be safe to assume that Santa Claus does this in honor of the birth of Christ thus Santa Claus is associated with Christmas rather than St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) in most American homes. We can claim this is due to the close relationship between Odin worship in German pagan culture, Washington Irving’s imagination, or even Coca Cola’s commercialization of the holiday. I would argue, however, that in this tradition we find an example of selfless giving that transcends the mythology and provides an example for children in a world increasingly devoid of such examples that most certainly point to qualities of truly Christian living. Within our American mythology and folklore there may be no greater example of Christian living than in Jolly Ol’ St Nick himself. Take it any way you want, if that is a sad commentary on the state of the church today should we really be blaming Santa?

         Might I make a suggestion? Let’s decorate our Christmas trees (pagan trophy cases), hang our stockings above the fireplace (thank you Washington Irving), hang our wreaths (circular greenery for the promise of the cycle of life), and kiss under the mistletoe (sacred druidic plant). When we are done why don’t we let Santa point to the door of the sanctuary for all our secular, atheist, and agnostic brothers and sisters and tell them another story. In the absence of a cross or Bible in many homes these symbols and signs point to the doors of the worship space, as Tillich seems to suggest. Maybe there they will enter those doors where we can share the gospel and show them another way the Spirit is present in this world at Christmas.

        
          Instead of tearing down and demythologizing why don’t we leave up these signs and show people exactly what the signs point to? As Christians we are called and sent to share the power of the story soaked in the irony of the incarnation. The true King is born into a bed of filth, a shell of flesh, to suffer an agonizing and brutal death for the sake of a creation groaning for God’s reversal. Christmas isn’t pacified by decorations and mythology; Christmas is pacified by our failure to lift up the story being pointed to.

         But the day will come when our children will claim that St Nick is no longer welcome. They will question his existence, perhaps even his intentions. What if we used him for the very purpose he has always been there for when that day comes? What if we used Santa to point to Christ? What if our children, on that day, took the opportunity to take the reigns of that sled for their sibling? What if they took the reigns of the sleigh for a hungry family or classmate? Leaving an anonymous gift without the expectation of reward or recognition as they sneak away whispering with you at their side “Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!” That, my friends, is the true meaning of Santa and he learned from the best; Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God among us. 

         Santa Claus, take it or leave it. It’s up to you. I would suggest we be wary, however, of our self righteous claims upon those who already feel alienated by both fundamentalist and progressive Christians alike. Instead maybe we should let the Spirit work through any and all means that give hope for a broken humanity that is in desperate need of the joy Christmas brings and the celebration that indeed points to the One who first loved and died for us.

          The myth of Santa Claus gives Christians an opportunity to exercise the deeper meaning of belief. Without a doubt there is scant trace of the "historical Santa". The references to his historical roots are blended and shaped to formulate what is nothing more than a human holiday construct. It is in this undeniable myth that we can confront the difficulty many face concerning the historical Jesus. If we can use the myth of Santa to teach our children as they grow to wrestle with a deeper existential meaning than what surrounds the commercialized, fictionalized, characterization of Santa, perhaps we can wrestle with bigger questions. I hope my children can take the opportunity to reclaim Santa Clause and when they sit upon his lap I hope he can point to the Christ. Not pointing to the objective certainty of the historical figure but pointing to the certainty of being IN Christ. Belief is deeper than a historical meaning and it changes our world if we let the most powerful of all beliefs to change us.

Yours in Christ

Moore, Clement Clarke. The Night before Christmas. First paper-over-board edition. New York: Harper, 2011.

Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.