The Real Santa Claus
by Pr. Rich Futrell
The Feast of St. Nicholas is December 6th. When we remember such a saint of old, we are simply being Christians. Hebrews 13:7 tells us: “Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s Word to you.” These leaders aren’t just our current pastors, but the faithful pastors of all time.
The book of Hebrews continues, “Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” When we remember Nicholas, we are also being Lutheran Christians. The Lutheran Confessions say, “The saints are to be remembered so that we may strengthen our faith when we see how they experienced grace and how they were helped by faith” (AC XXI, 1).
Nicholas was born in about 280 AD and lived along the seacoast of what is now Turkey. And it was there, while still a young man that Nicholas became a monk. But later, he wanted to serve in the Church, not only by praying for others as a monk, but as a shepherd of a flock, as a pastor. And so the Church later installed him as the bishop of Myra.
But for us today, even those of us in the Church, we know St. Nicholas more from the commercialized Santa Claus than who he really was. Yet, if we look at pictures of Santa Claus, we can see the vestiges of the true St. Nicholas hidden in the background.
We see him dressed in beautiful red clothes, which are his bishop vestments. He wears a wide, black belt, which hails back to the leather-monastic belt that Christian monks wore in Asia Minor. Nicholas had a big beard, like clergy do in some traditions. This was to help hide his facial features through his beard, to show all the more that he represented Christ, not himself. And then there is the big sack. This sack represents Nicholas’ generosity, for he, indeed, was a generous man.
St. Nicholas became well-known known among Christians because he lived out the faith in two inspiring ways. As a bishop, Nicholas suffered in prison during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian, and showed zeal throughout his life for living out the faith, even if it meant persecution. But also being generous, Nicholas gave away much to help others. These two traits are part of every Christian’s life, or are supposed to be–a great zeal for the truth and charity toward others.
Nicholas embodied loving the truth of God. He displayed this love by being willing–and even suffering for–his confession and teaching of the Christian faith. This was when pagan Emperors ruled the Roman Empire. But Nicholas would not be deterred. Even while in prison, he preached and taught the truth, considering the words of the Apostle Paul: “Live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . For it has been given to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Philippians 1:27,29).
St. Nicholas zealously contended for the truth, embracing it himself, teaching it fervently, and also fighting against false doctrine. Why was Nicholas so stubborn? Because truth matters. Without the truth, we have nothing. Our Savior, Jesus, taught us, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). This Nicholas knew well.
The truth is Christ. When we alter the truth to our liking, we end up with someone other than the real Truth, Jesus Christ. And a Jesus Christ of our own choosing does not save, for He then becomes a Jesus in our own image and not who He really is. But the real Truth, Jesus Christ Himself, saves us and restores our life.
Truth is the key to true freedom. Jesus also says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). Unbelief and indifference do not save; they only separate us from the truth; they separate us from Christ, who is the Truth. That’s why we should all be passionate for the Christian faith. For only Christ the Truth saves.
And what was the truth about the Truth Himself that Nicholas zealously defended? It was that Jesus is both fully human and yet also fully divine. It’s that Jesus is completely man AND completely God. That’s the only reason Jesus could save us. If He were perfect–and yet only a man–He would have only saved Himself. But being God and Man, He saved the whole world–and those who grasp that reality by faith receive all the benefits of what Christ did, does, and will do for them. That was what Nicholas defended.
Nicholas attended the first Church-wide Council in 325 AD, in Nicaea. That’s where we get the Nicene Creed. It was at that Council where Nicholas, with the great theologian Athanasius, defended Christianity against the majority view. The majority view was a new teaching, which was so far afield that it wasn’t even Christian, even though it seemed like it was. A man named Arius taught this new doctrine that Jesus wasn’t fully God and fully Man.
Arius’ teachings were the latest Church fad back then. And most of the pastors of that time followed Arius because it was easier to do. To them, they were simply following the party line, giving the people what they want, and going with the flow. Even back then it was easier to give the people what they wanted to hear than what they needed for salvation and for strengthening of the faith. Thank God brave bishops like Nicholas risked their very lives to contend for the truth and preach it!
So there was Nicholas at the Council of Nicea, hearing another bishop in the Church spew forth Arius’ teachings that damned people into hell. He could no longer endure those foul assertions that our Savior and God, Jesus Christ, was a man but not completely God. In his zeal, Nicholas strode forward and punched the other bishop right in the mouth that spoke such lies.
This offended the fathers of the Council. They removed Nicholas from the assembly and stripped him of his pastoral position. In doing this, the bishops were following the good order handed down to them in the Church. It stated, “For a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon who strikes believers for sinning, or unbelievers for wrongdoing, with the idea of making them afraid, we command that he is to be removed from office. For the Lord nowhere has taught that. Just the opposite, when struck, He did not strike back; when reviled, He did not revile; when suffering, He did not threaten” (Canon 27 of the Holy Apostles).
All Christians– especially bishops, pastors, and deacons–are to be above reproach and are not to strike others. We are not to intimidate, use brute force, or bully others. Instead–never giving up ground for the truth–we show forth true power, which is meekness in the face of attack, insult, and offense.
But shortly after Nicholas lashed out in his anger, some bishops contended that Nicholas had struck the other bishop in holy zeal, like Phineas defending the Lord’s glory and dignity in Numbers Chapter 25.
So the Fathers of the Church reinstated Nicholas after he repented. As much as I honor and revere the early Church fathers, they were rationalizing Nicholas’ outburst of anger. They were wrong. But this they got right: Through Nicholas, and even the wrong he did, God worked good from ill. God prevented Christianity’s destruction, preventing it from becoming a vile distortion.
For Nicholas, truth was not just an ideal. It was something to be lived out and enfleshed. For Nicholas, he lived out the faith being a generous man. Today, we especially remember Nicholas’s generosity for enabling three daughters of a poor man in his parish to marry, because they had no money for a dowry.
So one night, Nicholas anonymously threw three bags of gold into the poor man’s house, providing him with what he needed, so his daughters could marry. That’s where we get Santa Claus delivering presents during the night. But of course, people being people, they figured out that it was Nicholas who gave the gift of gold. And they were moved by such Christian generosity.
Today, 17 centuries later, we continue to follow in Nicholas’ charitable footsteps and see him as a great model of Christian charity. He shows us, indeed, that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
Matthew 6:3 says, “When you give to those in need, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.” And a 1st-century Christian expression puts it this way: “Let your gift sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give it” (Didache 1:6). Jesus said when, not if–“when you give.”
Jesus simply assumes His followers will live their lives in such a generous way, giving to those in need, especially those in the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). And why not, for we love because Christ our God first loved us. He loved us enough to take on human flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. And that makes all the difference, even into eternity! Amen.
