SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN!

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON DECEMBER 9^th, 2007

Matthew 3:3 "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare a way of the Lord."

If I was to ask you to dress up like John the Baptist, in camel skins, and go out into the street you would get an interesting reception. A stranger would, of course, take you for a street person. If you said: "Someone is coming after me" they would be thinking about giving you money - or not giving you money. And if you then said "Guess who is coming?" the answer would be…………Santa Claus!

Yes, while the Church puts before us the figure of a man in camel skins and a leather girdle, society is awaiting a man in a red suit with white trimmings. Santa Claus is coming to town! The legend of Santa Claus finds its origin in Saint Nicholas, whose day in the calendar is celebrated on December 6^th.

Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, in what is now Turkey, in the fourth century. The story goes that there were three young girls held captive until a ransom was paid. Good Saint Nicholas, the bishop of the town, went past and threw three gold coins through the window. This ransomed these young girls, and they were freed.

This story has led to two traditions. Firstly, you may see three gold balls hanging outside a pawnbrokers shop. Secondly, Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of children. Because he is the patron saint of children, December 6^th became the day in Europe when Saint Nicholas came into town on a horse, distributing gifts for children. When the Dutch settled New Amsterdam - today known as New York - they brought this custom with them. Now, thanks to Broadway and Hollywood, Santa Claus is an integral part of Christmas. In fact for many people, it is Christmas.

All this has nothing to do with either the birth of Jesus Christ, or the season of Advent. However, there is another story about Saint Nicholas which does seem appropriate to the Nativity story.

As Bishop of Myra, Nicholas attended the famous council of Nicea in the year 325. That council was called to deliberate on the problem of the heresy promoted by a Bishop called Arius. The Arian heresy claimed that Jesus was more human than divine - just a good man with a bit of divine spark inside him. Although that heresy is 1700 years old, it still keeps cropping up - as we know!

At that council the Arian heresy was dealt with, and as a result we got the Nicene Creed, which we sing every Sunday. Particularly its words: "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made". Words designed to teach us that Jesus is both divine and human. The story goes that when Arius was trying to promote his doctrine he insulted the Blessed Virgin Mary, whereupon Saint Nicholas came forward and punched him on the mouth. Something you might not like to tell children about their beloved Santa Claus!

Today in the Church Santa Claus is not coming to town - rather John the Baptist comes. His words are not complementary, neither does bear gifts for children. In the Gospel today (Matthew 3:1-12) we hear the story of Saint John Baptist on the river Jordon, preaching repentance and hell fire. This incident follows immediately after the birth narratives, with all their stories of angels, shepherds, and wise men. Christmas is a journey - like Advent - and Matthew takes us straight from the birth narratives to the river Jordon, and this preacher of repentance - the forerunner of the Messiah, as prophesied by Isaiah.

You see, Matthew wants us to understand that John the Baptist is only significant because of Jesus' birth. If there had been no virgin birth John the Baptist would have been irrelevant.

Saint Luke in his Gospel shows this also in the story of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. After Mary had received the news that she was to be the Mother of the Christ, she went immediately to see her cousin, who was already pregnant with John the Baptist. The story describes how the baby John the Baptist, in the womb, leapt for joy at the presence of Jesus Christ, in the womb of his mother, Mary.

John the Baptist is the forerunner who points us to Jesus. But John the Baptist also points us to a kind of forerunning in our own lives. In our lives as Christians we are on a journey - and every end becomes a new beginning.

Advent is a journey, which is an image of our journeys. The goal of our journeying often seems to remain far ahead of us, and we are always looking ahead to where the journey goes. The destination often stays beyond our reach and power, and perhaps it even fades as we approach. For life is often fleeting. We hate the fleeting moments, and we try to get on to the very next thing - and yet, the very next thing eludes us also.

For many people this is a constant in life - a great dilemma. We are all pilgrims on a road - and perhaps our journey is like that. For us, as Scripture says, here there is no resting place or abiding city, but we seek a place to come. There will always be something ahead of us that we have not yet overtaken - for journeys involve both arrivals and departures. Last week we considered the first and second comings of Jesus into the world - which is the ultimate arrival and departure.

Today, John the Baptist arrives. In this very short season soon he will depart and the Blessed Virgin Mary will arrive - but quickly moving to the side to take second place next to her Son. This is how the season of Advent develops. It leaves us breathless as we realize that it is a parallel to our own journeying in life. This is a season reminding us to be ready for a further journey - even when we think we are at last home.

More than this, the Advent journey is when we continue on our way and see coming towards us what we could never catch up with - God himself. It is an image of the Christian life. God allows us to go where we want, often off the track, but in the end he gives us Himself when tangible things disappear or are taken away from us.

Our lives are but one whole Advent season, and the end of Advent is the end of our life - the precious gift of Jesus in our lives.

As T.S Elliott, the great Anglican writer said: "At the end of our journey we will find we have arrived back at the place where we first started".

Today's Epistle (Romans 15:4-13) gives us an Advent perspective to this journey of our life. The writer says: "May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus".

He goes on to talk about hospitality, the promise of Scripture, and finally hope. Hope is the word for Advent. It is the answer to our journeys - and also both the means and the end.

Finally, the reading today concludes with these encouraging words: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope".