By James Wilson
I often get a kick out of message t-shirts and I saw one at a shopping mall in Canberra – Aussies just call them the shops – that gave me the laugh of the day. Amid all the hype about begging Santa for this and that accompanied by promises the bearer has been good all year, this young lady sported this message, “Dear Santa, Let me explain…”
In that spirit, but mindful of my faith identity, I offer this open letter to Mr. Claus:
“Dear Santa, Let me explain,
I totally get it about who you really are. I know you lived on earth in the late third to the mid fourth century in what I know as Turkey. I know you were a dedicated servant of Jesus Christ who fought for the faith-once-delivered, and I know you bear a martyr’s scars on your body. You were so passionate for the truth about your Lord you once decked a fellow churchman at a church council in Nicea because of his blather about Jesus not really being God.
“I know you had such a soft spot for the poor and their children that you went out at night and put money in their shoes – the ones they left on open window ledges – and (I don’t know why) you are especially connected to sailors and others far from their homes. I know that’s where we get the whole tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time.
“I know you are alive today with the Lord you served on earth so I would never be one to say Saint Nicholas – or Santa Claus if you like – does not exist. I’m sure you must be embarrassed at the hype associated with Christmas and people getting into fist fights over Christmas bargains. But – seriously – could you not take a bit of a more pro-active role in the situation here on earth? I mean you were a tireless crusader for the truth sprinkled with lots of mercy seventeen hundred years ago, and I know you have at least some pull with the King after all you have done for Him. Could you not ask Him for a brief time back here – like we get in so many movies about angels and people who died without fulfilling their destiny and stuff like that? And could you not use that time to tell the people who worship you and your sleigh – I don’t think worship is an inappropriate word when I look at the decorations and listen to the songs on the radio that are all about you – tell them to get over themselves and get a clue that Christmas is about giving and not getting – and the getting includes thinking they gave the best gifts? Could you not re-direct their attention to your boss?
You know, the guy who was born in a stable and had shepherds and wandering wise men praising His Name while the powers-that-be were hunting Him down and trying to off Him before he was even properly weaned. I am talking about the guy they would have made into a King after He fed thousands of them with some kind of miracle and raised people from the dead and stuff. They only got really mad at Him when He told them – which He did a lot – they didn’t get these gifts from Him because they deserved them, but because He loved them too much to give them what they really deserved after the times they worshipped Kanye and Lady Gaga and the people on The Bachelor and stabbed people in the back instead of having people’s backs. Can’t you tell them?
“Oh wait. I just read over my own letter. I think I get it now. I was wrong when I said you must have some pull with the King after all you’ve done for Him. You just gave back to Him some of the eternal and abundant life He gave first to you. I guess putting the responsibility for reforming the rest of us back on you is what my friends and I used to call getting it bass ackwards, just another way of making it still about you when it is supposed to be about Him. I am going to change my request and ask you to pray for me and the rest of us – from where you are – that we turn around and get our focus back on Him where it should have been in the first place. Who knows, we might even get back to celebrating His birthday by giving to Him and to each other – in that order.”
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships, The Holy Spirit and the End Times, and Kingdom in Pursuit– available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at praynorthstate@gmail.com
