Midweek Advent Series:
St. Nicholas, St. Lucia, St. Thomas

I.
St. Nicholas Day
December 6

In the name of Jesus

One of the complaints that Christians often voice at this time of year is that Christmas has become too commercialized and too secularized.  Far too many people observe the holy day of the Christ mass without any acknowledgment of Christ at all.  Everything's about parties and presents and TV specials without any reverence for or meditation on the main focus of Christmas, namely, the incarnation of our Lord, His taking on of our flesh to save us.  Santa Claus gets more attention than Jesus.

Perhaps, however, this problem can begin to be corrected by understanding where the legend of Santa Claus comes from and the actual historical basis of who he is.  Most of us have heard of Santa Claus referred to as St. Nick or St. Nicholas.  And in fact that's where the name comes from–Santa is the word for Saint and Claus is a shortened form in Dutch of the word Nicholas.  Santa Claus, St. Nicholas.

Now Santa Claus has become the stuff of fairy tales and has been influenced in many ways by pagan notions.  But St. Nicholas was a real person who lived in the early 300's A.D.  Since December 6th is the day on which Nicholas is recognized in the church, we shall focus a bit on his life this evening and meditate on what it has to teach us about Christ and Christmas.

Nicholas was born into a wealthy family in Asia Minor, what is now Turkey.  Having become a Christian, Nicholas chose not to pursue a life of riches but instead devoted himself to the church.  He eventually became bishop of a city called Myra.  Myra was a decadent and corrupt city, and Nicholas became well known for transforming it by his pious hard work and preaching of the Word of Christ.

St. Nicholas was also known for his love for those in need, such as poor widows and orphaned children.  As bishop he saw to it that the church worked to care for the needy.  Perhaps his giving of gifts, especially to impoverished children, is part of what formed the Santa Claus tradition.

And there is one story in particular about Nicholas that stands out above the rest and is the most famous.  There was a man in the city of Myra who had three daughters.  But this man did not have enough money to provide his daughters with suitable dowries necessary for them to get married in those days.  Without being able to marry it was likely that they were to end up as prostitutes.  Nicholas was deeply troubled about this, and he decided to help.  But he chose to do so in a way that wouldn't draw attention to himself.  Evidently taking from his own resources, Nicholas prepared three bags of gold.  On three successive nights St. Nicholas went to this man's house and threw a bag of gold into one of the open windows–one bag of gold each night for each of the three daughters, sufficient to provide each of them with the necessary dowry.  Later on when this story was told in colder regions, Nicholas was portrayed dropping the bags of gold down the chimney.  Still to this day three golden bags or golden spheres are the sign of a pawnbroker, in remembrance of how Nicholas bought these three daughters out of hock, you might say, redeeming and rescuing them from the fate that awaited them.

There are many more accounts of Nicholas helping others, too.  For instance, once there were three men who were falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death.  But Nicholas stepped in and spoke in their defense and was able to secure their release and give them their lives back.

It's interesting that in all the stories of St. Nicholas that I've seen, the number three keeps popping up–three daughters without dowries, three falsely accused men, three sailors whom he rescued from drowning.  And this is fitting.  For Nicholas was one who was a defender of the Trinitarian faith, someone who proclaimed belief in the one and only true God who is threefold, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In fact, it is quite possible that St. Nicholas was one of the bishops present at the Council of Nicea which defended and confirmed the teaching that Jesus is both true God and true man.  It is from this council in 325 A.D. that we get the Nicene Creed which we confess here each week.  A certain false preacher named Arius was teaching that Jesus was not of the same substance as the Father, that the Son of God was a created being, god-like but not true God.  The Council of Nicea roundly rejected that heresy and reaffirmed the Scriptural position that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human in one undivided person, true God from all eternity.

Whether or not Nicholas was present at that Council, he was a defender of that faith, faith in Christ the Son of God as the only Savior from sin and death and the devil.  Nicholas preached Jesus, baptized people into Jesus' body, absolved people of their sins in Jesus' name, fed them with the life-giving body and blood of Jesus.  This is the real St. Nicholas.  He wasn't a Santa Claus taking attention away from Jesus.  He was a preacher drawing everyone's attention to Jesus.  He wasn't one making a list and checking it twice to see who was naughty and who was nice.  For he knew that his people were both sinners and saints at the same time and that all desperately needed Christ's forgiveness and mercy.

By God's grace the love of Christ was shown forth both in St. Nicholas' preaching and also in his life.  We give attention to the generous deeds of Nicholas because that ultimately draws our attention to the infinitely generous love that he himself first received from God.  It was that love of God that was working through Nicholas in his life.

After all, just consider his deeds.  Nicholas sacrifices and gives of his own resources to save the three daughters.  Is that not what Jesus did for us?  He sacrificed and gave Himself for us to rescue us from being eternally violated by death and the devil.  He redeemed us not with bags of gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.  So it is that we are now worthy and prepared to be His holy bride.

Likewise, Nicholas stood in to defend those facing death, risking his own name and reputation.  Is that not what Jesus did and still does for us?  He stood between us and eternal death on the cross and thereby kept us from having to suffer that most capital of all punishments.  Furthermore, the Scriptures say that even now Jesus is standing before the Father as our advocate, speaking in our defense, responding to every charge laid against us with the merits of His own blood and righteousness.  Through Him we are set free to be people of God.

The same love of Christ that was at work in St. Nicholas is at work also in you.  For in your baptism you were crucified with Christ; and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you and through you.  The Lord is working in you so that His boundless love which has been shown to you might spill over to others, in the giving of yourself, in the giving of gifts–not so that you can feel good about yourself or draw attention to yourself, but giving that is anonymous and entirely for the good of others, like a bag of gold through an open window at night.  That's why I think it is a fine tradition for someone who gives an anonymous gift to say that it's from Santa Claus, St. Nicholas.  For such a gift is given in a spirit that reflects the love of Christ as Nicholas did, and ultimately it seeks to give glory not to ourselves but to God who is the true Giver of every good and perfect gift.

Indeed every present that we give is a sign of that Greatest Gift of all, the Christ child in the manger–given to us almost anonymously, noticed only by shepherds on that night, recognized and received only by few throughout His life.  But hidden within the wrapping of His lowly humanity dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily full of grace and mercy.  Jesus is Love in the flesh for you.  There is no greater present than that.  That is the ultimate gift St. Nicholas sought to give.

So is there such a person as Santa Claus?  Of course there is.  If you don't believe in the existence of St. Nicholas, you might as well not believe in the existence of Mary or Joseph or the shepherds or the wise men.  Sure you're not going to find him sliding down your chimney.  But he is with us whenever we gather for divine service.  For in Christ's presence dwell angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, all the saints and believers who have gone before us.  Thank God that St. Nicholas lives.  He lives forever because, just like you, he was baptized and believed in Jesus, who was born, and died, and rose for us all.

In the name of Jesus

II.
St. Lucia Day
December 13

In the name of Jesus

St. Lucia was born in Sicily in the year 283 A.D. to rich parents, members of the nobility.  However, her father died when she was still very small, and so she and her mother Eutychia were left alone.  Eutychia taught and raised her in the faith, and Lucia was a very devout and pious young woman.  In fact even though they still had much wealth, she desired to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor.  Her mother, though, did not permit her to do this.

But then something occurred that changed her mother's mind.  Eutychia had been suffering for several years from a hemorrhage, a chronic flow of blood.  Lucia prayed for her mother's healing.  Evidently, her prayer was answered.  Her mother was restored to health; the hemorrhage stopped.  In response to this wonderful gift of healing from God, Eutychia allowed Lucia to have her wish and to distribute the vast majority of her share of the family wealth to the poor.

There was just one problem.  Lucia had been unwillingly betrothed to a deceitful young man who was not a Christian.  He loved Lucia's riches more than her.  When she gave away her wealth, he was furious.  His greediness moved him to get revenge.  He went to the governor of Sicily and  exposed the fact to him that Lucia was a Christian.  This was during the year 303 when Christianity was still illegal and Emperor Diocletian's persecution of the church was taking place.  All that someone had to do was denounce a person publicly to the authorities, and that person would be arrested.  If they didn't deny or recant their faith by cursing Christ and offering incense to Caesar, then they could be killed.

Lucia did not recant or deny her faith in Christ even under this threat.  As a result she was tortured, her eyes were put out, and she was executed, perhaps having been burned at the stake.  Her martyr's death immediately made her famous in Sicily, and the story of her life and death, with some embellishments, lives on to this day.

Particularly in Sweden, Lucia is remembered on December 13th by having one of the daughters of the house dress in a white robe with a crown of lighted candles and go singing from room to room early in the morning while it is still dark to awaken the other family members and to offer them cakes of bread.  There are several reasons for this tradition.  First of all, Lucia is said to have once brought bread to needy people who were living in a cave.  This gift reminds us of Lucia's faith that Jesus is the Bread of Life.

The other aspects of this tradition are also important.  The white robe is a reminder of the holiness of the saints who have died in Christ, and indeed of all those buried with Christ in baptism.  It is written of Christians in the book of Revelation, "These are they who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" Jesus Christ.  St. Lucia's holiness arose not from her own goodness or her virginity but from the cleansing forgiveness of Christ.

The crown of candles is also significant for a couple of reasons.  First of all, it indicates that even when Lucia no longer had her eyes, she still had the light of Christ to walk by even then.  She could yet "see" by faith, far better than any of her persecutors could ever see.  Though physically blind, she had better vision than any unbeliever.  For she was enlightened with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as we say in the catechism.  Furthermore, the fact that these candles are worn as a crown is a reminder of the crown of glory that all believers shall inherit through Christ in heaven.  Though her life in this world ended in darkness and death, her eternal existence is one of light and life, even as it is for all the faithful.  Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."

Jesus entered our world of darkness by literally becoming one of us.  He was born at midnight in a cold stable that He might warm us with the light of His presence.  December 25th was chosen as the date to celebrate Jesus' birth, not so much because that is the likely date of His actual birth, but because that is the time of year, near the winter solstice, when the days are shortest and the world is darkest.  In pagan religion this day would be observed as the day of the "unconquerable sun," s-u-n, because from that point forward, the days would get longer and the light would win over the darkness.  Christians took that pagan festival and made it Christian, applying it to the Unconquerable Son, S-o-n.  For even as the days from December 25th onward get longer and lighter, so with the coming of Jesus, Light wins out over the powers of darkness.  Though Jesus suffered on the cross under a dark shroud as the sacrifice for our sin, on the third day He came forth from the gloom of death in resurrection light.  He is indeed the Unconquerable Son, and through faith in Him, Romans 8 says, we too are conquerors, victors over death and the devil.

St. Lucia bore witness to that fact in her life and in her death.  In fact the word "martyr" literally means "witness."  In giving away much of her goods and wealth to help the poor, she bore witness to the love of Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.  She bore witness to a belief in God as the Creator who can and will provide for all of our daily needs.  And in death she bore witness to God as the Recreator, who is more powerful than death.  She testified that she loved the Lord and His salvation even more than life itself in this world.  Like Abraham, she was looking for a better country, a heavenly one.  She knew that the only way to have life in the world to come is to lay down your life in the world that is.

So it is also for you, especially in this Advent tide as you set your hearts on the coming of the Lord.  You may not be called to be a martyr, but you are given to bear witness to Christ in word and deed and to take up your cross and follow Him.  Jesus said, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."  Baptized into Christ, you are given to live the pattern of His life–humility before glory, death before resurrection, crucifying your old Adam that Christ may be pre-eminent and that His life may show forth in and through you.

This life of repentance and faith is not easy.  It is truly a narrow road on which you are called to run.  But along this road, Hebrews says, you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses–Abraham and Joseph and Moses, Gideon and David and Samuel, prophets and apostles, saints and martyrs.  And above all, you are upheld by Him who laid this path and ran it for you, Jesus.  Consider Him, Hebrews says, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Your road will end up where Christ's ended up, for you are in Him.  What is now only a candle in the darkness will soon be the dawning of the everlasting Day of resurrection at Jesus' return.  Let that joy set before you give you endurance in the faith.

In the name of Jesus
 

III.
Eve of St. Thomas
December 20

In the name of Jesus

If Advent is the pregnancy before the delivery at Christmas, then we've just about come full term.  In only a few days the celebration of our Lord's birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary will take place.  In talking about our Lord's nativity, it would be blasphemous, of course, for me to say that Jesus had a twin.  For Jesus alone is the holy Son of God who took on our flesh and blood to redeem us from sin and death.  There is none other like Jesus.  And yet, on this Eve of St. Thomas, I would suggest to you that there is a sense in which we can speak of our Lord having a twin.  The life of Thomas teaches us of that.

Most of us know St. Thomas only as doubting Thomas.  He was the one who wouldn't believe the other disciples when they told him that Jesus was raised from the dead.  He said the only way he would believe was if he touched the nail marks in Jesus' hands and put his hand to Jesus' side where the spear had pierced Him.  He just wasn't going to be hurt further after he had seen his Lord dead by believing what he thought was some desperate tale about a resurrection.

And so we usually think of Thomas only as a skeptic and a doubter.  But the fact of the matter is that he could also show great loyalty and devotion.  We heard an example of that in today's first reading.  Word had just come to Jesus that one His friends, Lazarus, was deathly ill in Bethany.  In the course of events Jesus told His disciples that they were going to Bethany to see Lazarus.

But the disciples balked at this idea.  For Bethany was in Judea, and it was only a short time before that the religious leaders in Judea had tried to stone Jesus and kill him.  Jesus had made the claim to them not only that He existed before Abraham but that He Himself was the Lord God, the great I AM.  The Jews took this to be blasphemy and desired to stone Him.  But He hid Himself from them and eluded them.  Therefore, to go back to Judea would be to risk life and limb, both for Jesus and His disciples.

But after their discussion, Thomas said these words, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  Despite the risk, Thomas was willing to go with Jesus.  Even in the face of death, Thomas did not want to depart from Jesus' side.  Though Thomas, like the rest of the disciples, would not be so bold later on, His courage and faithfulness here is to be praised.

The name Thomas literally means "twin."  In fact sometimes he was called "Didymus" which is the Greek word for "twin."  This is a good name for him to have.  For it is a fitting description of all who would be disciples of Jesus.  Remember, Thomas said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  This is precisely what Jesus calls us to do, to be like Him and to have twin lives that look just like His, dying with Him in order that we may live with Him.  Jesus said, "If any one would come after Me, He must deny himself and take up His cross and follow Me."  To be a Christian is to be Christ's twin, to be crucified with Him, which means to drown the old Adam with all sins and evil lusts, to repent.  It is to lay down your life for others in your daily callings and to be willing to suffer.

However, you are also given to be Christ's twin not only in His death but also in His resurrection.  For through your baptism into His body and your faith in His name, you now share in His risen identity.  You are little Christ's before the throne of heaven, brothers and sisters of Christ bearing His very image before the Father.  You are as pure and holy as Jesus Himself by His grace.  Sharing His identity and image, you also share in His life.  Jesus said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies.  And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die."  Jesus is the firstborn twin who leads the way for you second born twins out of the womb of death into new and everlasting life.

This is the way about which Thomas asked in the second reading.  Jesus said,  "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through Me."  Jesus has prepared a place for you in the Father's house by His cross and empty tomb.  And Jesus alone is the doorway into that house.  Participating in His cross and empty tomb by faith, counting yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, you are given entry to your heavenly home.

Thomas would certainly participate in Jesus' cross.  According to tradition Thomas went on a missionary journey to preach the Gospel in India.  There is to this day a Christian community in India that claims descent from Christians first converted by the preaching of Thomas.

The tradition states that Thomas suffered a martyr's death, and that he was speared to death for what he preached.  What a wonderful irony that is!  For even as Thomas wouldn't believe until he had touched the spear mark in Jesus' side, so it was a spear that Thomas would take in His own body for the name of Jesus.  Because of His faith in Christ the very symbol that is now identified with Thomas is a spear.  He truly was Christ's twin.  He shared in Christ's death, and He will also share in Christ's resurrection, even as He now dwells according to his soul with Christ His Savior in heaven.

So it is also for you.  Like Thomas, you have been marked as Christ's twin.  You have received the sign of the holy cross both on your forehead and on your heart to mark you as ones redeemed by Christ the crucified.  Wearing the sign of His death, you shall also wear the crown of life which He has won for you.

This is the sure hope that Christmas brings to you.  God has come in the flesh for you.  And as Thomas would later see and believe, God is raised in the flesh for you. Our Lord became just like you, so that you might become just like Him.  Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have believed.

In the name of Jesus