We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6
I have fumbled my way through teaching Daniel about
Christmas this year. You might remember
that last year I had the great Santa debate.
Well, Andy and I never figured out what to do about Santa. Last year, we just agreed he wouldn’t be a
thing. We didn’t bake cookies for him; we
didn’t talk about reindeer; we didn’t sing any songs about the big guy in red. And then Daniel broke his leg, and that
became way more important than Santa anyway.
So here we were this year with a kid who was one year older, asking questions,
and learning a lot about Santa at preschool, and we STILL didn’t know what to
do about Santa. I think that might be
the definition of a parent fail.
It is uncharacteristic of Andy and me not to have a well thought
out game plan when it comes to teaching our kids about Jesus. But, truthfully, we hadn’t figured it
out. We’d both been uncomfortable with
Santa, but we had both been reluctant to just tell him Santa has nothing to do
with Christmas because, well, St. Nicholas WAS a strong Christian and IS the saint
Santa Claus is built upon. And, on a more superficial level, we don’t want
our kid to be the brat that tells all his preschool buddies Santa is fake. So what to do with Santa?
At the beginning of the season, we decided to put off
the decision another year. We decided to
talk about Jesus, downplay Santa, and make a decision next year. Which is fine, but for a woman who likes to
have things figured out, I’ve spent a lot of time, again, thinking about Santa
and how he fits in to Christmas. You
see, I do want to teach Daniel and Abigail about Santa. I don’t know what to do about who brings the
presents – I don’t even really care about that this year. But the truth is that our kids are learning
about Santa and talking about Santa. He
IS part of their Christmas whether I do anything with him or not, so it is up
to me to put him in some kind of context for them.
And I’ve also struggled pinpointing what I don’t like about
Santa. Then, randomly, last night, it
finally hit me. I don’t like the
Americanized concept that Santa is watching children. I don’t like that he is sometimes depicted as
some far away man at the North Pole who is keeping a close eye on whether they
have been naughty or nice – even, sometimes, dispatching his little elves to
take up residence in their homes to help him get a closer look.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the idea of behavior control around
the holidays is tempting. In fact, at
the same time I was contemplating this view of Santa, Daniel was running around
like a total wild man and driving me absolutely insane. We were waiting for our babysitter to arrive
for Abigail so we could take him to do something special, and I was super close
to losing it on him. So I can TOTALLY
see how easy it is to tell our kids they better shape up or Santa won’t be
bringing the toys. Or they better act right because that elf is watching, and he’ll be reporting that
behavior to the North Pole after bedtime.
Or to do the opposite. I saw
someone this season praise Daniel for being so well behaved telling him that “Santa
has lots of nice toys for good little boys.”
Using Santa to praise brings me as much unease as using Santa to
discipline.
And, finally, it occurred to me why I have so much trouble
with this view of Santa – especially around Christmas. It’s because the whole point of Christmas is
that none of us are good enough. Isaiah
53:6 says, “We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The beautiful, marvelous, miracle of
Christmas is that EVEN THOUGH we were pitiful, wretched, ugly, and sinful, the
Father sent the most remarkable gift in his Son. Through the Son, God himself came to redeem
us. Not because of anything we have done
but simply because he loves us. He
redeemed us and made us righteous. He
made a way for us when we couldn’t make a way for ourselves. This is Christmas.
I’ve been telling Daniel that we give each other presents at
Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ birthday, but I think the Lord has finally shown
me that it goes deeper than that. We
give each other presents to celebrate that God the Father has given us the
ultimate gift in his Son. We give our
kids extravagant gifts on Christmas, and while they are so excited and surprised,
we have an opportunity to tell them that no matter how wonderful and lovely and
perfect that gift under the tree seems, we have such a greater, more amazing,
gift in the baby in the manger.
And we have an opportunity to tell them that nothing we can
do will earn that gift from God. Daniel
is so far from the perfect child. At
least once a day we have a hitting/pushing/tackling his friend or his sister
issue to address. But at Christmas, I
have a chance to effectively say to him, “These gifts under this tree are for
you because we love you. They have
nothing to do with how naughty or nice you are.” In the same way, Jesus brings us the gift of
salvation from our sins. Not because of
anything we have done. The exact
opposite. Because of everything we haven’t
done and will never be able to do, he saves us.
He covers our sin with his righteousness and brings us into right
relationship with the God of the universe.
This is Christmas. Not that we
were good enough, but that we weren’t, and we never will be. And, so in great love, God gave the ultimate
gift.
Doing Santa or not doing Santa isn’t the point. And I don’t think there is one right answer
on that for Christian families. And I
don’t know how we will end up addressing it in our home. But if Santa does bring gifts to the Speight
children next year, I can guarantee that it won’t be because of how naughty or
nice they are. The gifts will come no
matter what. And when they do,
regardless of who brings them, I will be telling my children, “See these gifts?
They have nothing to do with how good or bad you’ve been this year. They are here because you are loved. See that baby in the manager? He came for the same reason. You are so loved.”
So, hear those words this season. Hear them in your soul. In all the chaos and craziness and stress of
this season. In all the wonder and the
magic and the beauty. Hear this: You are
loved. Not because of anything you’ve
done. No. You are loved, and your gift is here. Precisely because of what you haven’t done
and will never be able to do.
You are loved.
Merry Christmas.
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