Summary
This is the Christmas Testimony of St. Nicholas of Myra.
He claims that Santa Claus is an idol.
And that we better hope that God is not making a list and checking it twice to find out whose naughty and nice… or “we’ll all be going straight to hell and Ho, Ho, Ho!”
“God is not Santa Clause; He’s the Anti-Claus,” says Nick.
“God gives good gifts to naughty people, and he is the Good Gift that he gives.”
“God is a baby in a manger and a baby is good for nothing, just good.
A baby is hard to manipulate but easy to love… and God became a baby.”
God wants what every baby wants.
He wants you to pick him up and hold him close to your heart.
And he wants to give you his heart—Jesus, “from the bosom of the Father.”
We think we get a gift for “being good,” when being good is the gift we get.
To think you make yourself good is like stealing baby Jesus from the manger.
To actually be good is like holding baby Jesus close to your heart.
You are the manger.
You are “the naughty” and Jesus is the nice.
God makes you nice with Jesus.
He is not keeping a record of wrongs but cancelling the devil’s record of wrongs by making us right—he is your righteousness.
When he seems to be good for nothing, just good, would you pick him up and hold him close to your heart?
He may seem to be good for nothing, but he is the something that makes everything good.
Pick him up and hold him close to your heart.
It’s how you make his Christmas and how he makes you.
Merry Christmas.