Merry Christmas! Are you ready for the big day?
If you have no plans on Monday, December 22, at 6:00 p.m., why not stop by Fallowfield United Methodist Church? We will be singing Christmas carols to shut-ins and the sick. We typically sing at ten houses and give baskets of homemade cookies and fruit.
You’re also invited to attend Christmas Eve service at 7:30 p.m. at Fallowfield United Methodist. If you don’t have a home church, please join us.
Christmas is a season of symbols. My favorite Christmas symbol is one you may not have seen.
It is a sculpture called “Kneeling Santa Claus,” made by R.P. Gauer in 1976. Santa kneels at the manger with his head bowed and hands folded. Baby Jesus gazes up at Santa, whose hat lay beside the manger.
This is the best visual expression of the true meaning of Christmas I’ve ever seen. St. Nicholas, known in the United States as Santa Claus, was a devout Christian who gave gifts as a way of following Jesus’ commandment to give in secret: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3 NIV).
St. Nicolas followed Jesus. Santa is Christmas to children and the world system. But Baby Jesus is Christmas for Christians.
Last Christmas I taught the preschoolers at our church the story of Jesus’ birth. When I explained that Mary laid Jesus in a manger, I asked the children if they knew what a manger is.
When I explained that a manger is a feeding trough, one little boy, the son of dairy farmers, looked at me with wide eyes. He said, “But cows slobber and poop in there!”
He was appalled at the idea of laying a baby in a trough. While I’m sure Joseph made sure the manger was as clean as he could get it, the concept remains the same. There probably was dried animal saliva in the manger. I don’t know if the hay was clean or how the stable smelled.
But that’s where the shepherds found our savior. His birth was as humble as it gets. It’s only fitting that Santa Claus, the great symbol of Christmas, should bow his knees and head at the feet of our humble Lord. May we all do the same.
All God’s blessings to you and yours this Christmas season.