Friends, can we have a chat about Santa?

This year Myer launched its Naughty or Nice bauble. If you’ve not heard of it have a look at the video below. It connects via Bluetooth to a parent’s phone and they can change the bauble’s colour (green or red) based on their children’s goodness or badness in the moment. It’s a behaviour modification tool. A way of dangling the possibility of no presents from Santa in order to get the Duplo picked up and the tantrums to cease.

This is why I’m not a huge fan of Santa. Santa is the god we invent for ourselves. He’s just like, well, every other god invented in history. Allah, Zeus, Vishnu, Baal – they all see you when you’re sleeping and know when you’re awake. They all wait for us to glow green before they dispense any kindness to us.

But when Jesus entered the womb of a woman, he turned that story completely upside down. His kindness is for those whose blinky baubles are only ever red. And he doesn’t just load us up with stuff and disappear. He comes as Emmanuel, God with us. He is the gift and the giver.

Now this is, of course, no judgement on you if your family does/has done the Santa thing. But some might suggest that what I’m calling for is a de-fantasised Christmas. I disagree. God most high has become God our brother. Phenomenal cosmic powers in an eeny peeny living space. The long-hoped for Prince has come. He slayed our dragon to rescue us and redeem the land and through his sacrifice death had started working backwards. That sounds pretty fantastic to me.

grace and peace,

Steve