Christmas is big enough for Santa Claus and Baby Jesus
Christmas is supposed to be all about the birth of Christ.
Theologically, it is.
But in our commercial world, it hasn’t been for decades. Christmas is mostly about Santa Claus.
Baby Jesus needs a much better marketing guru to achieve a more prominent profile on his birthday.
Unless Baby Jesus starts giving out toys around the globe, much easier said than done. If you think Google, Amazon and Facebook are monopolies, they have nothing on Santa. The Jolly Old Fat Man has a transcendent brand.
Granted, you can have both Santa and the Baby Jesus at Christmas if you keep them in their respective secular and spiritual lanes.
Indeed, the two share a couple commonality. They both reward the nice and punish the naughty.
Santa, of course, is the more benign. If you’ve been naughty, he simply stiffs you when it comes to doling out gifts.
The adult Jesus is much harsher. If you’ve been naughty, he damns you for eternity. On the flip side, his reward for the nice is a sweet ride in the bye and bye for the rest of time.
It’s a shame that Santa Claus aces out Baby Jesus at Christmas. But that’s coming from my adult perspective. If you look at it from a child’s perspective, it’s a slam dunk that Santa is the focal point of the holiday.
After all, he’s packing the tangible goodies. Kids don’t care about an abstract concept like salvation.
When my children were young, Christmas was a glorious time because they were so excited about Santa. When they grew up, I have to confess much of the magic in Christmas dissipated for me. But now that I have young grandchildren, their fascination with Santa has restored the excitement for me.
Our pastors, of course, always preach the true meaning of Christmas. But their voices often are drowned out by all the commercial programming lighting up the legend of Santa in the grandest holiday display around.
Santa this time of year is like oxygen. He’s everywhere. Much less visible in children’s eyes is Baby Jesus hanging out with some farm animals and shepherds in a stable that isn’t even decorated.
We pray that when children grow up, they put Christ back in Christmas. But when they have kids, Santa returns to the forefront. And when our children’s children have children, the cycle continues. And so on.
Yes, Jesus is eternal. With generations of children fixating on Santa Claus, he likely is too.
There have been a lot of dynamic duos. Batman and Robin. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Desi and Lucy. Butch and Sundance. Bonnie and Clyde. Doc Brown and Marty McFly. Thelma and Louise. Han Solo and Chewbacca. Captain Kirk and Spock. Romeo and Juliet. Bert and Ernie. Sonny and Cher. Lewis and Clark. Brady and Gronk.
But none of them tops the Terrific Twosome of Jesus and Santa, who are tethered to each other every Christmas.
Perhaps it doesn’t matter who’s No. 1. We’re not keeping score here. Besides, sometimes scorekeeping is an interpretive art.
Santa helps expand Christmas into a whole season, not just 12 days or a day. The extended spotlight on Christmas keeps the Christ child in shimmering focus as well.
Santa Claus and Baby Jesus ride in tandem to make Christmas so resplendent. I don’t believe that Jesus minds sharing the limelight. He is by definition a team player by being part of a triune deity along with God and the Holy Spirit.