  St Alban’s Episcopal ChurchBolivar, Missouri Monday, December 6, 2021 St Nicholas, and you… and your children or grandchildren St Nicholas Day by Father Steven Wilson, Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Carthage, MO “Throughout most of continental Europe, the gift-giving saint will appear in a variety of clothes, with variety of sidekicks, to hand out a variety of gifts to good kids. The Dutch version has Nicholas on a white horse no reindeer in sight.) He’s an historical figure who was arrested for his faith, got involved in a fist fight over theology at the Council of Nicaea, and was famous for his hands-on approach to human need, sneaking through open windows to leave needed money in the stocking of the poor hung out to dry overnight – hence the stocking and chimneys of modern folklore…” “Fights over the meaning of passages (from the prophets that we are reading these days) with their focus on gloom and doom and the future, seem to be the preferred theological domain of those who don’t want to have much to do with fixing the present.”… “Such theologizing is not at all how Nicholas lives his life. He was a man of deep faith and profound learning and deep biblical faith, a man who went to jail and torture rather than abandon Jesus. He lived in an era when the Roman Emperor was literally setting up statues of himself decked out as a god, demanding Christians give up their faith or die in the arena – and rather than spend all his time om Revelation, a book which would certainly seem more applicable to his news than to ours, he got busy proclaiming the Gospel and feeding the hungry, punching out heretics and slipping gold coins into the socks of girls who otherwise would have been sold as slaves to pay off their parents’ debts. A faith which is all about speculation and esoterica isn’t Christian; it’s gnostic. Which is, by the way, a heresy. Which is by the way, the sort of thing which got dear Nicholas, of blessed memory, very, very, testy. So unless you want to run the risk of getting sucker-punched by jolly old St Nick, get busy living your faith in the here and now. ‘Cause this isn’t a saint on whose naughty list you want to appear!”  I would suggest that this is not the sort of card Christians ought to be sending, either virtually or physically He is a Republican Congressman from Kentucky. This is real. Cookies and other small offerings You and your children can always bake something or make something simple and beautiful and give it – secretly even! The candles are lovely -an easy. Just get some simple candles. Then order some thin, colored, wax sheets to cut into designs. They stick on by themselves, so there is no mess. Kids can make anything, with any designs and they will be welcome, useful, good gifts! order was sheets at: https://achildsdream.com/stockmar-decorating-was-wide/ – there are also other sites on the internet where they can be purchased. And remember – Christmas lasts 12 days – If they -or you – don’t start to make them until December 28 – -it doesn’t matter!   More images Here are some more images for the delightful stories about St Nicholas which you can find online, or in To Dance With God – There’s Nicholas rescuing the young women from slavery with the gifts of gold, saving the sailors at sea, with the young boy who had fallen into a meat grinder and was chopped up…back to his parents alive, saving the lives of the hungry when the harvest failed – and dealing with Arius at the Council of Nicaea.     St Nicholas, you taught us how to give in secret, leaving our egos out of the game. You taught us to give gift that free the oppressed, free the unjustly imprisoned, free the starving form hunger and famine. You showed us your dignified relationship with children, and freed them from oppression and abuse of the greedy. You were a man of power, never one to abuse that power but to live a life of love, wisdom and generosity. You teach us what it is to be a parent, a father figure. We continue to need your grace example and blessings. We praise you in God’s name.  St Albans is responsible for gifts for a large number of 10-12 year-olds whose parents cannot provide gifts for them. (We will get the final number tonight) I am so very proud of all of you. So far we have emptied this large box in the nave 4 times – and still you keep bringing more. You are literally being “Nicholas” to these families – None of them will know who you are. But lessening family despair and fear is a great gift – and you are giving it. |
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