He’s Coming…

We stumbled across this cafe down a side street, searching for somewhere to have a moment together out of the cold. The cheery cafe owner took our order and we sat and waited in the corner, looking around us at the tinselled walls and festive decorations. 

The cafe owner soon slapped our sandwiches and drinks down beside us before returning once more with a bright red napkin. “Enjoy” He said.

I glanced down at the napkin he’d given us…

Apparently Santa Claus is coming to town.

Actually Santa has been here a while, having arrived in late October just after the Halloween ghouls. He’s been painting the town red, ho-ho-ho-ing around endless stores on the high street, jingling his bells and wobbling his jelly-belly in endless advertisements. Santas not coming. He’s already here. Big fat and jolly. 

The Christmas song proclaiming Santa’s arrival is merry and fun, but if you lean in and listen to its catchy lyrics, the world Santa ushers in is actually a little unsettling…

“You better watch out, You better not cry,

You better not pout, I’m telling you why…

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He’s making a list, And checking it twice,

Gonna find out, Who’s naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He sees you when you’re sleeping,

He knows when you’re awake.

He knows if you’ve been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake!”

Santa is a hard task master. As he makes his list and checks it twice, his form of Christmas generosity is only for the nice crowd. All the rest of us get coal! 

The historical inspiration for Santa Claus, St Nicholas, inspired by his love for Jesus (the central person in the historical Christmas Story) gave everything he had, his inheritance and his whole life to assist the struggling, lost and poor. Our modern day version of St Nicholas, Santa, is now used to replace Jesus in Christmas celebrations altogether, and has proved very useful in money-spinner-marketing jingling ‘Christmas joy’ to wide eyed children. 

A moving advertisement for the UK charity ‘Shelter’ last Christmas depicts a little girl trying so hard to be ‘good enough’ so that Santa will grant her Christmas wish for a new home.

But though the cheerful song confidently clangs “Santa Claus is coming to town” and though this little girl tried so heart-all-in hard to make it onto his nice list. He never arrived for this little girl. She stayed stuck in her poverty. 

Santa didn’t come to town. 

And that’s the difference between the noisy sparkly jolly fiction and the true story of Christmas. Santa actually isn’t coming to town.

But Jesus is already here. 

“Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” 

Psalm 96:13

Advent, the word, means ‘to come, coming or arrival. Like a promise fulfilled.

Old Testament Scripture, similar to Santa’s jolly Christmas song, promised that someone was ‘coming to town’…

 ‘I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.’ Malachi 3:1

…The difference being, that unlike Santa Claus, God actually came. As He promised. But perhaps not as we expected. 

From Genesis onwards this was always the message “the Lord you are seeking will come”. The story of scripture has always been a story of anticipation. He was always coming. This promised hope. This person.

He’s not a broken promise, like an elf who is supposedly coming to town but never truly does. Jesus is the fulfilment of every promise God ever made. The one who would come to stamp on the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), the King who would come to rule (Genesis 49:10), the shoot that would come from Jesse’s line (Isaiah 11:1-2).The Prince of Peace who would reign on David’s throne with justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:7).

The story of Scripture, our story with God, has always been pregnant with the promise of His coming presence. Our human story has never been a cul-de-sac dead-end story. Our story brims with anticipation, spilling over with sure hope. 

We live in a story into which God Himself showed up, to help us begin to understand that His intention has always been to show up, to be present, to walk closely. To be close. He’s always coming, just as the word ‘Advent’ proclaims. 

Despite what the song says, Santa isn’t coming to town, and his list doesn’t define our fate and the truth is that none of us will ever be ‘nice’ enough and it’s not just that we’re on a ‘naughty’ list. The truth is that we (the whole human race) are hopelessly lost in the dark. A dark that all the Christmas lights and glittery tinsel and jolly red elves can’t light. A dark that Santa and his reindeer cannot fix and jolly Christmas tunes cannot cover over.

How complicated and intricate and busy and noisy our Christmas ‘story’ has become. We humans have built an elaborate tinselled Christmas world without the central truth of Christmas in it.

Grace came simply. Manger-cradle small and baby’s-breath gentle, into our dark and distracted world. Grace came simply, but burns so bright, it burns away all the guilt and shame, the distraction and manipulation… so all that’s left is love.

Love that came. As He promised He would.

Love that died. To restore us.

Love that open-hand reaches for your hand now.

He has come. Just as He promised.

And invites you now to come. No guilt trip, no shame, no heart-all-in trying hard to be good enough. No nice or naughty list. 

Just His welcome. 

Manger-cradle simple.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”  

Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

 

This is Advent: The season of anticipation, expectation and arms-wide-open-welcome ready to receive the gift of God Himself. 

God with us.

 

 

PS-If you want to push back the jingling rush and explore the true, beautiful, ancient Christmas story this Advent season, you are very welcome to stay awhile. This little corner of the internet is about to light up and brim over with story, gifts, Christmas carols, scripture and all the hopeful expectation this season offers. All free. All yours. 

Save the date. The Long Walk to Bethlehem begins December 1st.