“But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.'” (Luke 1:30-31).

Santa Claus is anti-Christmas?!?! What in the world are you talking about, James?!?!

That is blasphemous! That’s ridiculous! That’s crazy!

I know. But give me three minutes to explain.

For modern day Americans Santa is the epitome of Christmas. Pretty much no Santa, no Christmas.

The verse of the day comes from the telling of the first Christmas. This is the angel Gabriel explaining to Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus, the Christ of Christmas.

• The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew word Yeshua which literally means Savior, Deliverer, Rescuer.
• When Gabriel tells Mary that she has found favor with God, the Greek word for favor is charin which is the noun form of charis, meaning grace.

Gabriel tells Mary that God’s grace has found her. And that is the story of all of us: God’s grace comes to us to find us. Grace is always unmerited and undeserved, otherwise it wouldn’t be grace. The story of the first Christmas is the story of how God’s grace comes to sinners. God’s grace comes to sinners not because we merit God’s grace and favor. Christmas is so amazing because it’s all about God’s amazing grace, God’s unmerited grace and favor toward sinners.

So, what does all this have to do with Santa Claus?

You all know the song: Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

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, he’s checking it twice,
to find out who’s naught or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re sleeping and he knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake.
Santa Claus is coming to town.

Santa is all about whether we’ve been naughty or nice. When we’re naughty we get coal. Only when we’ve been nice and good we get nice presents.

This is the opposite of grace.

This is the opposite of God’s favor.

This is the opposite of what God offers in Jesus Christ.

Christmas is all about God’s favor of sending Jesus to die for sinners. Christmas is all about grace.

Santa Claus is the epitome of anti-grace. The message of Santa Claus is the very opposite of the message of God’s grace in the person of Jesus Christ. Santa Claus is the opposite of the message of grace in Christmas.

Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for grace! Otherwise, as Pastor Brad says, “We’d all be hosed!”

“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

In the movie Talladega Nights, there is a scene in which Will Farrell’s character, Ricky, prays to baby Jesus. Ricky prays to the baby Jesus because he is so much safer than the grown up adult Jesus. Scene goes like this:

[Ricky] ‘Well, look, I like the Christmas Jesus best when I’m sayin’ grace. When you say grace, you can say it to Grown-up Jesus, or Teenage Jesus, or Bearded Jesus, or whoever you want.’

[Carley] ‘You know what I want? I want you to do this grace good so that God will let us win tomorrow.’

[Ricky] ‘Dear Tiny Jesus, in your golden fleece diapers with your tiny, little fat balled up fists…Look, I like the baby version the best, do you hear me? I win the races and I get the money.’

[Ricky] ‘OK. Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent. We just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the $21.2 million dollars… LOVE THAT MONEY that I have accrued over this past season. Also due to a binding endorsement contract that stipulates I mention PowerAde at each grace, I just wanna say that PowerAde is delicious and it cools you off on a hot summer day and we look forward to PowerAde’s release of mystic mountain blueberry. Thank you, for all your power and your grace, Dear Baby God, Amen.’

Fantastically funny scene. I love baby Jesus! Who doesn’t love baby Jesus? What’s there not to like about baby Jesus?

Only one problem. The baby Jesus, the cute cuddly, no crying he makes baby Jesus is not the Jesus of scripture.

You see, Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. Jesus came to take on human form in order to save us from sin and usher God’s children into God’s eternity.

Jesus wasn’t merely born. Jesus was sent.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Jesus lived that he might die, and died that we might live.”

When we lose sight of the life, ministry, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ all we end up with is a made-up version of Jesus. And the greatest problem with the made-up version of Jesus is that he is powerless to save us from sin and judgment.

Believe in the Christ of Scripture. Put your faith in the Jesus of God’s word. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

“He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed” (Isaiah 54:10).

One of the things I do on a regular basis is to check in with five people from the Little Church every day during the week.

This has been a long and difficult season. And there are some who are going through very difficult times. We have folks who are facing incredible hardships.

More times than not, when I call to encourage those going through the difficult times, I end up being the one who is encouraged by the very people I called to encourage.

You see, the promise of the verse of day is not just a nice thought for our folks. These are lived out realities. What our people have seen and experience in the midst of decline and suffering is God’s amazing unfailing love and God’s covenant of peace.

This is a peace that surpasses human understanding. This is a peace that roots the people of faith in the midst of hardship. Such a peace cannot ever be shaken. There is nothing in the created universe that can separate God’s children from his love and peace. This peace comes from the sure reality that Christ has already reconciled us to God, that sin has lost its grip, that death no longer has the last say.

I thank God for his unfailing love. I thank God that you are a people rooted in the sure foundation of God’s promises.

There is no question that these days have been difficult. I can’t imagine facing these days without the assurance of God’s promises.

This Advent season, I challenge you to invite others to discover God’s unfailing love. There are several ways you can do this. You can invite them to worship with us online. You can forward these “Verse of the Day” to others. You can pray that they too come to find their place in the love of God.

Finally, I encourage you to check in regularly with the people in your neighborhood groups. Make it a point to check in with at least one person every day.

God is at work through the Little Church and Lakewoodgrace. I get to see that first hand.

What an awesome God we serve!