God is like Santa Claus for adults

God is like Santa Claus for adults

I don't watch Glee, but my nieces do, so I have seen it from time to time to stay in the loop (and be entertained). Two months ago there was one I just had to watch, “Grilled Cheesus.” The face of Jesus appeared on grilled cheese – and another main plot line was that Kurt's (a central character) father had a major heart attack and was comatose in the hospital. God, Jesus, high school students, teachers, life & death, atheism, all with the cast breaking into song throughout – gotta love it.

Well, I'm sure some didn't because while the Christians portrayed in the show came across as great people, Christianity as a larger abstract idea took a beating at the hands of wonderful one-line zingers delivered by atheists. And the one-liners were allowed to stand unanswered... but hey, it's TV.

Now that it's December, I'm reminded of one of them.

Kurt says, “I think God is kind of like Santa Claus for adults.”

I'm now realizing why it was it wasn't answered. Not that it can't be answered, but any one pithy statement will sound either defensive, naive, like blind faith, too strong or too weak... but I don't have to be limited to one line.

Yep, for many people God is kind of like Santa Claus – and that's a problem. The God for some people has about as much in common with the creator of all, as Santa Claus has with a 4^th century Greek Christian bishop from Myra in Lycia (coast of present day Turkey if you're wondering). Oh, his name was Nicholas, and he was famous for his generosity to the poor. He was a Christian man who put his faith into action. Of note, he kept girls out of sex-trade by providing dowries so they could marry. No red suit, no cookie belly, no toys to children of white middle class neighborhoods... okay, I'm starting to kill the holiday buzz – I really like the fun of Santa Claus, and he still fills stockings in the Gieser household...

Santa Claus is as far from Bishop Nicholas of Myra, as many people's god is from the infinite eternal God. (okay, the two Nicks are actually a lot closer). So unfortunately, for many, God is kind of like Santa Claus for adults...and then when the right present isn't delivered they feel like the curtain has been pulled back. The modern day Santa is just what we want him to be, and for many God is as well... and this doesn't cut it when the dark valley comes, when all the pieces don't fit together, when we need a God who is bigger than it all. The God revealed in the Bible, is big enough, complex enough, strong enough, true enough, revealed enough – for any adult, in any situation, in any time.

Enjoy Christmas, have fun with Santa, and know that Jesus came to allow us to better understand and connect with the God of all. As Pastor Dave Corlett said, “the inconceivable God was conceived by a virgin in Bethlehem.”