How Much of a Saint was Nicholas?

Santa Claus is a big part of American culture. I’m not sure how your parent’s handled the whole “Santa” thing, but my mom thought it was OK to dream and use your imagination while at the same time believing that Jesus was the Real reason for the Season. There is certainly a tension between faith and fun during the Christmas season and each family has to navigate it in their own way. I’m still not sure sitting on the lap of an old, fat guy is a very good thing to do, but there is are some great things we can learn from the historical St. Nicholas.

St. Nicholas’ journey to Sainthood is fascinating to me! I reached out to friend who is a Catholic Priest and he shared this link: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=371. There is a pretty good video attached to the site that describes his historical life and how St. Nicholas precedes the Catholic process of canonizing a saint. I think there are many things our Catholic friends got right in their investigation of a Saint; however, there are also some areas that I question.

Like many seekers of truth, I wanted to get to the source and ponder the implications for my faith. So, I asked the questions: “Where does the New Testament first address the issue of sainthood”? The answer to that question surprised me. The first mentioning of a saint is in Matthew 27:50–54.  It is in verse 52 that we find the original word: “ἅγιον hagiŏn”. Now if your not a Bible Geek or Pastor why does this matter and why should you care? Well the people that came out of the tombs after Jesus death were called saints. WHY? They went through no special process, they were not examined and confirmed by the church, no one prayed to them, we have no specific record of their piety…. So, why does Christian Scripture use such a holy term to identify them? I believe it is because they were dead and brought to life solely because of Christ!

This week at Grace Seaford, I will be sharing on how you and I can live out the principles of Saintly living. How the principles of sainthood are available to every person regardless of their background, hang ups, hurts, or distance from God. If you can’t make it physically you can check out the audio later here: http://graceseaford.org/sermon-outlines-recordings. My hope is that this Christmas many new saints might exit a tomb of death and despair. That these saints may be energized by the power that Christ can bring anyone into sainthood and that sainthood is less about status and more about service. St. Nicholas is a great example to lead us in this direction.