Advent 4 A Partridge in a Pear tree and the reason the Santa once made the Naughty list

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT  Year A  December 22, 2019

·         Isaiah 7:10-16   • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  •  Romans 1:1-7  •   Matthew 1:18-25

Before writing anything I decided that the title for today’s readings should be; “A partridge in a pear tree and the reason that Santa once made the Naughty list”.  Just what exactly do Santa and a partridge have in common?  Stay tuned…

We have arrived at the fourth week of advent and by this time we are probably well into our Christmas preparations.  The children will most likely be most of the way through their advent calendars, which is as it should be, as these calendars aim to remind us to prepare for Christmas.  But Christmas doesn’t stop on the 25^th of December.  Did you know that the song the 12 days of Christmas actually starts with the 25^th of December and goes through to the feast of the Epiphany on the 6^th of January?

The song, 12 days of Christmas may be a fun and non-sense kind of Christmas song, but in an era of history when it was widely understood what and when were the 12 days of Christmas, many symbols were used with double meanings and these were also widely understood.  We don’t use these today and so it is easier to assume the song is full of nonsense words with no deeper meaning, however let’s just look at the partridge in a pear tree.

The common held belief in the Christian symbol version of the song, is that the partridge is a bird that will give its life for its children, therefore the symbol refers to Christ.  Why, in a pear tree? In many ancient cultures the pear tree was a symbol of life.  Putting the two symbols together means we have Christ who gave his life for us and brought us eternal life.

In today’s readings we discover that God’s people were well acquainted with signs and symbols.  We find that a sign is given to King Ahaz; “the young woman is with child and will bear a son”.  This sign was given to King Ahaz who was not faithful to God, but never the less, he was a King of Judah, and at this time he was encouraged to trust in God for the salvation of the nation.  He refused to ask for a sign, but one was given regardless.  “the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”

Ahaz, though the King of God’s chosen people and of the Royal line of David, did not choose to trust in God.  When the prophet told him to ask God for a sign, Ahaz refused.  He used scripture as an excuse, as if he was being righteous in saying that he would not put God to the test, but in fact he is really refusing to ask for a sign because he had already decided to ignore the words of the prophet and trust in the help of the King of Assyria instead of God.

In both the first reading and the Gospel we find this prophecy about a child being born, but there is a different word used by Matthew as he deliberately uses the word “virgin”. 

In the Hebrew language of Isaiah, the word which translators have decided is “young woman”, has more meaning and is closer to, “young chaste girl”.

Oftentimes prophecies have a threefold meaning.  Firstly the prophecy is for fulfilment in the time particular to the prophecy being given, then secondly, to the time of the Messiah, thus the ambiguous word, from which our English translators troubled over – young woman or virgin – And thirdly prophecy has a fulfilment in the return of Christ.

We fast forward to our Gospel and find “The virgin is with child and shall bear a son”.  In this passage, the author, Saint Matthew, is referring to the prophecy in Isaiah, but the Greek language of the New Testament deliberately changes the original Hebrew word, “young girl”, to one that is unmistakeable and can only be translated as “Virgin”.  This is deliberate and important for our link to Santa Claus being found on the naughty list.

In our Gospel reading we find that Mary is with child and her fiancée is planning to divorce her quietly.  Why quietly?  Because it was a time in history when women could be stoned to death for adultery, but he was a good man who obviously cared about her and didn’t want her to face public disgrace. 

An angel interrupts the plans of Joseph and assures him that this child that Mary is carrying is conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Not only that, but the angel tells him that he is to call the baby, Jesus, a name which means, “God saves”.  It is significant that Joseph is to be the one who names the baby, as it means he is claiming the baby and assigning the baby to his family…. The family descended from the royal line of David.

Joseph was a son of David, and Ahaz was a son of David.  Both were given an opportunity to respond to trusting God in tenuous circumstances. Both were sent a message from God and a sign that what they were going through was in God’s hands.  With that opportunity, as with any of us, though God invites us to partner with him, we are free to decline.  Ahaz, son of David declined the invitation.   Joseph, son of David, accepted the invitation.

What follows in the story of Jesus’ life would show that Joseph and Mary really didn’t fully understand all that was happening, but they were two people swept up in a drama that we can only imagine.  They experienced the highs and lows of trusting God….  No room to stay in Bethlehem – How is that God’s provision?  But then the Angel warns them about Herod wanting to kill the baby and so they leave – they are saved – God’s provision. 

Do we ever realize how difficult it sometimes is to say YES to God and trust him?  He does know best, and with the hindsight of many years and the whole story of the Bible being accessible to us all in print, we can see the divine at work, but it sure doesn’t always seem like He is always opening doors – many that should be open seem slammed shut.  Free will is like that… we all have it and we can all say ‘no’… it is easy.  Saying ‘yes’ can be hard –

Saint Nicholas said ‘yes’.  Recently we had our school concert.  I wrote a story for the students to act out, and as we’ve had the theme this year of “Inspiration”, I decided that we should be inspired by Saint Nicholas.  This meant I did a fair bit of research.

Believe it or not, the story I wrote was crazy fiction involving time machines, school children and Santa Claus, as a young boy, being sent from the past to the present day and back again.  I tip-toed around the myth, and tried to present characteristics of Saint Nicholas which showed how the person became the legend.  There was much truth about “Saint Nicholas” that I couldn’t squeeze into the story, but it is no wonder he become such a legend and eventually Santa Claus.  Many Children didn’t realize that in other languages Saint is Santa and therefore where Santa Claus comes from.

One aspect about Saint Nicholas is what I want to tell you today, and that is the story about him, just once, being on the “Naughty” list.

Nicholas was a Bishop, when in 325AD Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea. There were over 300 bishops gathered to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity.  “Arias, from Egypt, taught that the Son Jesus was not equal to God the Father. This was the Arian controversy which shook Christianity’s very foundations. According to one account, when confronted by the unyielding Arias, Nicholas slapped him in the face. For such a breach of decorum, Nicholas was brought before Constantine, who stripped him of his office and had him thrown into prison.” (https://www.stnicholascenter.org/who-is-st-nicholas/bishop-of-myra)

It wasn’t the first time that Nicholas had been thrown in prison, as during the time of Roman Emperor Diocletian, Christians were persecuted and thrown in prison.  (Diocletian’s reign ended in 305).  The story goes, that Nicholas was truly repentant that he lost his temper, and spent time praying and had a vision while in prison.  He was re-instated as Bishop, the doctrine of the Trinity was accepted, and Nicholas’ reputation for caring for the poor continued and his legendary reputation grew.

What this has to do with this week’s readings, is that the reason for Nicholas’ slapping Arias, was to do with the deity of Christ.

As I’ve said, the difference between the prophecy we read in Isaiah and the re-statement of that prophecy in Matthew, is that the word “young girl” is replaced by the word “Virgin”.   This is a deliberate change because the child conceived about which Matthew was writing was the Son of God, born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit.  

In all of our Christmas celebrations we have traditions, myths and legends, but are we aware of the history and truth at the very core?  Saint Paul declares this truth in his letter to the Romans when he states some facts; Paul declares himself to be set apart for the Good News of God which God promised beforehand through his prophets.  In this he is reminding his readers that this is not a new teaching, but the fulfilment of prophecy.  St. Paul also tells us that the Son, Jesus, was human and descended from King David, but declared to be the Son of God with power because he rose from the dead.

If we are to believe the stories, Saint Nicholas was thrown in prison for his overly zealous defence of the nature of Christ. In this final week to Christmas we are challenged to reflect on who it really was that came to be born in that stable.  Was it a baby who was conceived by the Holy Spirit?  Was it God incarnate, Jesus Lord at thy birth?  Son of God, God made flesh? 

Is it enough to know that those who knew Jesus in the flesh were willing to die for this truth?  Is it enough to know that history changed that day?  We don’t know the exact day, however the early Christians came up with a date and marked all of time as starting from then.  How many of us claim this year to be 2019…. Why?  What does it mean?  It means that 2019 years ago something happened so significant that we changed the way that we mark time and that event was the birth of Christ.

They called him Jesus, but when he told his apostles that he was going to the father and they said “show us the father”, his response in the Gospel of John (John 14:9)  was, “Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say “show us the Father?”

Our readings today beg the question for us each to answer personally.  Who is Jesus?  He is the partridge in a pear tree… the one who gave his life to bring us eternal life.  He ultimately brings PEACE because he covers all of our transgressions by his sacrifice on the cross and declares that we are forgiven and have no barrier between us and God.

We have a choice to make every day; will we be like Ahaz or Joseph?  Will we choose to align ourselves with God and His calling?  It can be tough going sometimes.  It will not always mean open doors and rich dwellings, but it will mean eternal salvation…. Peace with God and a deep sense of knowing that our soul is in His care.

Saint Nicholas was in prison more than once for his zealous stand for this truth.  Each time we see an image of Santa Claus I invite us all to ponder his choice and our own, and I pray that we can all have the courage to respond to God’s invitation, and like Joseph, Mary and Saint Nicholas, say “Yes” to God, and to His invitation to be partakers with Him in His plan of salvation.