December 6 is an important date in history—my history.  My mom and dad were married on December 6, 1952—59 years ago.  My mom is still living and in pretty good health, but my dad died of a heart attack nearly 24 years ago (heart attacks run in the family). 

December 6 is also a notable date in history for another reason.  It’s St. Nicholas Day. I should say that, historically speaking, there's not much we really know about Nicholas. Though he's one of the most popular saints in the Greek and Latin churches, his existence isn't attested by any historical document. All we can say is that he was probably the bishop of Myra (near modern Finike, Turkey) sometime in the 300s.

Supposedly, Nicholas was born to a wealthy family in Patara, Lycia. His parents died, and he inherited a considerable sum of money, but he kept none of it. In the most famous story about his life, he threw bags of gold through the windows of three girls about to be forced into lives of prostitution. At least that's the most common version of the story.  Legends about Nicholas and his miraculous powers continued to grow—some of them pretty fantastic.  Such as resurrecting the dead.  So it’s really no surprise that St. Nick, or Santa Claus as he is more popularly known, has taken on some attributes known only to God.  Who, other than God, can be everywhere at once?  And who, other than God, knows what you’re thinking, and whether you’ve been naughty or nice?  There has to be some basis for giving gifts.  And there has to be some incentive to control kids’ behavior.  After all, Santa only brings gifts to good children.

So what’s the point here? What does my parents’ anniversary and St. Nicholas Day have to do with anything that matters to you?  Good question.  Bear with me for a minute and I’ll start to pull some of these loose ends together.

December 6 prompts me to remember my mom and dad, and it further prompts me to remember my family tree.  I can easily recall the names of my grandparents, but remembering the names of my great grandparents is a bit of a stretch.  And if you were to ask me to tell you the names of my great-great grandparents, I couldn’t do it.  Genealogy just isn’t that important to us. Now, other than the fact that my grandchildren’s children will probably never know my name, what’s the significance here?

Genealogy was of extreme importance to the Jews.  I’ll explain in more detail on Sunday.  But for now there’s something of tremendous significance.  In Jesus’ genealogy we find some surprises.  In particular is one girl—Rahab—who was especially naughty.  But she found grace in the eyes of God.  Now here’s what I want you to see.  A stark contrast can be made between the theology found in the legend of St. Nick and the theology revealed in the genealogy of Jesus.  In the legend of St. Nick we see a theology of moralism.  Be good.  Be nice.  But through a study of Jesus’ genealogy we find the message of grace.  The irony of Christmas is that God gives the most extravagant gift of all, not to good people, but to the naughty—to those who don’t deserve it.