Hello,
“You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town…….”
According to the Internet, which is always
correct, this Christmas song was first written in 1934 by J. Fred Coots and Haven
Gillespie, and was first sung on Eddie Cantor’s radio show…anyone remember its
debut? Apparently, it was a hit with
over 100,000 orders for sheet music the next day!
As I was driving around the other day, I
heard it come across my speakers as the station that I tend to listen to
intersperses Christmas songs between the “oldies” (60’s, 70’s, 80’ and 90’s)
that it plays. It may be that I am
growing into a Scrooge, because truthfully, I don’t much care for the vast
majority of the Christmas songs that the radio plays. Many of them, to me, are saccharine and ooze
thin sentimentality. I find myself
either switching the station when the Christmas songs come one, or impatiently
waiting for the return of an oldie.
One of my least favorite Christmas songs
is the one that I began with. Why? Because it, in my mind, isn’t even a Christmas
song. Sure, it has Santa Claus in it,
and a Christmas tree around with toys are placed…but the tone…not the tune….but
the tone is far from Christmas. The tone
of this song is one of fear and warning, of a demand of being good, even to the
point of not pouting or crying. The tone
is of threat and constant surveillance.
The tune may be light and cheery, but the tone is dark and ominous.
That
is not the tone of the story on which Christmas is based, the birth of the
Christ. As the Bible so clearly says in
John 3:16,17, “‘For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the
Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be
saved through him.” The tone of
Christmas is not judgment and condemnation, it is of absolute love and
mercy. Jesus, so says the Bible, did not
come for those who are good. Jesus came
for the world, all of whom the Bible says have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God….the pouters, included.
Christmas is about the grace of God that fills God’s heart and emanates
from it. It is about a God whose love
for the world is so great that his attentive care neither allows him to slumbers
nor sleeps. It is about a God who is a
potter whose hand is at work to shape even the most hard and stubborn clay. The tone of Christmas, as the Bible speaks
of it, is of wonder and amazement, of hope for all and shunning of none.Unfortunately, in my mind, the tone of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” pervades our world as we prepare for Christmas. Consider what the first question is that the Mall Santa asks every child that is placed upon his lap. Isn’t it, “Have you been a good boy/girl this year?”
That, of course is not the words that come from the Heavenly Father’s mouth when his children are placed upon his lap. No, when any of God’s children find themselves in the lap of the Heavenly Father…no matter what age they are….no matter what time of the year or life it is…no matter whether they have pouted or cried….naughty or nice….when any of God’s children find themselves on the Heavenly Father’s lap, God embraces them with divine warmth and says, “Let me tell you how much I love you.” That is the tone of Christmas!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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