Christmas was and is the feast for the poor.  Christmas is a festival for the poor, a banquet for the poor.  We are reminded that at Christmas time (and all times), the poor are to be clothed, the hungry are to be filled, the handicapped and blind are to be nourished. These values are at the heart of the original Christmas pageant in the gospel of Luke, and these same values are found then in the rest of Luke's gospel as well. The poor are to be exalted, not only at Christmastime, but also throughout the whole year.

This Christmas gospel, this original Christmas pageant, continues in the story about St. Nicholas. You have learned before, in other sermons and classes, that St. Nicholas was a figure from history and was a bishop of Smyrna in Turkey in the year 350 A.D. St. Nicholas, as you recall, was not some fat bellied, red suited, white bearded old man. St. Nicholas did not have eight rein deer, one with a red nose. St. Nicolas did not have a toy factory located near the North Pole and subsidized by Toys R Us. Nor did St. Nicholas sing his favorite song, "I know when you've been sleeping; I know when you're awake; I know when you've bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. O, you better watch out…"  

St.Nicolas's vision was not to terrorize all the children into being good children and then if they were good, to give them a present. Not at all. St. Nicholas was a historical figure, the kindly bishop of Smyrna, who went around giving presents to poor children. Not to children who had sent letters to the North Pole. Not to those who were good. Not to children who were rich. No. St. Nicholas himself was a poor person and he gave presents to poor children. St. Nicholas understood that in the original Christmas pageant, Christmas was a pageant for the poor.