Christmas Blog

"For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostle's feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need. And . . . Barnabas . . . who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostle's feet."
--Acts 4:34-37

As best I can figure it, Christians formed the first communist organization. After that first Christian Pentecost, when thousands of diaspora Jews became believers and hung around to learn more, they ran out of funds and food. So, Luke’s Acts tells us, all believers in the Judean region sold their property and brought it to their central location.
No one now considered it his own. It was distributed to whoever had need. That was done long before Karl Marx. This common-unity established a communism, "pure" and "simple." And it worked. For a while. A problem of equal distribution arose, but it was quickly set right.
Widows of the Diaspora had no one to speak up for them, and they were not being given their proper share. So the leaders asked the entire group to choose from among them seven men, "of good reputation full of the Spirit and of wisdom." So they elected the seven "deacons." ("Deacons," as an official position, are not named here, but the Greek term, diakonos, means servant, and the word is used in this passage.).
How do we elect deacons today? And what responsibilities do we assign, or they assume? On what basis do we choose them? Is it because they have a good reputation downtown, because they are well-known for living in the Spirit, because they possess "worldly" wisdom?
Separate note interjected:
The word we translate into English as, "saint," has the root meaning: "a holy one," someone who has separated their life from the ways of this world, and has been brought into close relation to The Holy One. A person who has turned from the world and come into close relation to God the Son derives their from this new relation to The Holy One. Thus, the word, saint, in the New Testament is synonymous with: believer, follower, Christian, disciple, and any other designation given to one whose life has been transformed by their faith in Jesus.
But the discussion of Christian communism, of holiness, and of deacons must be postponed, because all the above was written mostly to introduce a Christmas emphasis. Today is December 25, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Christmas. The children have been awaiting the arrival of "Santa Claus," or Saint Nick, or Kris Kringle.
Notice the names of those seven "deacons." Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. Each of these men is of good reputation in the young Christian community, Each of them is seen to be full of The Holy Spirit, and each–whether Timon, Stephen, Nicolas, or one of the others–full of wisdom. They are genuine, solid "Christians," as we might call them today.
Note that last named servant of the community: Nicolas. As a Christian, he was a follower, a disciple, a believer, and a saint: Saint Nicolas. The real one. He was from Antioch, not the North Pole. He did not bring brightly wrapped gifts, he served food at the table (and perhaps also helped distribute not only food, but also financial aid). No brightly colored suit, rather the common dress of an ancient Hebrew. I doubt he smoked a pipe; I doubt he was fat, and I doubt that his beard was white. Nonetheless, Saint Nicolas–real, not mythological–was chosen and his name made the pages of the Bible.
And the point? If you find one in here somewhere, that’s the point. Otherwise, the point may have been only a note of biblical trivia.