The following is a five part children’s story by Pastor Brooks that began the first Sunday of Advent and continued until Christmas Eve.
Part 1
For those in despair this Advent season, there is a story that never fails to give hope. The story begins, however, during a rather hopeless situation. It begins on a pirate ship, but this was no ordinary pirate ship. The pirates on this ship didn’t steal gold or silver, diamonds or pearls. They had no interest at all in treasure chests of that kind. No, these pirates were interested in something else: the toys of little boys and girls. At first, these pirates were the laughing stock of other pirates. What kind of pirate would steal toys from little boys and girls? They should pick on someone their own size. These jokes didn’t sit well with Captain Crag, the captain of the pirate ship. Captain Crag decided his ship would plan its largest heist yet. This time they wouldn’t steal from children. They would steal from someone who was larger than the pirates in every sense of the word. They would steal from Saint Nick. They would storm Santa’s village and not only take all of the toys. They would take Saint Nick himself.
When the pirates arrived, Saint Nick was busy at work in the woodworking department of his toy making operations. An Elf named Chippy was in charge of this department, and the two were working on what Saint Nick called his “Vanity Project.” Every year, children in different parts of the world would request a doll-sized likeness of Saint Nick. While Saint Nick was too modest to want to give anything that represented himself as a gift, he also believed in fulfilling the Christmas wishes of children. Just as Saint Nick was inspecting Chippy’s latest wood-carved Santa, the pirates arrived. Before they could take off with Saint Nick, however, the always jolly man called out to his elves and said,
“Remember the three
Who were a model for me.
Remember to love
Follow the star high above.”
Part 2
Chippy was hopeful. Saint Nick had given the elves a clue. All they had to do was follow the star and then they would find their lost friend. That night all the elves rushed outside to look for the star, but there was a problem: it was cloudy. It was very cloudy. For the entire night, they couldn’t see a single star in the sky. The next night they ran outside again, and this time they could hardly see past their own noses because there was a blizzard so fierce that the whole world looked white. As the elves stayed stuck in one place, they contemplated the other bits of advice Saint Nick gave to them. It would seem that they were to remember the three wise men because the gifts that they brought to the baby Jesus were a model for Saint Nick in bringing gifts to little boys and girls everywhere. Saint Nick liked to believe his gifts were a celebration of the spirit of Christ inside all of us.
Chippy and the elves had no idea what all of this meant for them. What they did know is that if there was going to be any Christmas at all, they had to start making gifts again. They would have to work overtime in order to make up for all the gifts that the pirates stole. As Chippy worked late into the night carving one Saint Nick after another, he found himself thinking about what Saint Nick had said before the pirates took him, “Remember to love.” “No one in their right mind would do all this work,” he thought, “unless they loved the children waiting for these presents. I sure hope they appreciate what we do for them.” Eventually, Chippy fell asleep while he was in the middle of working on a Santa. His head dropped right onto his workbench, but he stayed fast asleep. That night he dreamed he was on vacation. He dreamed he was in Hawaii laying on a beach. A deep feeling of peace swept over him. As morning dawned, Chippy awoke rested but aware that he faced the biggest challenge of his life: rescuing Santa and saving Christmas for little boys and girls everywhere.
Part 3
While the elves were frantically working to make toys to replace the ones stolen by the pirates, Saint Nick was facing an ordeal of his own. The pirates were following a carefully calculated plan. On a sled pulled by a pack of fierce wolves, the pirates carried Saint Nick through the frozen wastelands of the arctic until they reached their ship tucked away in an icy cove. With Saint Nick shackled in chains, they dropped him down the hatch into the cargo hold of their ship. Their escape from the North Pole had been clean and without incident. Despite their well-laid plans, however, the pirates hadn’t anticipated one thing: a winter storm that was worse than anything one could imagine. The flurries of the storm were as thick as rice pudding and prevented them from sailing anywhere. Captain Crag raged and raged against the infernal snowstorm.
Saint Nick could hear every word. Finally, he couldn’t help himself, so he called from below, “You’re not from around here. Are you?” Captain Crag threw open the hatch and exploded down at Saint Nick, “Of course not! You old fool! Haven’t you ever watched Pirates of the Caribbean? Like most pirates, we sail the warm, sunny seas where there are lots and lots of ships to steal from. Nobody sails where it is cold.” Saint Nick corrected him, “Except for you.” Captain Crag didn’t like that, so he snarled back at Saint Nick, “Because no one has ever been as brave as me.” Saint Nick agreed, “Why yes. No one is brave enough to sail into the polar vortex.”
Saint Nick had captured Captain Crag’s attention. Even though Captain Crag did not know single thing about the polar vortex, he did not want to admit his lack of knowledge nor deny his courage. “Well…uh…of course, I am indeed the brave man of which you speak, and…er…what exactly do you know about the polar vortex?” inquired Captain Crag. Saint Nick calmly indicated that they were in a polar vortex that very moment. A polar vortex was a massive storm cyclone that spun around and around the North Pole. As an afterthought, Saint Nick then added, “Of course, someone like you knows how to beat a snow cyclone.” Captain Crag, of course, didn’t know. He replied, “Certainly…uh…I know all about snow cyclones, and how, how exactly do you think a snow cyclone is defeated?” With a steady, confident voice, Saint Nick declared, “Well, of course, someone like you would be brave enough to take the fight straight into the eye of the cyclone.”
Part 4
It was Christmas Eve, and the clouds still hadn’t cleared away. The polar vortex had not left. Chippy and the other elves didn’t know what to do. Finally, Chippy declared that they would have to deliver the presents without Saint Nick. They loaded up the sleigh with the toys they had worked so feverishly to make. Then, with a heavy heart, Chippy yelled out to the reindeer to fly, fly to the homes of little boys and girls everywhere. The reindeer and the elves flew into the air with their sad faces and frowns. Their heads hung low. They could not believe that Saint Nick would not be the one to deliver the presents that Christmas Eve. Then, out in the darkness, there came a loud bang. Their heads jolted up. Up ahead just underneath the clouds, their eyes saw a bright flash. Was that the star up above that they were to follow? The reindeer darted toward the light, and soon, there were more bangs and flashes that filled the night air.
The reindeer and elves sailed ahead with hope gleaming in their eyes. What could it be? What could it mean? It looked like fireworks, but who would be doing such a thing at the North Pole? Streaks of light were soaring from the ground up into the clouds. The elves and the reindeer got closer and closer until they could see a large ship up ahead. To avoid the fireworks, the reindeer swung around and came from behind. As they drew closer and closer, they saw it was no ordinary ship. It was a pirate ship, and as they came near, they could hear the pirates laughing and shouting. Then, they heard a most unexpected sound. “Ho, ho, ho!” Why it was Saint Nick! Soon they could see his red coat and broad form. He was on the deck with the pirates. Together, they were launching rockets and flares into the air as they yelled with delight. They were having so much fun that none saw the reindeer approaching. The reindeer flew straight onto the deck of the ship. The crew was taken by surprise, especially Captain Crag.
Part 5
[Preface: When told in public, the end of this story requires audience participation. When the audience hears the phrase “the voices of children all around the world,” the audience says “Christmas is coming” over and over as they get louder and louder.]
Crag flew into a rage as he stormed at Saint Nick. “You tricked us! You had us believing we could defeat the polar vortex with toy rockets and chemistry sets. You were just sending a signal to your wretched elves!” Saint Nick simply laughed and said, “Ho, ho, ho! Why you did defeat the polar vortex! It hasn’t stopped the Christmas spirit. Look at how much fun we are having.” Crag was still upset, “What’s to keep us from throwing you back down the hatch right now? Your elves are no match for us.” At which point, Chippy spoke up and said, “We can’t fight you, but we can give you gifts.” As if on cue, the elves quickly passed out a carefully wrapped gift to each of the pirates. Saint Nick then declared, “See Captain Crag, you don’t need to steal gifts from us. We will give them to you for free. All we ask is that you allow us to give gifts to others as well. Think of the children. Think of them now.” Captain Crag didn’t want to think of the children, but Saint Nick’s voice seemed to cast a spell on him. For a brief moment, he couldn’t help but to close his eyes. It was in that moment that he could suddenly see children from all around the world, and more importantly, he could hear the voices of children all around the world. “Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!”
The voices of all those children just about made Captain Crag cry. How could he keep all those children from getting their Christmas gifts? With a choked up voice, he said, “Okay, be gone. Get out of here! Give the children their gifts!” And, with that Saint Nick got onto his sleigh with Chippy by his side. Up into the air they went to give gifts to all the little boys and girls around the world. And, what do you think the pirates found when they then opened up the gifts given to them by the elves? Why, of course, each of them found a carved version of Saint Nick himself.
The End.