There is a story, author unknown, entitled “The Christmas Envelopes.”Let me share it with you…

“It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas … oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it—overspending. The frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma … the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids—all kids—and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse.That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me.

His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition …one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a cheque to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn’t end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.

The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.”

CHRISTMAS CHANGES EVERYTHING!Christ, coming into this world, has changed everything.When Christ is born, it changed everything.Now, we had someone to make up for our failures, live the perfect life we couldn’t, and then fix everything between us and God.No more guilt, sadness, fear, despair, hopelessness, or worry.Christ has come!He was born into this world to change our status before God!To change everything!To ensure we would live with God forever!To assure us of God’s love and forgiveness.

And to change our lives with his love!You see, when CHRIST IS BORN IN YOUR HEARTS, IT CHANGES EVERYTHING FOR YOU!Not only does it assure you of God’s love, and where you will be spending eternity.It also makes you want to be different.Better.More loving.Less selfish.Other people become more important.Your self-desires become less important.This pure newborn Saviour purifies us.He purified us perfectly as far as God sees us.But now, as we live to thank God, we become more and more pure every day!Becoming more like Jesus to thank Jesus!Thinking more about Christmas envelopes for others and about Christmas gifts for ourselves.

Friends, there are people in this world that need us.They need our love.Our help.Our service.Our words of encouragement.Our treasures.Our time.Our love.And of course, they need to hear from us the wonderful joy we already have in the Christ Child.More JOY than GUILT!Forgiveness through Him!Through our words and actions, we can share that same JOY we have today with everyone around us.And we must do that!The Christ Child gives us no other option!He has changed us!We must be different now!We live our lives for a purpose – and that is – glorifying this Newborn King!The One that came here to be our Saviour!

Listen to our text: Titus 2:11-14:11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Friends, Christmas means that your life can never be the same again!Christ has changed you!You are a child of God now, just like this One who was born.We have so much to live for now!Let’s start today!Blessed Christmas!

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