It was just a small, white envelope that stuck out among the branches of our Christmas tree. There was no name, no identification, and no inscription. It peeked out from the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so. Its story, however, speaks of how God makes all things new.
It all began with Mike, a man who hated Christmas. Oh, he did not hate the true meaning of Christmas, but he did very much dislike the commercial aspects of it — overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a present for this person or another, the idea of buying something in desperation simply because you could think of nothing else. Knowing Mike felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual gifts of a shirt, sweater, tie, or even the gift certificate. I wanted something special just for Mike but the inspiration came in an unusual way.
That year at school, Kevin, Mike's youngest son, was active on the wrestling team. Before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. The youngsters on that team were dressed in sneakers so ragged that the shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together. This presented a sharp contrast to Kevin's team in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and spanking new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see the other team was wrestling without headgear, those white helmets designed to protect wrestlers' ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.
At the end of the match, Kevin's team had won an overwhelming victory, taking every weight class. The boys on the defeated team still possessed a certain false bravado, a kind of street pride that could not be stifled through defeat. Mike, who attended his son's match, shook his head sadly. "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have lots of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved children — all children. He spent much time with them having coached Little League, Pop Warner football, and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for Mike's present came to me. 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 an envelope on the tree with a 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 we followed the same tradition, one year sending a group of mentally challenged children to a hockey game, another year sending a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground one week before Christmas.
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 in 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 here, however. You see, Mike died last year, a victim of cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was so wrapped up in grief that I barely had energy to put up the tree, but on Christmas Eve, I placed the 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 today it extends to our grandchildren who stand around the tree wide-eyed with anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. We have all learned, that even in the midst of pain and suffering, God will renew us with whatever it is that we need.
The Christmas envelope brought a fresh and new sense of life to the family's holiday celebration. No longer was the celebration all about individuals; the family could take a new look, refocus its thinking and discover new ways to celebrate. The Christmas season that we continue to celebrate in our churches is a time to refocus our thoughts and actions and make them more like Christ Jesus, the newborn king of the Jews who brings a new beginning to our world. Jesus came to make all things new. As we now celebrate a new year and with the new life of the Christmas season, we can cast out the old and be renewed as Christ would have us do. It is an opportunity we must not pass by.
In today's first lesson, we hear from the latter third of the book of the prophet Isaiah, proclaimed to the Hebrew people after their return from exile in Babylon. The prophet speaks of a new day for the people. The transgressions of the past, those that led to the exile, will be forgotten; God will not concentrate on what happened before, but will look to the future. In the past, as the prophets Amos, Hosea, and even Isaiah (in earlier chapters) had dramatically described, God was disappointed with the Hebrews. As we hear today in our lesson, it is a new day. God says to the prophet that he will clothe the community with "the garments of salvation ... a robe of righteousness." God will care for Israel as a bride and groom care for each other on their wedding day. The nation will be adorned with flowers and jewels as if preparing to marry the Lord.
Isaiah speaks in metaphorical language that God will cause righteousness and peace to spring up as a garden refreshed by rain yields new growth. God, the one who has been ever faithful to the Hebrew people, will bring a new day. Additionally, he says Jerusalem — not only the city, but the entire nation — will be delivered from the past as the dawn indicates a new day. For God, the dark night of Israel has passed, but the new day of possibility is present. Salvation will be like a burning torch and the favor of the Lord will come upon the people.
The prophet continues by saying that the surrounding nations will see how God has favored Israel. They will see how the hand of their God can vindicate a nation. Rulers of other nations will observe this and see the glory in Israel. God will give Israel a new name, a name that will be pronounced by the mouth of the Lord. Israel shall be a crown of beauty, a royal diadem in the hand of the Lord. God will once again favor Israel as a bride favors her jewels. As in the past, God will never give up on his chosen people. The covenant of God is fixed; it can never be broken.
The message proclaimed by Isaiah in today's first lesson is one of the key missives of the postexilic prophets. God will continue to be faithful; the past will be forgotten. Now it is time for Israel to make all things new; it is time to rebuild the lives of the people, both figuratively and literally. It is the opportunity to once again place Yahweh as the chief reason for the community's existence. History has proven that without Yahweh the community will die, but with Yahweh the community flourishes. Thus, while a choice remains before the people, the decision to follow God is readily obvious.
As God made all things new for the Hebrews, so the Lord will make all things new in our lives, as well. Many things, people, and events estrange us from God and one another. The Christian message of new beginnings that Isaiah proclaims must be our incentive to refocus our lives and make them conform more clearly and closely to the message and mission of Jesus. As Christians, this is our task, our common vocation to holiness. We can never be holy people if we live and speak in ways that are contrary to the Christian faith proclaimed through our baptism.
The vicissitudes, those hurdles of life that we must all endure, often throw us off stride. We take many detours from the correct path. Jesus is the one who makes all things new; he is the one who can get us back on track, right our sinking or wayward ship and guide us in the proper direction. We, however, must first be open to Jesus' message; we must see its relevance in our lives and believe in its efficacy.
Once we are open to Christ's message, then we need to seek new beginnings, confident that God will make all things new for us. Some of us need to mend or renew relationships that have been strained, damaged, or broken. Such new beginnings will not happen without our effort and, even with our best effort, are often not easy. Great things are possible with God's help. Some of us need a change of venue — either our work, physical environment, or life situation. Sometimes we feel stifled; we feel like a prisoner to our place of work, geographic location, or circumstance. To voluntarily change is frightening because we must move out from our zone of comfort and enter the realm of uncertainty that always comes with new things. Some of us need to change our habits. We realize there are things we do or words we use, almost continually, that are bothersome or possibly even hurtful to others as well as ourselves. We must have the courage to change, confident again that God's power and grace will help us be the people the Lord wants us to be.
Our new beginnings reach out in other areas as well. Some of us need to transform our attitudes toward others, whether individuals or groups. We need to make things new and to realize how much we have lost by our exclusive thinking. We must realize all the new opportunities that will be ours, if we will allow ourselves to be open to what others say and do and how they think.
Undoubtedly, for all of us the most important renewal in our lives must be our relationship with God. This was precisely what Isaiah was saying to the Hebrews. The exile forced the people to rethink their previous ideas and actions. We may feel exiled from God, but this is not because God has abandoned us. On the contrary, it is because we have abandoned God. God gave Israel a second, a third, and a hundredth chance. So, too, the Lord grants us numerous opportunities to draw near. The Christmas celebration and season, this period of new birth, and the advent of the new year cause us to rethink our lives and once again situate ourselves on the proper road that leads to God and life eternal.
The new custom of the Christmas envelope, which allowed one family to serve others, brought renewal in that family, as well. The family was transformed from an emphasis on the individual to the belief that in reality life is about community. Let us renew our commitment to Christ by rethinking and refocusing our lives. The road will not always be easy, it will often be cluttered, but if we are faithful, God will always remain faithful to us. Then one day we will hear as all the saints of past have heard, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34b). Amen.