Christmas Ep. 3: “Envelopes”
Envelopes.
Because my brain is random, it thinks of random things. Any of the “good random thoughts” I give God full credit for. (There are deff random thoughts that He would not want attributed to Himself –working on those! “Bringing every thought under the authority of Christ.” –2 Corinthians 10:5 )
The other day, as I was on the way to Colectivo to address Christmas cards, I began to think about envelopes. Yes, I do have a random brain. As I thought, several things occurred to me…
1. An envelope is never about the envelope, but about protecting what is inside, and making sure the contents make it to the correct destination/recipient.
2. No one ever sends an empty envelope, and no one ever says, “Thank you for the envelope.” The envelope simply enveloped a payment or a word of love or encouragement or gratitude. The envelope is always about the message inside.
Miriam Webster defines ‘envelope’ as:
1. A flat (usually paper) container
2. Something that envelops [14]
a. And ‘envelop’ is defined as
i. (WOW) to enclose or enfold completely with a covering.
As random thoughts go in my brain, one thing lead to another…I actually asked the Lord to speak to me about envelopes; to develop those thoughts.
I am in turn reminded of the words “veiled” and “robed,” and then, the lyrics of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing:”
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see…hail incarnate Deity…”
Over 2,000 years ago, the very first “Christmas card” was sent. The God of all Creation enveloped Himself in the most unlikely and fragile “envelope:” the tiny frame of a human baby. That little body was an envelope for all the grace, grandeur, and glory of God. The frail, wrinkly, beautiful form that Mary swaddled and laid in the manger was simply an envelope for salvation itself. Inside that envelope was “love incarnate, love divine.” (Lauren Daigle) [15] Wrapped, enveloped in that miraculous form was the greatest message of LOVE the world would ever know. The words of the message in the envelope would reverberate backward and forward throughout all history:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” He was love and salvation enveloped in frail flesh.
That little envelope was sent into the world, “…that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) he was “manifest in the flesh.” (Manifest = to make visible that which has been hidden or unknown.) (1Tim. 3:16) All the mystery of God became tangible as “incarnate deity” was “veiled in flesh;” enveloped in a baby.
He took a human form to identify with us; to know personally the plight and weaknesses of humanity. “He took upon Him the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Oops…missed part à “was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man…” He became like us, and started in the same “envelope” that we all start in. He knows intimately the weights and sorrows the human heart endures. As Isaiah 53 says, he was “acquainted with grief…”
And like all envelopes, He had to be “opened” for the message inside to be received. There came a day when the baby in the manger became the Savior on the cross…His body broken; His side pierced so the message of salvation could resound throughout all history for all humanity. It wasn’t about the envelope, but about the message inside. Salvation, hope, and healing were all housed inside that body. The finite frame enveloped Infinite Deity. Then, that mortal flesh became Immortal, as it WON final victory over death, and Jesus rose from the grave. One day “we shall see Him as He is!!” (1 John 3:2) The intangible God of the Old Testament became tangible, touchable, reachable in the “envelope of Jesus.”
I, too, am called to be an envelope. This life is not about me, but about housing and delivering a message to a hurting world. I love the progression in these verses: “Look not every man on his own thing, but also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” (Phil. 2:4-7)
The whole, entire purpose of my life, my being, is to be an envelope for the love of God and the message of salvation. I must “look on the things of others” and serve. I must follow the example of the God of all Creation. I must live full of His love, so the message will always be available to share. Undoubtedly, I will be broken in the process, but that is okay. Broken is required for the message to be received. And, in the end, I will know it was never about the envelope. Envelopes are disposable.