By Bryan Sands
For the past twenty years, when I think of meaningful Christmas stories, I always come back to the same one—the time a family bought me a Christmas tree.
The year was 2004, and I was a single youth pastor. I wasn’t poor, and I wasn’t rich. I simply had to make wise decisions about how I spent my money. That year, buying a Christmas tree didn’t feel like a wise decision, nor did I have much desire to purchase a tree, decorations, and lights. After deciding to go without a tree, I didn’t think much more about it.
One evening at youth group, a family whose kids attended asked me if I had a Christmas tree. I casually answered, “No,” and thought nothing more of the conversation. Youth group continued, the week went on, and life moved forward as usual.
The following week—if I remember correctly, after youth group—that same family showed up with a fresh Christmas tree for me. I was completely blown away. I would not have bought that tree for myself, nor had I even wanted one. But when I brought it home, set it up, and eventually decorated it, something shifted. My house felt warmer, and I experienced that unmistakable Christmas sense of love you usually only see in movies.
Looking back, I’m reminded of the difference between sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Sympathy is akin to pity. Empathy is communicating that you feel what someone else is going through. But compassion goes a step further—it moves toward action. What that family showed me was compassion, and it is why that Christmas remains one of the most memorable of my life.
From that simple gesture—a Christmas tree that brightened my home and my heart—I’m reminded of the great compassion God had for us. God did not merely look upon humanity with sympathy, nor did he only empathize with our condition. He acted.
God sent.
God moved.
God had compassion.
And because of that compassion, God sent Jesus—to enter into our world, to identify with his creation, and to make a way for us to be with him forever.
Twenty years later, that is why I still think of that Christmas tree. Not because of what it was, but because of what it represented: love made visible, compassion put into action, and a reminder that this is what Christmas has always been about.
Bryan A. Sands was ordained into the Christian ministry in the year 2001. For 13 years he served as a youth pastor, 8-years as a Campus Pastor at Hope International University, and nearly 5-years as a Lead Pastor in Hawaii. Currently, Bryan and his wife, Caz, are the founding Pastors of Restore Church in Chino, CA, a church that is trauma-informed and focuses more on what Jesus is for than against.
Author: Christian Standard
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