Our Christmas Eve service revolved around a term from Scripture that is spoken of in the Pentateuch (the first five books of Scripture) and that is carried (thematically) through all of Scripture. The Christmas term is Immanuel, meaning "God with us." We really need God with us ... because we are the people Jesus spoke of when he said "Come all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest." We need God with us when we are confused and need someone with an eternal perspective. We need God with us when we have lost someone close to us. We need God with us when a disaster has happened and we are just trying to survive. We need God with us when we are "geographically-challenged" by being born in a place where God is not welcome or where someone who looks like me is oppressed. We need God with us when we are tempted to enter back into an addiction and need a higher power to help us through one more day. We need God with us when our teenage son or daughter is out of control and we need wisdom beyond our years. We need God with us when we wait in the doctor's office for a diagnosis that might be hard news. We need God with us when our adult children are struggling and we have helped all we can. We need God with us when we just cannot forgive without God's power. We need God with us when it is hard to pray. And we need God with us when our choices have made us alone in this cold, hard world.
C.S. Lewis had an amazing image of God which is both Biblical and helpful. He said God was the only power in the universe big enough to create the universe, direct the affairs of nations and princes and kings and yet make himself small enough to step down into our worst hurts and deepest miseries. God with us came into the humility and lowliness of our world. God with us lost friends to death. God with us was chased by people who wanted to kill him. God with us was beaten, spit on, insulted and nailed to a cross. God with us laughed and cried. God with us was a son ... a friend ... a preacher. God with us walked hard roads and served the Father placing His (Jesus') interests below God's plan. And God with us did something that only someone fully God and fully human could do ... he took all the sins of Adam's race upon himself. This Christmas remember that God with us made a promise that should give us comfort when we hear that God has been sent out of places like schools, our nation, our halls of legislation and any other place that allegedly has had God 'removed.' First, we have no power to remove God from any place God desires to be. We can ignore God and God can chose to remove His Spirit, His blessing and His peace. But we cannot do it. Second, God has (in Matthew 28) told us He will be with us even unto the ends of the earth. So ... carry Him in your heart. Let Him into your workplace. Invite Him into your day. Let Him into the little things and the big things. Watch for God with us in the comfort, bravery, grief, struggle and stories of places like Sandy Hook Elementary, 911, Afghanistan, the Mexican border, the inner city and the jungles of Brazil. For where the brokenhearted are ... God is close by. That gives me strength, comfort and calm. God with us is as big or as small as He needs to be to meet us, lead us, save us and carry us to our destination with Him. THAT ... is Good News.
No comments:
Post a Comment