Prelude
They shall name him “Immanuel
– God is with us”! How much do we need God to be with us? What does it mean
that God is with us?? Everything about how we have been created means that we
need God to be with us! We cannot thrive, or even really survive, without God
with us! Humanity has a void that can only be properly filled by God’s presence
with us. And then, with God with us, we can fulfil the purpose for which we
were created, i.e. to love and serve others … so that they may also know God (to
their full capacity).
Introduction
This Christmas narrative in
Matthew is tense! Far from a peaceful scene, it begins with anxiety. But this
tension will be resolved through the mention of one word, one name, one title …
“Immanuel”. Life can be awkward and tense and just plain difficult at times.
Often we look forward to Christmas, for a bit of a diversion, something
different or something predictable. Yet, the message of Christmas is NOT about
a temporary escape from reality and some holidays. The message of Christmas is
certainly NOT about excessive consumerism. The message of Christmas is NOT even
just about a heart-warming nativity scene. The message of Christmas is …
“Immanuel” … “God with us”.
The Prophet Isaiah
We first read of “Immanuel”
back in Isaiah chapter 7. In the 8th Century BCE, the people of God
in Judah, under their king Ahaz, were living in the midst of upheaval and
terror, under threat from nations all around them. Two nations were making
aggressive advances wanting King Ahaz to side with them against the might and
power of Assyria, while Ahaz himself was inclined toward saving his own skin
and aligning (or making a pact) with Assyria. How bad was their situation, with
threats building all around them? We read in Isaiah 7:2, “… the heart of Ahaz,
and the heart of his people, shook as the trees of the forest shake before the
wind”. Where would they turn for help … what decisions would be made … how well
would their king lead them?
Isaiah 7 goes on to point out
that, in this tense and threatening situation, that God was being left out!
God’s availability to his people was being ignored. Pretty ungrateful one
thinks, when you consider God’s mighty provision and faithfulness in the past.
King Ahaz had either closed his mind to God, preferred his own counsel, or
doubted what God could do for them – one of those! And this was going to lead
nowhere good!! So the prophet Isaiah took King Ahaz aside for some sound
advice. God, through Isaiah, brought these words: … the Lord himself will
give you a sign – look, the young woman is with child, and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel (7:14).
This was meant to be a stark
reminder! They would have been well aware that “Immanuel” means ‘God is with us’.
Hey … get this into your head … God is here for you to turn to … you need to
decide to do so. This is an open invitation that can easily be accepted!
Because of this … the king should not fear such threat, the people
should certainly not trust in the military power of other nations, and
no one should forget that God (despite any appearances to the contrary) could
be with them; that they would not be destroyed if they kept the faith!
On the other hand, to lack, or give up on, faith … could only result … in
taking the wrong path and arriving at the wrong destination.
For those with an eye of
faith toward God, there would be better days ahead. There will be a sign – a
significant birth in the not too distant future – maybe the king’s own son who
would become a much better king (in the line and tradition of David). Keep the
faith, and God will see you through the current threat. Isaiah’s foreign policy
advice to King Ahaz, was to rely on God alone, rather than seeking to form any
political alliances with foreign powers. There’s no need to go to
Assyria for help – they cannot, and should not, be trusted with your future
well-being. Don’t over-react, don’t panic – and as they would say in Hawaii …
‘hang loose’. Sometimes people are so desperate to see their own agenda fulfilled,
or a particular threat dispensed with, they don’t care who they associate with
… they over-react with less than clear-thinking. No, says Isaiah, just trust in
God; and God will deal with your future well-being!
[I wrote this at the same
time as texting with a victim of family and institutional sexual abuse … that I
have reconnected with after many years. Understandably, his belief has been
sorely tested and all but disappeared. Yet, being deeply entrenched in these
passages from Isaiah and Matthew, I couldn’t help but share my
hope … that he would sense that God was with him … in his long struggle for
health and justice.]
Unfortunately King Ahaz went
his own way, and did his own thing – to his own and his people’s detriment.
“Whatever we rely on instead of trusting in God, will eventually turn and
devour us” (Barry Webb). Yet God continued to speak through his prophets,
suggesting His nearness … if the people would just change their ways. And, we
know well, that this particular prophetic word from Isaiah could be called upon
eight centuries later, when the notion of “God is with us” reaches its peak and
its climax! An ultimate child would be born (in the line of David) to fulfil God’s plans for humanity.
Now, in the 1st century context of Roman oppression and human
sinfulness, there will be new hope!!
Matthew’s Advent
Let’s consider now Joseph’s
complex situation. The woman he loved, and was betrothed to (meaning, under a
binding commitment with), was pregnant – but he, Joseph, certainly was NOT the
father. So here was a potential betrayal to deal with. Yet Joseph cared for
Mary, and didn’t want to see her publicly ostracised (or worse, stoned for
adultery) – so we read that he, “planned to dismiss her quietly” (which could
be done through two witnesses). [We should note that Joseph was considered
“righteous”, not because he would do what was culturally expected (a
public shaming of Mary), but rather because he would do what God expected
(something far more inclined toward understanding and an openness to what God
was about to reveal)!]
Still, we might imagine the
emotional mess that Joseph would have been in! We can be going about our lives,
reasonably happily, and then suddenly a ‘spanner’ of some type and description
gets thrown into the works … and sometimes right in our face. So, yet again, in
the face of difficult circumstances, we hear the angel quoting Isaiah …
reassuring Joseph (Matt 1:23), that despite all the remarkable and difficult
things happening around him at the moment, he could be assured that ultimately
all these events would culminate in a sign of God’s presence. This is God’s
ongoing pattern – right from the Garden of Eden, through Old Testament times,
to Jesus of Nazareth, to the beginnings of the church, to today, into eternity
– “God is with us”! For those who will be obedient, and for those with eyes to
see, God is bringing his purposes forward.
In fact, the angel informs
Joseph, this son to be born … is the ultimate fulfilment of what God had
shared with Isaiah so long ago. This child has NOT been conceived through
another man, but through the Holy Spirit. The Trinity of God is all over this!!
The Son to be named Jesus will become the source of salvation for all people.
The name Jesus means … ‘God is salvation’. So, in Jesus, “God is with us” very
personally indeed – in flesh and blood. This should make all the difference for
Joseph – he just had to trust that this was true! And … despite all the anxiety
around his current situation, we read that, “[Joseph] did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him” – and thus he trusted God for how everything would turn
out.
What difference does it make
for us to know for sure that “God is with us”!?! Is this just a theological
proposition or a daily reality? It actually means everything! “God is with us”
is a constant message of hope building in our lives! It doesn’t mean that all
things, or even anything, will be easy and without complication, but it does
mean that we will have a source of guidance and peace available in every
situation. Nothing around Joseph and Mary and the birth of Jesus is going be
straightforward or easy. Joseph will still have to cope with all the whispers
behind his back and accusations behind the scenes. For many will say, that if
Joseph went through with this marriage, he must have been the father, and
therefore a real sinner. That fact that “God is with us”, meant that Joseph
could deal with any character assassination (of he or Mary), and continue to do
the right thing. Joseph would simply press on, he would be obedient, because
“God is with us”.
When you know you are on the
right path, God’s path for you, the words of the unenlightened should NEVER
dissuade or divert us. We simply trust in God. Joseph just did as the Lord
commanded! Because Joseph believed in “God is with us”, the wonderful plans of
God went forward! There was the tough trip to Bethlehem ahead, seeking
accommodation there with few resources to spend, the birth of the baby
happening in not the best of conditions, the strange visitors –
disreputable shepherds and gentile astrologers, and the need to pick up their
lives and flee to Egypt for an unknown period (under the threat of Jesus being
sought out and murdered by Herod). You would have to trust that God was with
you through all this – and that is exactly what Joseph did!!
And we should say, as we read
in Luke’s account, that Mary trusted God just as much, if not
more! What follows is a safe birth, despite humble surroundings; encouragement
from the shepherds; the gifts of the wise men – followed by their decision not
to return to King Herod; and a safe passage to Egypt to avoid the worst Herod’s
tyranny. Ultimately there would be sufficiently wise parental nurture, that
would allow for Jesus, at the age of thirty, to begin his world-changing
mission. It just changes how we view life, and how we ‘do’ life, when we know
that “God is with us”!
To turn this “God is with us”
notion from a theological proposition into a daily reality, we may need to get
into the habit of picturing Jesus being with us as we carry out even some of
life’s most mundane activities. We begin to see “God with us” in whatever we
are doing, wherever we are. Eating around the family dinner table – oh yes,
“God is with us”. There could be tensions at home around some of the events of
the day, and as we know that “God is with us”, we may just be able to recognise
a positive way forward … that otherwise might have alluded us. What would “God
is with us” mean … for a committee meeting or a small group gathering, where
differing opinions were beginning to be expressed? It would mean that there
will always be a road toward good discernment, harmony and mutual growth. When
at the doctor’s or having an operation, “God is with us” means that there is
always someone else in the ‘room’.
“God is with us” also means
that some of the beauty, love and peace of Jesus can rub off on us. If “God is
with us”, then we can truly be transformed every minute or every day toward the
image of Jesus. As our sins are forgiven, and our burdens are lifted, we are
light and hope-filled people who can make a difference for good on an
ever-increasing scale. We can just imagine that as “God is with us”, then God
would also be in some of the most troubled places around the world, drawing
close to all the suffering that persists in so many places – and these
situations too … could still be transformed.
Conclusion
God has come to us personally
at Christmas. Through this greatest of all blessings, we have the possibility
of a new friend, coach, mentor, Saviour and Lord. As we follow Jesus daily, he
abides with us. Sometimes he walks beside, sometimes he leads from out front,
sometimes he pushes us on from behind; other times he carries us. Jesus leads
us into a life of purpose and mission. And, as he promised to his disciples (at
the other end of Matthew’s Gospel), Jesus will be with us … always (28:20b).
Jesus gave us the most
challenging of job descriptions – seeking and finding the lost (which we talked
about last week) – just about impossible without the sort of wisdom and guidance
that only God can give. Here is the task – then follows the promise: Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the
Father … Son and … Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I
have commanded you – and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
“God is with us”! Amen!!
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