Emmanuel - God is With Us

Emmanuel – God is With Us

God gave the greatest gift he could give to his creation just over 2,000 years ago. The gift of his only begotten Son. As we read is Matthews’s Gospel, the angel of the Lord, tells Joseph in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20-21) Matthew then reminds us all that this was God’s promise to his people from long ago, “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.” (which means, God with us).” (Matt 1:22-23)

How often do we really think about what these powerful words mean for us, “God with us”? Is this just a nice story we happen to read around Christmas time, or does God mean what he says to his faithful people in Matthew’s Gospel? Do we live out our faith in a way that reflects this great truth of Christianity, the truth of God’s own personal presence with his people?  To truly answer these important questions, we have to look back at the Old Testament, and see how God was present with the people of Israel.

In the Book of Exodus, after God through Moses, leads Israel out of Egypt, he guides them through the desert towards the Promised Land. He does this for forty years in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As we read in Exodus “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” (Ex 13:21-22) God himself is guiding his people to the land he has chosen for them, not leading them astray, but down the proper path that they must follow. Israel began to call this a “cloud of glory” because God was present in it. We also see this same presence of God with his people when Moses makes the Tabernacle, the great tent of meeting that Israel would carry with her on this long journey. “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” (Ex 40:34)

The Old Testament describes a presence of God that the people could see and in some ways put their hands and minds around. For them there really was no question that God the Lord was with them. And they knew full well, when they as a people fell away from God’s plan, because the “Glory Could” was taken away. How about us living today? We have no cloud to guide us in our lives, but God has given us a much better gift, the presence of his Son with us, revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, many people do not view God’s presence in this way. They see God as a far-off deity, not really concerned about this world, but one, who from time to time, might get involved in his creation. Usually when thought in this way, God simply sends some people to heaven and other people to hell. Meaning he is “watching” you from way up in the sky, to reward you if you are good and punish you if you are bad. I am amazed by how many people see the God of Christianity in this way. Believing that the God who created the world is simply an “absentee landlord” who is letting his creation fall apart and really seems not to care. But this is not the God who guided the people of Israel and he is not the God who is manifest through his Son Jesus Christ.    

So then how are we to truly understand the God whom we serve? How do we contrast this view of God, with “Emmanuel” – the God who is with us? The beginning of John’s Gospel is a good place to begin if we are to answer this question. There John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father.” (John 1:14) He is telling us all that Jesus came into the world to be with his people, he “pitched his tent among us”, is what John literally means here. Jesus takes on our flesh, therefor we can now see the “glory” of God, in the face of a human being. With this “glory” revealed through Jesus, we see the fullness of what the old “glory cloud” was pointing to, was foreshadowing, that God truly is taking up residence with his people, not far away, but as one of them. That old “tent of meeting” where Israel would offer worship and sacrifice, is now a person. Meaning that in and trough Jesus, we serve the living and true God of creation. Our Lord himself makes this same point at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, where he says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus is assuring his sent forth disciples and each one of us, that he is with us always, therefor do not be afraid, but get own with the vocation of being my people for the world. He is telling us, I am not very far away, yes, I am right here with you! Paul equally adds to this picture that God is not “absentee” in Romans, “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (Romans 10:8), he is reminding us that Jesus, through his powerful Spirit, is there with us, so we can fully be God’s people, from our very hearts. Not just by words or thoughts, but through our actions.

There is much more that I could say on this subject and will have more to say in the future. But, to summarize, let us not “short change” the great gift that God gave the world with the birth of his Son. He did not give this gift, to take it back again, no, he gave us this gift, to be with us. To lead and guide us from our hearts and minds, to be his people, for his world. We are called to reflect this presence of “God with us” to all those that we meet daily. Living our lives in a way that says, yes Jesus, you really have come into the world, and are still present here, through your family, the Church.

Now how we do this in action is going to be the focus of some of my upcoming post. Merry Christmas everyone!