Saturday, December 8, 2018

12-8-2018


Good Morning All,
    Matthew 1:23; “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)”
     One of the great challenges in life is when you have your children and you have to name them.  Sometimes it can lead to fights as one parent wants to honor their parents and the other new parent has a different idea.  Sometimes we look at names that are in the news.  After the space shuttle Challenger, carrying the teacher Christa McAuliffe, exploded there were a lot of girls named Christa.  We see a lot of cause and effect on naming a child.  Sometimes the name has a special meaning that the family wishes to preserve.  Sometimes the name is a combination of two other names to keep a branch of the family alive.  I would venture that very few of us had the Holy Spirit whisper a special name into our ear but that is what happened to Joseph.
    As Joseph dreamed one night long ago, the Holy Spirit came to him and told Joseph that one of the names that Jesus would be known as was Immanuel.  Immanuel is probably not at the top of the list for many families today but at this time in Israel, this name had great significance.  This had significance which went all the way back to the Exodus.
    As the Israelites left Egypt, they were led by a visible presence of God.  The Israelites saw a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  When they set up the tabernacle, God’s very presence was in the Holy of Holies.  In fact, the word “tabernacle” means to make camp with or to stay with.  It was by His Presence that they had hope.  They had hope because God had their front, back side and middle covered.  They were safe, even though they were uncertain of their path or journey; they had hope in God’s Presence.
    We have this same hope.  During Advent we wait, with great and expectant anticipation, for the return of Jesus.  Until He returns, we wait in hope for what is to come.  We wait with expectant joy to be “tabernacling” with Jesus face to face.  It is this hope that strengthens us and encourages us to keep going forward and to not give up.
    The world is a place filled with emptiness and despair.  We see it every day and experience frequently.  Whether it is the death of a loved one, financial struggles, health battles, depression, addiction or just plain old anxiety; the world is broken and not a pretty place.  Yet God promised to dwell among His people; to be in their midst serving as the everlasting light.  God has promised to feed without cost and drink without payment.  We wait for that great event.  We wait for that joyous time of complete fulfilment.      
     So as we wait, we look back to when Jesus came as a baby born to give us hope, lived to give us hope, died and rose to make the guarantee that our resurrection would occur as well.  In the mean-time; his Spirit dwells in us to keep us focused on the hope of everlasting life.  That is our hope.
 Gracious Father, you come to us through your Word and sacraments.  You strengthen us, preserve us and protect from the devil and his ways.  Lead us; encourage us and use us to further your holy kingdom.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen     
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.