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
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