God With Us

Focus Statement

There is a big difference between God for us and God with us.

The birth story is a perfect example of that.

A bunch of shepherds and a couple poor kids gather at a barn in some backwater Roman province.

Yes, God was with us there

and any other "last place on earth” you might find yourself.

God is with us there, too.

Point of Relation

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a person who has struggled with depression and, especially, anxiety.

The two feed off of each other really.

For years, I had tried different things to conquer those diseases and to very different levels of success.

This went on for my whole life, right up until this year...

I had spent all of those years for God to help me.

Yet, it felt like God did not hear my prayers.

You ever have that happen? Well, I have...

Over time, I just figured there was to be no real relief from the hell that is anxiety and depression.

I speak openly about it because I am not the only who experiences this…and so hopefully people knowing my story makes them feel less alone in theirs.

But over time, I figured I was a hopeless cause.

Then one day I was getting tattoo work done...

And my tattoo artist was talking about anxiety and different things that have helped her.

And, in doing so, I realized that there were legitimate and effective avenues I had not considered or tried.

I realized God had answered my prayer at a time I wasn’t looking for it...

at a time when I was just living my ordinary…plain…life…getting more tattoos as I am wont to do! LOL!

Things to Consider

When we think of God showing up for us…we often let our imaginations run wild!

We expect a Charlton Heston like experience...

With a big booming voice from the sky, flashy miracles like a non-burning, burning bush,

or we imagine God stopping something from happening

or even making something happen against the laws of nature, etc.

Or we often think things have to be a certain way for God to show up

For example, we think we have to be in a calm, quiet place,

in church,

or once we’ve started reading the Bible.

Yet, Jesus’ birth shows us that God with us

means God has chosen to enter our messy, busy, imperfect humanity as one of us

(this is the incarnation)

What Scripture Says

The way the writer of Luke tells Jesus’ birth story is special.

The writer describes what is going on in the world at the time,

not just what is going on religiously but what is going on socially/politically.

Augustus calls for a census. People are traveling to take care of these civic responsibilities.

The world does not stop. There is no fanfare for God’s arrival.

It is while world affairs keep going that God enters the world in the infant Jesus.

In the first chapter of Luke, the story alternates between preparing for John the Baptist’s birth and Jesus’ birth.

While it’s clear Jesus is the Messiah and John is not,

this back and forth emphasizes how Jesus’ story happens alongside

and within the story of regular human beings.

Further, alternating the John/Jesus stories situates Jesus as the fulfilment of the Jewish hope for a Messiah

God does not bypass the religious faith of the people of Israel but enters into it,

albeit in a way that they would not have imagined.

While Jesus enters into the social, political, and religious world of the Ancient Near East “as it is,”

the incarnation (enfleshment of God) does mark the beginning of a new way of God relating to humanity.

In verse 10, the angel tells the shepherds that the newborn child is “the Messiah, the Lord.”

This word, “Lord,” is the same one used to refer to God (YHWH) in the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures

that would have been widely used at the time.

This is a big surprise!

People are using the name given to the God who split the Red Sea

and brought the Israelites out of Egypt to describe a vulnerable baby born to a poor family.

The all-powerful God who may have felt too big to approach

is now actually with us

AS ONE OF US.

God is near to us and God will know our human experience from the inside,

not from a divinely safe distance.

Not only does the story of Jesus’ birth show us God with us as humanity, in general,

but further as God on our side, as human beings living in a world

and under systems that constantly threaten to undermine our humanity.

Under Emperor Augustus, who called for the census, the Roman empire entered a time called the “Pax Romana” (Roman Peace) –

a time of “peace” and “stability” – except that it only looked that way.

This political peace was achieved by killing off any enemies and suppressing anyone who disagreed with the ruling empire.

The emperor, Caesar August, was referred to as Lord.

The birth of Jesus is “good news of great joy for all the people,”

not just the powerful or those who were useful to the Roman political machine.

A new Lord is now on the scene, wrapped in cloth and lying in an animal’s trough.

This means God does not operate by the rules of the world

or any regime of what defines humanity as worthwhile.

God is here to bring true peace and joy for everyone,

starting with those whom the world has despised.

God loves humanity enough to become human,

not ruling with iron fist from above,

but babbling from a manger in true human solidarity and compassion.

What This Means For You

I want you to consider the ways you shut God out of the very human, ordinary, or messy parts of your lives.

For instance, when we come to church…we put on a good show, right?

We dress our best, act our best, and pretend we’re good Christians...

Not in need of help from anyone.

Yet, privately....personally…we now that is a façade.

We know that we really do struggle with things.

We sin…no matter how much we don’t want to admit it.

We hide those sins for fear that people will judge us...

In fact, we do this so well…that we often forget we are sinners...

or we justify our sins because of the “good people” we’ve fooled ourselves into believing we are.

Sure, we pray to God…we pray for help, for him to appear to us where we need...

But we don’t seek Christ out…we don’t spend time reading the Scriptures…we don’t pray often and consistently...

And for some, worship is merely a weekly obligation…if it is that at all...

And we don’t really bother serving God in community...

As it doesn’t fit our schedules.

Hence, why God seems to be far away, over and above you...

A distant being that created us, but leaves us to our own lives and trials.

In reality, though, God is not distant at all…

GOD IS WITH US! IMMANUEL

In reality, God feels distant because we have distanced ourselves from God.

But we do have a choice...

We can continue to imagine that God is far away...

Or we can see God before us and within us...

The God who, as Jesus of Nazareth,

experienced your own very human challenges for himself.

Friends, if you build up daily disciplines of prayer, reading Scripture, worshiping regularly, serving Jesus at church and in your community, confess your sins to people who will support and pray for you...

YOU WILL EXPERIENCE JESUS CHRIST and he WILL CHANGE YOU.

You will not only think of IMMANUEL seasonally…but he will with you in your hearts EVERY DAY.

How might your relationship with Jesus shift if you truly believed

Jesus experienced the same human life they do and was with you in the day to day?

What systems, institutions, circumstances, or people might be making you doubt your worth

or making you feel unable to express your full humanity

what is stealing or crushing your humanity?

Recognizing Jesus (the God-human!) as Lord will change you and, thus, the world around you will begin to change.

You will have courage and passion for the Good News

because you have experienced it for yourself!

Perhaps it will provide the courage to speak out against injustices,

or help make the decision to leave a dehumanizing situation,

or help with inner strength if leaving if not an option.

For instance, perhaps you work in a toxic work environment…and you have felt trapped there.

Your faith in Christ being WITH YOU, could give you the strength you need to take a leap of faith...

and LEAVE your job for something potentially better.

Or perhaps you serve on a committee that is pressuring you to vote in a certain way...

But you know it would not be what is best...

Your faith in Christ will give you the strength to go against the grain.

Or perhaps you are being called to lead in some way...

Your proximity to Christ, if you have drawn closer, will give you the courage the the strength to step up.

That this means for us

As believers in and followers of Jesus Christ,

we are affirmed in our full humanity and met there by the God

who did not consider humanity “too low,” to be worthy of divine presence and love.

I encourage you, as a church, to think about how we show the world this God....who is WITH US?

Do our ministries and missions embody a God who is far off,

who requires fanfare,

who only responds to extravagant gifts

and flashy demonstrations of faith,

or do our ministries and missions embody a God who meets people where they are,

as they are,

and offer them a place that nourishes their humanity in all its imperfections?

With Treasures of Hope, our support for the Weekend Bag Program, Manna House, and other ministries...

I can say with certainty that we do embody a God who meets people where they are.

But we can always grow closer to Christ as we also grow in our witness of him!

Let us praise the LORD, by drawing closer and closer to him

as we continue to witness the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

And with that I say Amen…and Merry Christmas to you all!