God With Us: A Meditation on Matthew 1, for the 4th Sunday in Advent

But while he thought on these things, behold,

 the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,

Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:

for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled

which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,

and they shall call his name Emmanuel,

which being interpreted is, God with us.

The idea of God being with us can bring forth a wide range of responses.  For those who are at war with God and His created order, it might incite terror or hatred.  For those who are angry with God because they blame Him for some unpleasant circumstances in their lives, it might produce repulsion or scorn.  For those who repress their own rational capacity for logic and sanity so as to deny God’s existence, His presence might produce revulsion, shock, and dismay.  For many others throughout the world, the question of their response to God being with us turns on identifying exactly what God we are discussing; from the horrific god of jihadist slaughter, to the pagan gods of witchcraft and sorcery, to the animist gods of folk religions around the world, not every god who is worshiped is one anyone would really want to be present.  Indeed, who would want a thundering Zeus, Athena, or Apollo?  Who really wants to be in the presence of gods who bath in the blood of their victims, show forth the worst kinds of caprice and malice, and barter for the souls of men?  The demonic phantasms of fallen human minds are not the kinds of gods anyone wants to show up for dinner, let alone abide with us forever.

But the God revealed to Joseph and Mary and discussed in our Gospel text is not any dark idea from the mind of man.  This is the God who has been revealing Himself since He created the world in goodness, purity, truth, and beauty.  This is the God who watched man fall by his own free will into sin and rebellion, justly bringing upon himself and the whole creation the pains of death, hell, and slavery to the devil.  This is the God who continued to reveal Himself as not only holy and eternal Law, but also as infinite and unfathomable grace.  This is the God who promised to enter into His creation by being born of the Virgin, taking our humanity upon Himself, that He might suffer and die in our place.  This is the God who so loved the world that He would give His only begotten Son, so that anyone who would repent of their wickedness, hear and believe His Word of divine forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, would not perish but have everlasting life.  This is the God who passed from eternity into time, so that He might be born, suffer, die, and rise again the third day, earning the forgiveness of our sins, life, and salvation in His Name forever.  This is the God who revealed Himself as not only our Creator, but our Redeemer, our Savior, our Father, our Brother, and our Friend.  This is the God, who though He is justly the one and only righteous Judge of all His creation, yet humbly comes to seek and to save the lost.  This is the God, Emmanuel.

Throughout Advent, we continue to light candles as symbols of the growing light which dawns on Christmas Day, commemorating the Incarnation of God with Us for the salvation of the world.  This God, the Eternal Word of the Father made flesh, comes to abide with us, to love us, to nourish us, and to save us.  Rather than a false god who comes only to enslave, abuse, kill, and destroy, the True God comes to give life to His people, and to give it abundantly.  Our Lord Jesus Christ, promised by God, foretold by Prophets, testified to by Apostles, and born witness to by saints and martyrs in every age, is the saving God who comes to abide with His people and to save them from the death and darkness of their evil.  This is the Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the only One through whom we may be reconciled to the Father, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  This Jesus, who alone is fully God and fully Man, is the only God who gives Himself for the life of His world, and the only Name given under heaven whereby men may be saved.

It is this God who came to abide with us through the Blessed Virgin Mary so many years ago, and continues to abide among His people through His Word and Sacraments.  Here in His Holy Church, His people are gathered by His Spirit in faith and repentance around His Word of Law and Gospel, receiving His grace and His abiding presence through His Word bound to His Supper, to His Baptism, and to His Absolution.  Here the Good Shepherd continually breaths life, love, peace, and hope into His people, even as He raises them up by His Spirit to live out his eternal gifts of faith, hope, and love.  Here the love and mercy of God is made manifest to the whole world, as Jesus commissions His disciples to bring His Gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation to everyone is this dark, suffering, and abused world.

As Christmas glows upon the brightening horizon once again, it is good for all people to meditate upon what it means that God would both now and forever abide with His people.  Set aside those things which inspire terror and fear, repulsion and rebellion, so that you might see the love of your Creator in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Be finished with the dark things of death and destruction, and be freed from the tyranny of a devil who does not love you, and only seeks your doom.  Hear instead the Word of our Lord which calls you to a new life, a new hope, a new love—to a new and blessed eternity in His presence.  Hear Him, believe, and live.  Amen.