How
is God with us?
He has just been elected the president of a great nation. Many thought him unfit to be the president. He didn’t have the education of many of those who had gone before him. Many considered him a stumbling buffoon, unfit for such an office. The country was divided on so many issues. Was war justified? How could he unify a country which seem to have been further divided by the recent presidential election? Where would he find the other leaders he needed to be his cabinet?
Who was this man? No, it isn’t George W. Bush. It is Abraham Lincoln. He had just been elected president of the United States- a man without a formal education like all those others who had preceded him in the office. He came from a state, Illinois that didn’t seem to have the prestige, of the eastern states. The country was terribly divide on the issue of slavery and seemed to be headed for war. How must Lincoln have felt amidst the criticism of his detractors who thought him to be ill prepared, ill-equipped, and ignorant? How could he lead in the midst of such divisiveness, such conflict, such doubts? Surely he must have felt alone.
When Abraham Lincoln departed from Springfield, Illinois, he bid his friends farewell with these words: "I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Diving Being, who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."
In this dark hour of the nation, with war impending, anger welling up around him, Lincoln had a profound sense of "God with us." He didn’t count on his own abilities, on the abilities of the other leaders he was yet to choose for his cabinet. He knew that his abilities were not sufficient; others who would help to lead were no better. He put his faith in God with him and the nation.
There was another man, also of humble background, with no education, no promise of a better future. He had a job that depended on his own skill, his own strength. On top of it all, the thing that seemed to promise him newfound joy, was not being shattered and destroyed. How he loved that woman, young and tender as she was! Now she was pregnant, not by him, but by someone else. Being an honorable man, he determined not to make a fuss, but to break off their relationship. You know this man. He is Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, a pregnant young woman. Just as Joseph determined to end the relationship, he had a dream, a dream in which he had a tremendous sense of "God with him." A messenger of the Lord God appeared to him and told him that the child was not that of another man with whom Mary had betrayed him, but this child came from God. The angel even told him what he should name the child, Jesus. We are reminded as we hear and read this passage from the Gospel of Matthew that all this- a virgin conceiving a child, and bearing a son- fulfills the scripture from the book of the prophet Isaiah. "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Immanuel." which means "God is with us."
"God is with us." That’s the message of this story. It is what Mary believed when she was told she would bear a son under unusual circumstances. This is what Joseph knew when he accepted his role. "God is with us." Joseph trusted in the workings of God in his waking and in his sleeping. Joseph knew the name of the one who is with him- God. Look at the artist’s rendering of the experience of Joseph on the front cover of the bulletin. As the birth of Jesus grows closer, light more than darkness dominates the scene. The brown of desert places where God seems to be absent are still hinted at in the corners of the picture as Joseph falls asleep having made up his mind as to which road he will travel. Joseph is resting securely in an angelic embrace, as the holy cradles the human. As he is enfolded by the Holy, night calls to the deepest places in his soul to have the courage to let his life unfold as "God is with him."
How can this be? Surely you have had times in your life when you felt utterly alone. Surely you have felt that your own meager resources, your paltry talents, your weak spirit were inadequate to what lay before you. Perhaps you have just received the word that a beloved is dying. Or you have learned that you have a death-dealing disease. Or you have learned that the work you have given your life to and the company you thought would serve you until retirement has let you go. Or you learn that a trusted and beloved one has betrayed your trust. Where do you turn in such a time? God is with you. That’s the promise of God.
Matthew’s story here is not an emphasis on a virgin birth. I am not sure that whether or not Mary was a virgin is that important. What is important is that in some mysterious, inexplicable way, God came to earth to be with us. God so loved the world that God came to live among us, to share our common lot, the life of a human being who was born just as you and I were born. God came to earth as a man who worked with his hands and knew no breaks that elevated him to the status of an earthly king. God came to earth as a human one who knew suffering, who knew a painful humiliating death on a cross, but who conquered death and dying.
It is God who so loved the world, God who so loves you and me that God came to share our life on earth. It is God with us that we celebrate this holy season. God’s ultimate purpose is to establish the realm of God on earth so that the whole creation will be bound together in one community of justice and love.
Last Sunday the three confirmands, Beth, Peter, D.J. and their mentors, Jim, John, Linda and I shared a story, a fable if you will, about why God would come to be God with us. Let me share the story with you now.
A woman and her son prepared to go to the 10:30 Christmas Eve worship at their church. The husband and father, as usual, decided that he would stay home, sit in his easy chair and enjoy the evening unencumbered by "church stuff." All that "stuff" about God coming to earth as a human being. If there was a God, it simply didn’t make sense. Why would God, who people claim to be all- powerful, all-knowing want to do such a stupid thing? No, he wouldn’t go to hear such foolishness. As he watched his family leave in the car, it began to snow.
As he read the newspaper, the man thought he heard some knocking at the window, but looking out he decided he must be hearing things. But then after he had settled comfortably in his chair there seemed to be more knocking, almost like pecking.
As he opened the curtains, he could see that the snowstorm had intensified and the wind had picked up. Then...then he could see a bird, no, a whole flock of birds on his lawn. Seeing the light emanating from his window a few of the birds had flown into his window, perhaps seeking shelter. They were disoriented by the storm. He could see that they would be in trouble if they didn’t find shelter. His heart went out to these poor little creatures.
He though of his barn. Surely if the birds went into the barn they would be safe from the devastating storm. So he went outside, opened the barn door and made a lot of noise hoping that they would go into the barn to escape his noise. But no, he seemed to be only frightening them more.
Then he thought about food. They must be starving after all that flying around. So he went into his house to fetch some bread. He then went outside again and tossed the breadcrumbs in a path that would lead them to the barn. But the birds still would not seek the shelter of the barn.
"Oh," said the man aloud, "I wish I could become a bird, if only for a short while, so that I could show them how much I care for them and that I mean to offer them life."
Just then, in the distance, the church bells rang, announcing the birth of the Savior. The man sank to his knees in the snow and lifted his eyes to the sky, "I’m sorry, God. Now I know why you came. I just didn’t understand before."
Truly God is with us. No matter the circumstances of the world- war in Iraq, starvation in Africa, violence on the streets, anger and hurt in homes, betrayal among friends, greed among nations, injustice everywhere. God is with us. What does God want from us for Christmas? God wants us to open our eyes, to hear the angels in unexpected voices, to go with the shepherds to the stable to see the Savior of the world in a tiny child in a cow’s manger.
God cannot be confined to the church, to a sanctuary. God will be found on the battle lines in Iraq. God is found in a lonely, dirty tenement in Denver. God is found in a nursing home where some of the residents have nobody to come to sing them carols. God is found at the bedside of a dying woman. God is found in every place that seems godforsaken. Our God lives where our God lives, in the world. Destruction has no ultimate power and even death cannot stop the living. Truly God is with us. Alleluia! Amen!
Anne D. Kear, Pastor and Preacher
Note: If you are still confused about how a gay Christian can feel they are 'right' with God I encourage you to read the section of the web site entitled "Gay and Christian? YES!"
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First Congregational United Church of Christ, Longmont, Colorado