Emmanuel

Emmanuel is my favorite and chosen name for Christ. The word Emmanuel has been the word that I have claimed during this season of Advent, although it might be more truthful to say that this is the word that has claimed me.

2021 has been a difficult year. For me, it has been a year of deep loss, pain, and letting go. I know that many of you have also walked through difficult days, and if you are like me, you have looked for something meaningful to hold on to. When I felt like so many things were taken away from me, I needed to know that something remained and what has remained is God. God with me - Emmanuel.

"When we choose to see God as God-with-us, we enter into a new relationship of intimacy with God." Nouwen

What I have learned in this season is that we need someone to come on our behalf - someone to make us whole again. God comes to us with the promise that we are not forsaken. We are found. We are loved. The coming of Christ teaches us that God is not distant from us, nor is God distant from our pain. Henri Nouwen says, "When we choose to see God as God-with-us, we enter into a new relationship of intimacy with God." That intimacy means that God is near to us in every way.

God has been coming for us since the beginning. Remember all of the times that God came to God's people: in the garden, in the wilderness, in a burning bush, in a fiery furnace, at a well, walking upon the water, and in a manger. History is full of stories of God coming to us.

The coming of God is a gift, and our job is to make space - a sanctuary for God to enter. In this space, we hold God, and God holds us. Sufferings, doubts, and losses will come. It is inevitable, but these sufferings lead to emptying. Our souls become more open to Christ and to the love that Christ brings to us.

There have been days when my soul felt empty, but in my stillness, I have felt God holding me...coming to me. God is Emmanuel. God is with us. God is with me. God is with you.

And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. —John 1:14

Yes, Forever!

“When Christ comes into your life, he changes your life forever,” the preacher said.

“Forever?!” she asked.

“Yes forever!” he said.

This brief conversation occurred in the middle of a sermon. My husband and I were visiting with my daughter at a church near her home in Winter Park, Florida. My daughter is a nanny, and the occasion was the baptism of the little boy that she cares for. This little boy has a sister who is barely three years old. She is a beautiful, bright-eyed, curious little girl. Settled into her daddy’s lap on the front row of the church eating her snack, who would have thought that she was listening to the preacher, but she was. Her ears were tuned in, and she awakened an attentiveness in me.

It was the third Sunday of Advent, and as the preacher began to share his message, he unveiled a figurine of the baby Jesus lying in the manger. It was the one that belongs in the church’s nativity scene and it had recently gone missing. One dedicated member of this congregation began the search for the baby Jesus and found him tucked away behind some boxes in the church’s basement. Jesus had been found.

The pastor shared this good news with the congregation and developed his sermon around the joy of this discovery. Christ comes into the world – the Word is made flesh and lives among us. That is cause for celebration, yet the news gets better. Not only does Christ come to us, but Christ also brings light, love, joy, peace, and the hope of salvation to us. These gifts are found when we search for Christ, find him, and bring him out from the places where we have tucked him away.

We bring Christ into our lives, but we don’t just place him literally and figuratively in our lives for this season. We bring him into our lives for the long haul. “When Christ comes, he changes your life forever,” the preacher said. “Forever?!” the three-year old asked…aloud!....in church!...in the middle of the sermon!...in the sweet way that only a three-year-old can ask. “Yes, forever,” he replied to her question, and my heart was touched and opened by this precious child’s innocent wondering.

Forever is a time frame that none of us can wrap our minds around. How do we absorb such a thing? We only relate to the world in limited measures. That God will love us and hold us for eternity, well that makes us all want to ask, “Forever?!” “Yes, forever,” God says. “You are mine, and I am yours forever.”

We often try to put God into a box. We limit God’s ability to love and offer grace. We forget that God’s love and grace are so much bigger than our minds can comprehend. They are eternal – forever – for all.

In this season, and in every season, may the coming of Christ stretch our minds and our hearts. May Christ expand our comprehension of a greater love, a greater hope, a greater joy, and a greater peace.

It’s the fourth week of Advent. Our waiting sometimes leaves us feeling doubtful, but the assurance is that Christ comes. Yes, Emmanuel comes and changes our lives forever!

When Grace Steps In

When we look at our global society, we witness a world in tatters. Nations are torn apart by war and struggles over power. Communities are littered with neglect and poverty. Neighborhoods are filled with violence that either pours out into the streets or becomes a nasty secret held behind locked doors. This unfolding knows no boundary. It happens to the poor and the rich, the young and the old, the believer and the unbeliever.

But Advent comes. We untangle the lights and hang them up. We dust off the star and place it on top of our tree. We place the tiny infant figurine in our nativity scene, and we feel a bit of grace begin to unfold into our messed up world.

I like to imagine that the places where we are most vulnerable, hurt, and longing are thin places - places where God's grace steps in. These are the places where it feels that we can almost touch God.

One of my favorite things to do in the Advent season is to sit up late at night in my quiet, still house while everyone else is asleep. I spend time looking at the lit Christmas tree. Those moments of stillness and light help me to feel that there is still hope for our world - that there is a thin place where God reaches in and touches me. It's kind of like the woman in the crowd simply reaching out and touching the hem of Christ's robe, or Anna and Simeon needing to lay their eyes on the infant Jesus. These are places where grace steps in and reminds me that God is still here. I am not orphaned and left alone in this world. God is still Emmanuel - with me - holding me - reaching out for me.

Where is grace stepping in for you? Share your grace moments. Give thanks for them. Don't let Advent slip by without noticing that God is holding you in grace as you await the coming of the Word made flesh.