Delivered on December 24, 2005, Melana

tells us "God's Present is God's Presence"  

We hope you enjoy reading her sermons and

wish you would join us each Sunday to

hear the new one in person.

 

God's Present is God's Presence                                 Luke 2:1-20

 

        We all come to Christmas Eve with varied expectations - Some have to do with family - who we will get to see tonight or tomorrow.  Some have to do with gifts - what we hope to receive or what reaction we might see from a gift that is given.  Sometimes our great expectations are not met and we find ourselves disappointed with Christmas.

 

        Imagine the expectations of Mary and Joseph on the night Jesus was born.  They had traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill the census requirement, only to find that the town is so full, there is no place to stay except the small cave where the animals usually sleep.  Luke says that while they were in Bethlehem, the time came for the baby to be born and they wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.

 

For unto us a child is born, for unto us a son is given - his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace - Immanuel, God is with us.

 

        What expectations did Mary and Joseph have of this tiny baby they held in their arms?  They knew the prophecy and they knew the dreams and visions they had received about the child.  But what could they expect from their newborn baby?

 

        We know the whole story and we come to this night with great expectations for what God has done for us through this child.  The amazing miracle that we celebrate tonight is that God would want to come to us - that God  would come to us like one of us.  God's present to us on this Christmas and on everyday is God's own presence in our lives.

 

        It is difficult in the rush and hurry of preparing to fulfill all those expectations that we bring to Christmas, to actually find the time and space and quiet to experience God's presence.  At the beginning of Advent I suggested that we find a way to prepare our hearts to receive Christ again - but that is much easier said than done.  I experience God's presence most easily in the midst of worship - when the children sing carols and songs of Christmas, when the choir sings that Jesus is Emmanuel, when Steve sings about that Holy Night and when we gather around the Table and raise our candles to remind the world of Christ's light - then I can feel God's presence.

 

        It is more difficult other places and times - but I can also feel God's presence when I am reaching out to others - talking to people at Angel Food or listening to a child at LOGOS.  But the gift of Christmas is that God's presence is always with us - not just when we are worshipping or serving others, not just when we feel good or find a quiet moment.  God's presence is with us in the midst of the rush and hurry of our lives, in the disappointments and despair that often accompany life.

 

        The rest of the amazing story is that by coming to us in Jesus Christ, God actually knows what life is like - God knows joy and sorrow first hand because Jesus experienced it.  God knows anger and fear and pain because Jesus felt them.  God knows us not just because God created us, but because God chose to come into the world as one of us - that is what we celebrate tonight - God's presence in our midst - Immanuel.

 

        Jesus was born and Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.  The shepherds were the first to hear the news from angels who told them not to be afraid.  The shepherds hurried to see the thing which had been told to them and they told Joseph and Mary how they had heard - and Luke says that Mary pondered these things in her heart.  Even Mary did not understand what God has done for us, the presence that has come to us in the form of a tiny babe.

 

        These are great tidings - and we are invited to be a part of the celebration of the gift of God's presence.

 

Come, let us go and see the thing which has been told to us.

Come, let us go and worship the newborn king - God's present to the world - the gift of God's own unending, loving presence.

 

 

© Melana Scruggs 2005

 

 

  

     

    

 

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