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Signs of God With Us
Though for Reflection: "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!" ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie
Hearing God's Word: Isaiah 40:1-11, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Micah 5:2-4, Isaiah 7:10-15, Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 2:1-7
Homily: Signs of God With Us
Today we heard lessons from scripture. Many of them were written long before anyone knew that God was going to break into the world and be born in Jesus. They were written hundreds of years before Mary was chosen by the Holy Spirit. Before angels appeared before shepherds. Before wise men started following a star. Before any of it.
But we read those Scriptures because even though they were written at the time about completely different things -- looking back -- we see what the earliest Christians saw in those texts -- we see SIGNS of what was to come.
Hundreds of years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah said to King Ahaz: "Look! The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel."
Isaiah wasn't talking at the time about Jesus.
But when Matthew sat down to write his gospel, the world had shifted. And looking back on the Scriptures Matthew saw in those words a sign of what was to come.
And he wrote in his gospel, "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us."
Isaiah's words were a sign - a sign that pointed to Jesus. Matthew saw it generations later.
And I think that most of the time, that's how we see signs from God in our own lives - after the fact.
We didn't know for sure at the time, but that thing that happened - that story someone told - that phrase that someone dropped - that dream we had -- that was a SIGN of what was to come.
Sometimes stories about signs can make us feel so sensitive and vulnerable, that we keep them close and don't share them. We fear that people will think we're a religious nut. But those stories and those signs stay with us.
That bird that flew across my path. That thunderstorm that came out of nowhere. That strange thing the checkout woman said to me at the grocery store. I didn't know it then. But it was sign.
It was sign that she had passed. It was a sign that the adoption was going through. It was a sign that everything was going to be alright. It was a sign...
God sends us lots of signs. Signs of hope. Signs of peace. Signs of Love.
But as we talk about signs at Christmas time, I want you to remember one thing - Jesus was not a sign. Jesus was a promise.
Jesus was not a sign. Jesus was a promise.
When God became flesh and dwelt among us -- everything shifted. Love broke into the world. Hope broke into the world. Joy broke into the world.
Jesus is a promise. A promise of Emmanuel. A promise of God With Us.
Signs you most often recognize after the fact. But promises are made in advance. You count on them.
In the waiting room, at the deathbed, on the long drive home, after the divorce -- the promise is there: GOD IS WITH US. You don't need a sign to prove it. The promise has been made.
And yet - the more we know that - the more we believe in that promise - the more we live our lives on the bedrock of that faith - the more clear the signs become. Not just after the fact. But in the moment.
I felt God with me in the flicker of the candlelight. I knew God was by my side as I held her hand. I sensed the Holy Spirit kiss my cheek in the wind...
The more we rely upon the PROMISE God made to us in Jesus, the easier it is to see the signs.
This Christmas, I invite us all to embrace the promise of Emmanuel, and allow it to open our eyes to the signs of God With Us in each moment.
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By United Church in WalpoleThough for Reflection: "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!" ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie
Hearing God's Word: Isaiah 40:1-11, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Micah 5:2-4, Isaiah 7:10-15, Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 2:1-7
Homily: Signs of God With Us
Today we heard lessons from scripture. Many of them were written long before anyone knew that God was going to break into the world and be born in Jesus. They were written hundreds of years before Mary was chosen by the Holy Spirit. Before angels appeared before shepherds. Before wise men started following a star. Before any of it.
But we read those Scriptures because even though they were written at the time about completely different things -- looking back -- we see what the earliest Christians saw in those texts -- we see SIGNS of what was to come.
Hundreds of years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah said to King Ahaz: "Look! The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel."
Isaiah wasn't talking at the time about Jesus.
But when Matthew sat down to write his gospel, the world had shifted. And looking back on the Scriptures Matthew saw in those words a sign of what was to come.
And he wrote in his gospel, "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, God is with us."
Isaiah's words were a sign - a sign that pointed to Jesus. Matthew saw it generations later.
And I think that most of the time, that's how we see signs from God in our own lives - after the fact.
We didn't know for sure at the time, but that thing that happened - that story someone told - that phrase that someone dropped - that dream we had -- that was a SIGN of what was to come.
Sometimes stories about signs can make us feel so sensitive and vulnerable, that we keep them close and don't share them. We fear that people will think we're a religious nut. But those stories and those signs stay with us.
That bird that flew across my path. That thunderstorm that came out of nowhere. That strange thing the checkout woman said to me at the grocery store. I didn't know it then. But it was sign.
It was sign that she had passed. It was a sign that the adoption was going through. It was a sign that everything was going to be alright. It was a sign...
God sends us lots of signs. Signs of hope. Signs of peace. Signs of Love.
But as we talk about signs at Christmas time, I want you to remember one thing - Jesus was not a sign. Jesus was a promise.
Jesus was not a sign. Jesus was a promise.
When God became flesh and dwelt among us -- everything shifted. Love broke into the world. Hope broke into the world. Joy broke into the world.
Jesus is a promise. A promise of Emmanuel. A promise of God With Us.
Signs you most often recognize after the fact. But promises are made in advance. You count on them.
In the waiting room, at the deathbed, on the long drive home, after the divorce -- the promise is there: GOD IS WITH US. You don't need a sign to prove it. The promise has been made.
And yet - the more we know that - the more we believe in that promise - the more we live our lives on the bedrock of that faith - the more clear the signs become. Not just after the fact. But in the moment.
I felt God with me in the flicker of the candlelight. I knew God was by my side as I held her hand. I sensed the Holy Spirit kiss my cheek in the wind...
The more we rely upon the PROMISE God made to us in Jesus, the easier it is to see the signs.
This Christmas, I invite us all to embrace the promise of Emmanuel, and allow it to open our eyes to the signs of God With Us in each moment.