Sunday, December 23, 2007

Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7: 14

She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1: 21

In the readings from Isaiah and Matthew for this week, there are two names given for Jesus: Immanuel and Jesus.  Immanuel is the God who is with us and accompanies us on our life’s journey.  Jesus (taken from the name “Joshua” which means “Yahweh saves”) is the one who saves us from our sin.  This week you are invited to consider the tension between these two aspects of Christ:  Jesus our savior and Jesus the one who walks with us and enters into our human reality.

In the Isaiah passage for this week, the prophet challenges King Ahaz to ask God for sign reassuring him that he will be victorious over his enemies.  Though the king is hesitant to ask for a sign, God gives him one anyway.  That sign was that a young woman in the king’s court will soon bear a child to be called “Immanuel.”  By the time this child grows to an age when he knows right from wrong, King Ahaz’s enemies will be overthrown.

Once I clearly got a sign from God.  In December of 1986 I was driving alone in the Twin Cities, on my way to a ministry-related meeting.  It was late afternoon and   snowing hard.  I was praying and driving over an icy, snow covered overpass when the car started to spin out of control.  For what seemed like an awfully long time (probably a matter of seconds), I was paralyzed with the fear of what might happen, not only to me, but to the child I was carrying in my body.  Fortunately the other cars on the road were quite far behind me, and the drivers slowed down in order to give me plenty of room.  Amazingly, the car spun around a full 360 degrees, so I wound up heading in the right direction.  This was both an experience of the God who saves and the God who is with us!  I had already been with God before the near accident happened.  This was a sign that surely God was with me that day, watching over me and keeping me safe.

Have you seen signs of God’s presence in recent days?   In years past? What have been those signs for you?   Remember those times when you felt the presence of “Immanuel,” and give thanks!

Marianne Cotter