Sent:
Jesus is God with us
December
20, 2015
Reinbeck
UMC
·
On a cold November night in 1984, Robyn
and I went to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana to have our first child.
Everything seemed like it was going well, so I went to move the car from the ER
lot to the regular parking lot. I was no particular hurry.
As I returned to the labor and delivery
floor, however, the elevator door to opened and I was assaulted by a nurse in full-blown
emergency mode. Pushing papers in my face and telling me they need to take
Robyn to surgery immediately. I discovered that the baby’s condition was
compromised and they needed to do an emergency c-section. There was a flurry of
activity and they whisked Robyn off to surgery.
I was young, scared for my wife and
unborn child, and alone. I made some phone calls to family and church friends and
waited, and waited, and waited. I knew from Lamaze class that they could have a
baby out in like 4 minutes. But time dragged on 30 minutes…an hour …an hour and
a half…and I was quite stressed.
While I sat in that little waiting room,
the cleaning woman came through. We visited casually and I shared what was
happening. She did her dusting and cleaning and then did something surprising. She
sat down with me. We continued to visit off and on but mostly she just sat. It
wasn’t until after it was all over, and I knew Robyn was OK, and Amber was
safe, and I was on my way home that I gave a second thought to the cleaning
woman.
She didn’t try to make it all better. She
didn’t have any magic answers. She didn’t know the future. But she was there. She
made me feel less alone and less afraid. Just being with me was enough.
I have wondered through the years if she
was an angel. I suppose even if she wasn’t the heavenly kind of angel, her
presence was certainly a message of God’s grace. Because she was there, I knew
that God was with me, and God was with Robyn, and God was with Amber. Emmanuel;
God with us.
·
Fast forward several years. A 10:30 pm
call is never good at a pastor’s house. This was one of those calls. A young
woman from the Musserville church had just given birth, and the baby was dead.
They asked me to come over to the hospital and baptize the baby. (Now we know
that God is gracious and loving and the baptism was more for the parents
comfort than anything else, but in those moments one doesn’t quibble over
sacramental theology.) I arrived at the hospital and found their room dark and
quiet with lullabies playing on the CD player. I went in and they handed me the
child. I held their lifeless baby in my arms and baptized her. And we just sat
there. I held her. They held her. We didn’t say much. We just sat there in the
dark quiet of the hospital room.
I knew there were no more words to say. I
knew they didn’t need words. They didn’t need me to DO anything else. They just
needed someone to BE with them. In that moment we experienced Emmanuel; God
with us.
·
Fast forward a few more years. I left
the ministry 21 years ago next month. Never thought I would be back. In 2002, Amber
was going on a mission trip and at the last minute, I went to help. We went to
United Methodist campground in Colorado. Over the course of the week, since I
was still ordained, I lead a couple of worship services and presided over
communion, but mostly I spent a lot of time hanging out with the youth. On the way
home, several of them cornered me. We all knew their current youth leader
wanted to retire, but they hadn’t found a replacement. They cornered me and
asked me if I would be their next youth leader. I turned them down flat.
“Something” kept working on me, though. And I
kept resisting. One day in November or December that same “something” got me up
off the couch and I went in to tell Robyn I was going to inquire about that
youth job at Asbury. It was the last thing I wanted to do. I had resisted it
and ignored it. But I couldn’t deny it any longer. 2 months later, I was
standing in front of those same youth who cornered me on the mission trip,
introducing myself as their new youth pastor. It wasn’t because I wanted to,
not because the kids wanted me to, but because in my deepest times of doubt and
denial I was still not alone. God was still working in me. Even when I didn’t
want him, God was with me; Emmanuel.
·
Fast forward a few more years. I was on
retreat this last fall. I had just finished the 5-day Academy of Spiritual Formation.
I was at Beads lake State park sitting on a bench near the lake. (Silly me, I
forgot to take my fishing role with me) The sun was shimmering across the water;
the breeze was blowing in my face. The only sound besides the wind was the
geese squawking on the west end of the lake. Suddenly and unmistakably, an overwhelming
peaceful assurance came over me. I just felt it. A very strong sense of
wholeness. A sense of being enveloped in warmth and light. I can’t describe it
any better than that. But it was a very palpable reminder that I was not alone.
I am never alone. Because no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing,
there is Emmanuel; God with me.
I could go on and on telling stories of Emmanuel;
God with us.
How does this work?… well very smart
people have worked for 2000 years to explain Emmanuel God presence and power with
us. Let me sum up the best answer we have. How can I simplify this so you will
all understand? Are you ready to take notes? Get your pencil and get ready to
write it down. Are you ready? Here we go. “We don’t know.” Yea that is the best
answer of how God is with us. If anyone tells you otherwise, they are trying to
pull the wool over your eyes. There is no understanding how Emmanuel; God with
us works. The important thing is that it does.
And that shouldn’t surprise you.
·
Today’s scripture affirms the promise first
made by the prophet Isaiah, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, ”which means, “God is with us.”[i]
·
Jesus said, “I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be
in you.”[ii]
·
Jesus says, “I will be with you always to the
ends of the earth.”[iii]
·
Paul writes, “The Spirit of God bears witness
with our spirits that we are children of God.”[iv]
Scripture is very clear that God is
Emmanuel; God with us, and we should not be surprised. God with us is very
special, but it is not a surprise.
·
It is not that God knows ABOUT us like the
IRS knows about us. No God is Emmanuel, God with us.
·
It is not that God is just near us, like
strangers on an elevator. They are near each other, but not with one another.
No, God is Emmanuel, God with us.
·
It is not that God is watching us at a
distance, like Santa Clause or a traffic camera. No God is Emmanuel, God with
us.
·
It is not that God solves all our problems,
or even protects us from the struggles of life. No but God walks though our
deepest struggles with us. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me.” [v]
God is Emmanuel, God with us.
No matter what… no matter when... no matter
how hard things are, or how great they are, God is Emmanuel, God with us.
It should not be any surprise to anyone who
has read the Bible or been around the church that Jesus is called Emmanuel; God
with us. Yet it is. Maybe it is just me, but it always surprises me when I
become powerfully aware of God with me. Does it surprise you? It isn’t that I
don’t want it or expect it, or know in my head that God is with me, but I don’t
always feel it. In those moments when Emmanuel is palpably, and undeniably present
I always find myself awed and a little surprised.
This week I bring to you the message that God
sent Jesus to be God with us. AND not only did God send Jesus to be Emmanuel;
God with us. Jesus sends us to be vessels for Emmanuel; God with others. We are
sent to be the hands and feet that make God’s presence real to a world that is
not expecting it.
·
We have done that. We sent almost $1200
worth of cash and gifts to the Christmas in Grundy event last weekend. And we
had volunteers at the event. Did we preach Jesus to everyone that walked
through the door? No. But to that father who felt like a failure because he had
to take the money he had saved to buy a gift for his son and give it to the
electric company so they wouldn’t shut off his power, it made all the
difference that by our gifts, money, and presence, we were with him that
morning. We didn’t solve all of his problems. But we were God’s hands and feet
quietly walking with him, helping him to not feel alone, and not feel like he failed
his little boy.
We are the hands and feet that make God’s
presence real to a world that is not expecting it.
·
We did that when Sarah Circle bought a hand
full of Trunck’s gift cards for Edie to give to anyone whom she thought needed
one. No strings attached. Not solving all their problems. Not preaching at them
about whether they bought potatoes or potato chips, but just coming along side
them with a gift card that says someone cares because of Jesus. One woman with
tears in her eyes, said something like, “Do you know how long it has been since
someone has given me a gift?”
We are the hands and feet that make God’s
presence real to a world that is not expecting it.
·
We do that. I was giving a ride to a woman
a while back. Something Pat organizes whenever there is a need and we are able
to find a driver. I picked this woman up from the cancer center. Stopped by
Trunk’s and picked up a few things for her, and helped her get them up the
steps into her kitchen. She turned to me with tears in her eyes and asked, “Why
do you do this for me?” I told her simply because Jesus loves you, and I am
trying to be his hands and feet. She cried and hugged me. I hadn’t cured her
cancer. I didn’t fix her financial problems. I just walked with her for an hour
being Jesus hands and feet, Emmanuel; God with her.
We are the hands and feet that make God’s
presence real to a world that is not expecting it.
·
When you go to a funeral visitation, it is
always hard to know what to say, isn’t it? Everything seems so inadequate, or
trite, or could be taken the wrong way. But you know what? The point of that
time is not what you say, but that you are there. You can’t fix it. You
probably can’t make the hurt go away. But you can just be there to walk with
them in grief for a moment. And then hopefully being there to walk with them in
their grief a month later, and 6 months later makes all the difference in the
world. It is your opportunity to be God’s hands and feet in this world.
We are the hands and feet that make God’s
presence real to a world that is not expecting it.
·
It is the bread and the juice that are
important in communion? No, it is the real presence of Christ. Emmanuel; God
with us.
·
Is it the water that is important in
baptism? No, it is the real power of the Holy Spirit at changing lives. Emmanuel;
God with us.
·
Is it really the box of trinkets that makes
an OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD box so magical? No, it is knowing that someone
somewhere cared, even if for just a moment, and even from 10,000 miles away,
they cared enough to pack a box because they love Jesus. Emmanuel; God with
them.
·
It wasn’t the ham dinner that made the
thank you dinner to the GR staff the highlight of their week. It is knowing
that some people from the church appreciate them enough to invite them in and
share a meal with them. To walk with them as “God with them” for just an hour
one night. Emmanuel; God with them.
·
The youth mission trip fundraisers are not
about money (well they are, but more importantly) they are an opportunity for
each of us to walk with the youth for just a few minutes. You might not have
the privilege of going to camp with them. (I wish every one of you could just
once) But you can be Emmanuel to them by making a donation, or writing them a
note, or patting them on the back. Or just saying thank you. It is not about
what you do, it is letting the light shine through you Emmanuel: God with them.
·
It is not whether a Christmas program goes
smoothly that matters, it is the love of the leaders, the joy of the kids
telling the story, and that magical moment when they held hands and prayed
before they came into the sanctuary. That is the church being Emmanuel to those
children and their parents. Emmanuel; God with them.
I could go on and on.
But my point is, you are all ministers. It
is not hard. It is not complicated. You don’t need a degree or an ordination to
do it. You just need to personally experience Emmanuel, God with you… and then
go to be Emmanuel to a neighbor, a friend,
or a stranger. Then you are in ministry.
·
This is what we are talking about when we
say on the bulletin covers the ministers are the entire congregation. The
entire congregation being Emmanuel to everyone we see.
·
This is that the leadership team is talking
about when they say set the goal for 2016 that every person will be in
ministry. Every person being Emmanuel; God with us to someone else.
The Christmas message is that Jesus was
sent to be Emmanuel, God with us. I pray that in worship, in devotions, in
caroling, is something you do this season, that you will experience the surprising
power of Emmanuel God with you.
And
when you experience it, may your heart overflow with the desire to
share Emmanuel. To be Emmanuel. To be Emmanuel God with us for everyone you
meet.
·
Sit here and experience Emmanuel God: with
you.
·
Go be Emmanuel to someone every day.
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