A.D.V.E.N.T.: E is for Emmanuel

Has God ever come to you in a dream? Have you ever heard God in another mysterious way? Did it require you to defy social convention, or was it an easy request? Did you dismiss that call, or did you respond? When was the last time you stepped out in faith, beyond a Facebook post about Phil Robertson or a Twitter rant or an email forward?

Read Isaiah 7:10-16 & Matthew 1:18-25.

This is how Matthew describes the birth of Jesus – from the perspective of Joseph. Imagine all the feelings that Joseph must have been feeling. He was a righteous man, and here was his pregnant fiancé. He must have felt foolish, embarrassed, angry, scandalized, cuckolded – like the husband who hears Maury declare “You are NOT the father!”

Yet righteous Joseph defies social convention because of God’s call to him in a dream. He ignores ‘what other people might think’ and stands by Mary – he continues to be with her, to share in her journey to Bethlehem and to birth. Joseph responds to a higher righteousness, one that goes above and beyond in response to God’s call. And he could do it because God was with him.

In the birth of Jesus, God chooses to be with us. God acts out of love, and a little baby is born. A little baby is born, and a righteous man responds to a higher righteousness. A righteous man responds, and a pregnant woman is not left alone in her time of need. A pregnant woman who is not left alone births a bouncing baby boy, and this boy saves us from our sins and continues the relationship of “God with us.”

And God was not just with our biblical ancestors – God is with us today as well. How have you experienced God with you? Goosebumps? Things coming together? Dreams and visions? Protection? Guidance? Camp Heartland? How have you experienced “God with us” at Trinity? How can we continually prepare for God to be with us?

God has promised us Emmanuel, and God keeps God’s promises. May we see beyond the reality tv show drama, beyond the tinsel and the trimmings, beyond the commercialism and the family drama, to behold the babe in the manger – to behold “God with us” yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Amen.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Kate

Wales' Tales

Just nine days until it’s time
To celebrate the birth
Of one who came to show the way
To those who live on earth.
You’d think that we would understand
What Christmas really means,
But most of us just lose our way,
Caught up in manger scenes.
We think of shepherds, Kings and stars,
Of stables, trees and lights,
Of memories of years gone by
That fill us with delights.
The music and the dinners,
The family gathered in,
All sugar-coat reality,
The price of human sin.
The baby that we welcome,
A gift from God above,
Arrives on Christmas morning
As a sign of endless love.
The stable was a symbol of
Poverty and need.
The shepherds kneeling on the dirt,
Were outcasts, poor indeed.
The star that shown so brightly
That lit the way so clear,
Reminds us that hope of God
Will always be so near.
The kings who made their journey
Were seekers on a quest
Searching for the answers
When God had sent the best
That anyone could offer,
A savior for the world,
Yet lying in a manger with
Swaddling clothes unfurled.
And somewhere in the shadows,
The future to foretell,
A ministry, a cross of wood,
A lifetime lived so well.
All symbols of a promise,
Our sin to find release,
The gift of God incarnate,
To bring us joy and ….
                      Peace,
                      Pastor Alex

Wales' Tales

The cold and snow came rushing in
Before I had a chance
To make the change in how I live,
Or find some winter pants.
My scarf was hidden in my stuff.
My gloves were still in storage,
My boots were stiff and way too cold.
For breakfast I had porridge.
But now the sky is oh so blue,
The snow is white and frozen.
And winter is in place for now
Not something I have chosen,
But life itself is full of things
That I would never chose,
Events that make me quite surprised,
With things to find and lose.
The doors that would not open,
The path that seems too hard,
The barriers that block my way,
The dross I must discard.
A lifetime full of miracles,
Of joy and bitter tears,
The ups and downs of every day,
The triumph and the fears.
But as we move towards Christmas time
I also am aware
That God with wisdom far above,
Has planned to offer care
For wayward sheep, for silly geese
Who try too hard to win
A game of life that seems so full
And yet seems rather thin.
A plan that called for simple birth,
And life of service true,
Of death and resurrection
And the chance to start anew.
So as I find my winter clothes,
My complaining to release,
I’ll settle down and watch the snow
And just enjoy God’s…
                                    Peace,
                                    Pastor Alex

Wales' Tales

The hectic week that lies ahead is only just the start.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve,
Put the horse before the cart.
The purpose of this time of year is not to make us sigh.
It comes to tell us in our lives
That God is coming nigh.
Not presents, tinsel, shining lights,
Not candy canes nor trees,
The symbol of the season
Glows much brighter than all these.
A shining star high overhead,
A manger as a bed,
As simple shepherds kneel in awe,
Just as the angels said.
A baby born in poor estate,
In a stable near an inn,
No room for him in crowded rooms
Away from noisy din.
And travelers who have seen the star,
Who journeyed night and day
Will come and kneel before the child
To worship and to pray.
For born that night in stable bare
Was God in human form.
Immanuel! The promised one,
Who came to change the norm.
As prophets told that he would come
A Gift from God above,
Revealing how far God would go
To show the world such love.
So as you sit before your tree
Let rush and worry cease.
Sit back, give thanks and just relax
For God has brought you…
Peace,

Pastor Alex