© Constantin Opris
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Lectionary A
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
These are the words that the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz, king of Judah when Jerusalem was threatened by Aram and Ephraim. The words were a sign from God that the house of David would not fall and in fact, the child would be the promise of endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. (Read Isaiah, Chapters 7-9)
In Psalm 80 Ahaz cries out to God for help and in the last three verses he says:
16 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, *
the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
17 And so will we never turn away from you; *
give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
18 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
God told Ahaz not to worry, and not to fear – to stand firm in faith. The angel of the Lord told Joseph not to be afraid, and assured him that the child Mary had conceived was the fulfillment of prophecy. Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Ahaz and Joseph were told not to fear because God had their fears in hand. They were only to obey God by having faith that he is in control.
When I think about the baby Jesus I imagine the face of a little child and immediately I experience joy. In the face of the baby Jesus, God showed the light of his countenance and through him we shall be saved.
In our cries to him, he hears us, even when the answer doesn’t come. As adults we tend to reason and forget to dream or imagine. Faith is hard to hold onto when we are hard-pressed but our faith in him is an act of obedience that brings miracles about. We tend not to believe in miracles. Yet we have one in Jesus, Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.”
The Rev. Lisa Wimmer is the rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Belleview.