The God That Sticks With Us… Good morning Hump Day readers. I hope your Christmas Eve/Day and New Year’s Eve/Day was filled with the joys of friends, family, not to mention all those other goodies that have us not wanting to step on the scale! For me, my sister’s truffles just break my resolve, gosh they are good!

So, Christmas is over, at least the big celebrations, worship, etc. Some may even already be taking down their decorations—not us, they’re up till Epiphany and just maybe beyond because the “presence” of them continues to remind us that Christmas never really goes away, its joys stay in our hearts all year long…at least that is what we try to do!

But relatives and friends are now gone, doing their own things and the house is quiet. For some, the season changes quickly from family to loneliness, especially when family doesn’t live close to see more often. As a chaplain and hospice chaplain, my heart always aches for those in nursing homes once the festivities are over. Back to a routine that rarely excites the heart and we see it in every one of them.

Perhaps for you Christmas may not have been a big gathering, but the joy of celebrating Jesus’ birth was just as powerful, Jesus comes, once again so to speak. I agree because once we put all the decorations away, we return to normal or some kind of normal with a little hole in our heart that we will fill again next Christmas. No wonder some folks leave a small nativity somewhere in their homes year ‘round—I think it’s a great idea and a powerful reminder but…not just for the season. Remember the promise the angel told to Joseph in a dream? Here is the full passage from Matthew 1: 18-23 [NCV]:

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, but before they married, she learned she was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because Mary’s husband, Joseph, was a good man, he did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly. 

While Joseph thought about these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this happened to bring about what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

Two weeks ago I wrote about “what’s in a name” and here we find another powerful description of Jesus’ name—Immanuel. Yes, it is with an ‘I’ although you will also see it start with an ‘E’ however, the meaning is the same. In fact, Immanuel appears the same from its original Hebrew thousands of years ago. Broken down into two syllables, the Immanu means “with us.” The “el” shouldn’t surprise you that it is the referral of Elohim—God! Thus this powerful name of Jesus called Immanuel reminds us that God isn’t somewhere in the cosmos, checking in with us now and then. No, it means God WITH us, always, always and forever!

And God is with ALL—whether they choose to embrace him or not. Jesus was God’s gift to the whole world, never reserved for just those who believed, but for all…and the gift of Jesus has never been rescinded or removed. Our Immanuel stands with hands out-stretched to welcome those searching, wondering, needing…for all. Think about this quip from a devotional book by Max Lucado: “God with all of us…Russians, Germans, Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, Hindus, truck drivers and taxi drivers, librarians, tax collectors, street sweepers and Wall Street gurus…God with us! Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do. Angels won’t suffice.”

It’s obvious that God’s intention was to never separate people from his love no matter who they were, if they believed or did not believe. Let’s face it, sin is our human condition whether you believe in Christ or not. Folks, sin is a level playing field, until God upended Satan and said “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; I’ve come to make blessings flow far as the curse is found.” 

Yes, those words from the Christmas carol are a reminder of a God who doesn’t pack up when Christmas festivities are over. No, Immanuel came to be WITH US—always. So, if you’re just a tad lonely once the holiday retreats to boxes in the attic, remember that the only thing that moved is our human-made things. You see, God sent more than miracles and messages on that first Christmas—God sent himself through his Son, Jesus! Keep singing those carols all year ‘round—Christmas isn’t going anywhere because Immanuel is here to stay! Now that should prompt an ‘AMEN’ don’t you think? AMEN!!