December 19

The two most important words for understanding Christmas are “With us.”

That’s what the angel says Jesus will be called: he will be called Emmanuel, a name that means “God is with us.”

In John’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus is the Word become flesh – the logic of the universe, the mind and heart of God, somehow has somehow now become a human person.  Jesus is the Son of God entered into the human family.  Jesus is God as one of us.

The story of Christmas is about God choosing to be with us.  It’s a fulfillment of all the promises made throughout the Old Testament – over and over again in the Old Testament, God promises never to abandon us, and God is constantly seeking to be in relationship with us, to be with us.  In Jesus, those promises are fulfilled – God enters into relationship with us in a way that is deeper and more profound than we had thought possible.

And the important thing to remember is that it’s not just about one moment.  It’s not just about one time that God showed up in a stable in Bethlehem.  It’s not even just about all the ways God was present in and through the earthly ministry of Jesus – when he preached and taught and fed hungry people and ate with the outcast.  Yes, God is present – God is with us – in those moments.  But, because of Christmas, we can trust that God is with us not just in the past, but in the present.  Because God has chosen to be with us once, we can trust that God will be with us always.  God has entered into the human family – God has become part of God’s own creation – and now all of us, every inch of creation, every atom and every molecule in the entire cosmos is touched by the divine.

Christmas is a promise that nothing can separate us from God.  Christmas says God will cross any boundary – including the seemingly impassible boundary between creator and creation – God will cross any chasm and bridge any divide to be with us.

Christmas means that God is with us.  When you wake up each morning, God is with you.  When you go to sleep at night, God is with you.  When you are overcome by the beauty of the universe, God is with you.  When you are overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, God is with you.  When you are aware of God’s presence, God is with you. And when you aren’t paying attention at all, God is with you.  God is with you in the mundane and the glorious, the beautiful and the terrible, the highest highs and the lowest lows.

God is with us in all things.  God will never abandon us.  God never gives up on us.  God never lets us go.

That’s the story of Christmas. And it’s Good News.