In our reading from Isaiah 7, we heard the words: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
In our reading from Matthew 1, we heard the words: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel— which means, God with us.”
Do you remember the 69 days from 5 August 2010 to 13 October 2010? Maybe the dates don’t ring a bell for you. But if I asked if you remember the 33 Chilean miners stuck underground, I’m sure you remember that: it was a story that had the whole world gripped and all of us, I’m sure, will remember the images of them being rescued one at a time, being brought out by capsule from their tomb 700 metres underground. It was story of the triumph of the human spirit. It was a story of the triumph of a community coming together in a time of need. It was a story of resurrection. It was a story of hope over despair. You will remember the camp that the families lived in called Campamento Esperanza – which means Camp Hope. You may remember the birth on 15 September of the miner’s child who was named Esperanza: Hope. That one episode showed us, more than anything else of the importance of Hope for the human condition.
We all need Hope. If we have no Hope, we have nothing…
The Christmas message, which we celebrate tonight, is fundamentally a message of Hope. It is not a pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking type of hope that holds out for a better future for the world. The Christian message is one of Hope that is firmly founded on a historical reality: Immanuel – God with us.
The fact that God is with us is the source of all our hopes: “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” - that’s what we have just sung, isn’t it?
Immanuel – God with us: that’s what I want to think about tonight. What does it mean? There are three aspects we need to consider as we answer this question: First, what did ‘Immanuel’ mean to Isaiah? Second, what did ‘Immanuel’ mean to Matthew? Third, what does ‘Immanuel’ mean to us?
What did ‘Immanuel’ mean to Isaiah?
The reading we had from Isaiah 7 has a conversation between Isaiah and King Ahaz of Judah. Ahaz was a bad man, not averse to sacrificing his children to the gods and generally not the sort of guy you’d want to go on holiday with. At that time, the Assyrian empire was strong and Syria and Israel wanted to form an alliance with King Ahaz of Judah to stand against the Assyrians.
Now we’ve been hearing a lot about political treaties this week! But on this occasion, Ahaz didn’t act decisively: he wavered about a decision and so Syria and Israel formed an alliance against him instead. They wanted to put another King on the throne of Judah who would join them against the superpower of Assyria. Now King Ahaz was feeling pretty scared about this so Isaiah the prophet was called in to calm him down and the message of comfort he brought is what we heard read earlier. And the message was very simple: “Ahaz, if you trust in God, it will all be alright…” And Isaiah promised Ahaz that God would give him a sign that it would all be OK: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” The sign of God’s faithfulness would be a little baby and if Ahaz would only trust God there would be peace in the nation and his land would become a place flowing with milk and honey.
Well, to cut a long story short, Ahaz didn’t trust in God on the matter and things didn’t go well for him: but that’s a sermon for another day…
What’s important for us tonight is that, for Isaiah, this baby called Immanuel would be a sign of God’s deliverance and faithfulness, a sign of God’s healing presence, bringing wholeness and security and salvation. To Isaiah, this child Immanuel – ‘God with us’ was the ultimate sign of Hope.
What did ‘Immanuel’ mean to Matthew?
The name ‘Immanuel’ is only found three times in the Bible. The first is Isaiah 7:14 – we’ve looked at that. The second is Isaiah 8:8 – where the prophet says, “Immanuel - God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land”. The third and final time is in Matthew 1:23, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel— which means, God with us.”
Well, of course, Matthew is using it in a metaphorical sense because the baby was called Jesus by name but called Immanuel by nature – because he was God with us: the sign and the reality of God in our midst. For Matthew, Immanuel was the breaking in of God into time: as we will be hearing in our reading in a few minutes the Word became Flesh: God with us.
For Isaiah, Immanuel would be the Hope of Israel. For Matthew, Immanuel is the Hope for the whole world. It is in Christ, Immanuel – God with us – that our Hope resides.
In the economic crisis – God is with us.
In the war zones of the world – God is with us.
In the midst of poverty and abuse – God is with us.
In all the trials and tribulations, Immanuel – God is with us and it is only in Christ that we have hope for a renewed future. And that is why Matthew calls Jesus ‘Immanuel’ so that the whole world will be pointed towards him as our Messiah as our Good News, as our Hope for the future…
And so we come to the third, and most important, question:
What does ‘Immanuel’ mean to you?
If ‘Immanuel’ is the source of all Hope, I wonder what it is that you are hoping for this Christmas-time? For some of us, it may be security of employment. For some of us, it may be an easing of financial worries. For some, reconciliation where a relationship has been broken. For others, physical or mental healing.
What do you hope for this Christmas time?
Whatever it is that we are hoping for, the good news is the same for us all. ‘Immanuel’ – God is with us
In your darkness, in your trials, in your anxieties: ‘Immanuel’ – God is with you.
In your pain, in your frailty, in your brokenness: ‘Immanuel’ – God is with you.
In your fears, in your hurt, in your insecurities: ‘Immanuel’ – God is with you.
The message of Christmas is not a fairy tale for the children. It is a hard reality of God breaking into the brokenness of our world: ‘Immanuel’ – God is with us. That is the good news of Christmas
Whatever storms you may be going through this Christmas time remember ‘Immanuel’ – God is with you. And when we are convinced of ‘Immanuel’, God with us, we have the strength and confidence to face the trials of life as well as the focus to celebrate the joys of life too.
May I wish each and every one of you a peaceful and blessed Christmas full of the knowledge and awareness and experience of Immanuel, God with you. Amen.