God is with us

In Matthew chapter 1 it says: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."

The important part being God with us!

This past Sunday marked for our tradition of Christianity the fourth and last Sunday of Advent.

Advent is a time of reflection, remembering whose we are, and why this little child coming at Christmas is so important. The Joy of Christmas is not all the "coolness" of the nativity. It is that GOD dwelt among us as Matthew says God was with us. This changed everything. It meant God knows exactly what we go through each day as humans, as his creation. It also means that when he says he will be there to help us, we know that he knows what we are talking about. As the people of God we have a God that allowed his Son to be like us in every way fully human. God came and lived among us. As my teenagers say it Gods way of saying "I've got this."

With Christmas activities abounding, I am sure you have felt stressed. I know I have and Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace as we renew our affirmation that God dwells with us even now in the form of the Holy Spirit. But too often we forget whose we are and why we find this time of year so holy and dare I say important to our community life. We get caught up in everything that can distract from whether someone says Happy Holidays to whether someone keeps Christ in Christmas. But the important thing for us individually is to acknowledge and live lives reflecting a knowledge that The Christ did come and dwell with us.

In Advent we begin with scripture readings from the old prophets. Why? Because they had a vision for what was to come. What vision of what's to come do we as a community and world have, if we live into the reality of God dwelling with us? Will we seek peace more than division? Will we love people where they are instead of where we want them to be? Will we seek out our neighbor and make sure they have what they need? Will we open our hearts to and minds to hear the story of others different then ourselves? Where are we being led? I don't know the answers but I really wish this Christmas that any one of these would come true. Don't you?

So this Christmas I am still following the star to a place called Bethlehem in search of God dwelling with us. And his name is Emmanuel. O come all ye faithful. Joyful and Triumphant. Come ye to Bethlehem and see Christ the Lord. Take the Journey and experience him dwelling with us this Christmas and your life will be forever changed. Merry Christmas and May God fervently bless you with every spiritual grace and benediction during this Christmastide and the new year.

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Editor's note: James Crews is lay worship leader/preacher with the Episcopal Church of Pea Ridge.