God’s presence among us is as one who saves and transforms both history and lives. God’s ways and God’s presence are often surprising – see Joseph’s response to God’s disruptive activity and the coming of the Christ child, not as a powerful ruler but as a vulnerable baby. Calling on God to save us is not simply a call for God to take away difficulty but an acknowledgement that we have failed to understand the bigger picture or to see God’s activity in our midst. If God is truly present, and if we are to live in the light of God’s presence, then we will need to be alert to the signs around us and ready to see what we are called to do. Our longing for the coming of Emmanuel is a plea that we may be stirred up to see and to act!
This week's news
As we remember the oppressed and divided society into which the Christ child came, we look around us at the divisions and problems of human life. Welfare cuts are still hot news and food banks proliferate in a society where the divide between rich and poor appears to be widening.
What we can afford and what we can’t live without are issues that come into sharp relief at this time of year against the backdrop of questions over payday loan companies.
God is with us to challenge and to restore, not just as a sentimental tableau in a cosy stable, but in the cold light of day and the harsh realities of daily life. The gospel calls us to a just society – how much more work there is to do!
Not just for Christmas
The presence of God with us is not just for Christmas but can be seen in the story of the people of God through all time. The call to us to be the presence of God for others is similarly a long term commitment.
Here, David Cameron has announced ‘mission accomplished’ in Afghanistan – but when can we ever say that the job of building peace and creating a fair and free society is finally done? Arab springs move into harsh winters – where is hope then?
Reflection
The story of Ahaz illustrates God’s desire to give the people hope – in spite of their limitations. In this passage the signs are given a time frame – but the other passages for this week break out of the confines of time to offer us a bigger picture. When God’s people expressed a longing for restoration, as in this week’s psalm, they affirmed their belief that God is present and active in human lives and in history. Paul offers us a language in which to speak about the transforming power of the gospel – God with us in salvation history and, in the person of Jesus Christ, with us to bring about change and transformation – beginning with one heart at a time. Jean Vanier reminds us of this: ‘We do not have to be saviours of the world; we are simply human beings enfolded in weakness, and in hope – called together to change our world one heart at a time.’
The words from Romans offer us a window into understanding the gospel as the revelation of God. How can we keep our hope alive? The good news of restoration and salvation are not just for Christmas but for all people and through all time; not only for the Church, but for society and for all humanity. It is for our neighbours and for our enemies; our households and those outside our gates. This week gives us space to consider the bigger picture of God’s purposes for creation and God’s desire to reconcile all things.
The story Matthew tells us this week contrasts sharply with the version told by Luke that we will hear at Christmas services. What should we make of this contrast, and of the bewildered Joseph as he tries to make sense of a shocking turn of events and a God he does not (at least in the beginning) recognise? This story follows on from the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel – on the surface, at least, another puzzling lead-in to the birth story. Amongst the names are some curious inclusions and some apparently strange choices to carry the hope of a Saviour through time – and yet….? Perhaps these passages remind us that God works through the most unlikely people and events. Although we falter and fail, although we stumble in the darkness, make wrong choices or don’t recognise God’s surprising activity, God is still bringing salvation into the world. For all our weaknesses and failures, God’s loving activity is about restoration and a call; about grace and about homecoming. The presence of the Christ child is to us, and to all people, a sign that God’s ways are not our ways and that grace comes to us in ways that we least expect.
Prayer
Vulnerable God,
you came to us as a defenceless child,
to teach us the what power looks like;
You came to us in poverty,
to help us understand where true riches can be found.
You came to us in love,
to show us the way to life.
Teach us to look for you in the unexpected places,
to know you in the unlikeliest of situations,
to see the signs of your activity in our midst
and to lead those we meet into your loving presence.
Amen.
Questions
‘I myself will give you a sign,’ says God. Are we sometimes guilty of looking in the wrong place for a sign of our own making?
God is with us – as a baby and as a child. How might this challenge our life together as church?
Action
Take some time out this week to reflect on God’s presence with you across the weeks of Advent. Give thanks for situations and people that have been touched by God’s presence. Practising the presence of God is the practice of finding God in all things and or being thankful for the signs of God’s activity all around us. Perhaps we need to commit ourselves to this as a kind of ‘rule of life’ to take us through the year not just through Advent and Christmas.
Young People
Advent reminds us of God’s call through time and to each one of us by name. All of us are lost, until one day we are brought home by the God who loves us, searches for us and is present with us to the end.
Sometimes other people’s friendship and support can teach us something about the loving presence of God. Who needs you to be present for them and what can you offer?
Diane Craven is a Reader in the Church of England and is completing a PhD in Theology and Education at King's College, London.
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