As members of a community of faith, one of the most striking truths of our relationship with God is revealed by the Angel Gabriel who says to Mary: "The Lord is with you". It is difficult for us to believe that God is with us. Something in our human nature resists believing this. Yet there is something in the story that speaks to us that we are not alone in the universe and that God is indeed with us.
The fear of being alone and that our lives are maningless forces us to find ways to cope with our "aloneness" in the world. Economics, politics, marketing and sales all serve to expoit us by offering ways by which we can be comforted. The world around us tells us that we can find meaning in our lives through wealth, power, positions and busyiness. The fact remains, however, that these things at best only offer us temporary comfort. We soon find that we are alone again.
The Advent season tells us that, in Jesus, the world has been given hope and the human person given meaning. It is a time of journey to the manger where God is revealed to us in human form. Emmanuel means God with us - and Jesus IS Emmanuel. This is the definitive message to all of us that "we are not alone - we live in God's world".
My prayer for all of us at Sparling this Christmas is that our longing for God will be satisfied in our gathered community and that the confidence that God is with us will overflow to our family and friends. May we all hear the Angel Gabriel's words anew: "The Lord is with you".
Please join us for our Christmas worship services at 1960 William Ave. West (at Oddy Street):
Christmas Eve Family Service 7pm
Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols 11pm
Christmas Day 11am
Blessings,
Rev. Scott
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