The Cast of Christmas : Christ That Is With You

View the video version of this sermon here.

Hello and welcome back to another wonderful week here on Making Waves! If you’re just now joining us, I would encourage you to take a trip back in time to the start of this series, but if not, then here is a quick recap. Five weeks ago we began a series called, “The Cast of Christmas,” where we look at the cast and characters of Christmas aside from our usual focus: Jesus.

So, the first week, we took a look at Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and we discovered that hope could be found in the Christmas season through our Father, God, and His covenant. Then, we talked about Joseph, the other famous dad from the Advent story, and learned about the peace that can be offered by an average Joe. After that, we dove into Mary’s Magnificat, or her Song, and found that Joy comes to us through the form of trust and obedience to an inspiring God. Then, last week, we took a step wayyyy back in time and learned about Ruth, a woman included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ for a specific reason: the show us that the Love that Christ offers is one who breaks down boundaries and walls.

And now, we find ourselves in the final week of this series, where we finally get to talk about the star of the show: Jesus. At least, kind of. You’ll know what I mean soon, but first, before I ramble any longer, let’s dive into the Word.

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
   and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”

-Matthew 1:18-23

Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together, be acceptable in Your Holy Presence, God. For You are our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Now, something really interesting happened at the end of that passage that I’d like to point out. In the four gospels, it isn’t very often that one of the gospel writers defines their own words further out, but Matthew decides that the name of Jesus being “Emmanuel,” might be a little too vague and so he threw in what the name means as well. I’ve been thinking about this and what it might possible mean. Why would he choose to include it? I think that, like most writers, speakers or presenters, Matthew is doing something here to show the importance of this topic. Whenever I have a point in my sermon that I want people to remember, I will repeat it a few times. I think Matthew here is showing us, the reader, that Emmanuel is an important name and that it means something huge.

As we read in the scripture above, Emmanuel means, “God with us.” Why would this term be so important to this story? There are so many more amazing things to latch onto, right? For instance, what might you say makes Jesus’ birth story so amazing?

Born in a manger, right? How about Amber Miller, who gave birth to her child right after finishing the Bank of America Chicago marathon? Or Aida Alamillo who gave birth during her plane flight during a transoceanic flight to the Philippines?

Well, Jesus was born on a special day, when the star was right above him. What about Louise, a mother from Utah who has had five children, three of which were born on the same day? Not just any day, though. February 29th. Each one was born on a leap day. Incredibly high odds, yet they beat them.

But, Jesus was of the virgin’s womb, that’s incredible and unique! While this one isn’t wrong and that mystery is incredible, what about the story just verses earlier in the Bible when Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist through the Holy Spirit? Or what about Adam’s birth in the beginning of humankind through the dirt of the earth?

There are other amazing births, and birth stories out there. What is it about Jesus’ story that makes him truly incredible and above all?

Emmanuel.

God came to earth to be with us. God came to us as a human in the form of Jesus. Virgin birth is all good and fine, the manger is sad and hard to hear, and the gifts of myhrr are all great, but what really sets Christ apart is that He is named Emmanuel, God with us.

See, the reality of Christmas, is that it is so much more than a day. We get so caught up on saying when Jesus’ actual birthday is, when do the 12 days of Christmas start, how does Santa Claus play into all of this, but the REAL meaning of Christmas is even more than a single day can possibly capture. Jesus’ birthday is certainly important, but lots of people have birthdays, right? What makes this particular celebration so important is what it represents: God coming to live and be with us.

Do you know why we give gifts on Christmas? Is it truly just a consumer holiday meant to boost sales at the Walmart? Is it because of Jolly Ol’ Saint Nicholas who would deliver gifts to poor families during the winter season (and also get into fistfights with heretics in the streets? It’s the truth, look it up)? I can remember being asked this question by some of my more cynical friends back in college. I hear a lot of Christians explain that we give gifts as a representation of the gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus. Maybe that’s right for some, but I believe that the reason we do this is in celebration of the gift that Christ was to us as humankind. God gave the ultimate gift in the form of Himself to be with us, His beloved children.

That’s what makes this celebration so incredible. Jesus, the star of the show, the head honcho, the one who deserves all of the accolades… He comes for one reason: to be with us. It may sound selfish and egocentric, but the entire message of Emmanuel is that Advent and Jesus’ birth is for US! The Reason for the Season may be Christ, but the reason for Christ is US. What an amazingly humbling message to hear.

Allow me to finish up as I often love to do: with a story.

A pastor was once travelling onboard a plane. A businessman sat beside him, with a laptop switched on. The screensaver on his computer was the picture of a sweet little boy. The pastor got to know that this boy was the businessman’s son, his only child. It was taken 3 months earlier, when the boy was 11 months old.

The businessman went on to talk about his son, with great excitement. He talked about his first steps, about his first words. He showed the pastor pictures of the boy on his mobile phone, and then more pictures from the computer. He displayed them one at a time, given commentary to each one. The pastor was getting bored. Some pictures were quite ordinary.

“I can’t wait to get home to him,” the man said. “In the meantime, I could look at these pictures many times a day. They never get old to me.”

The pastor was getting tired of them actually.

Why was this man so preoccupied with this boy? Was it because the boy’s achievements were so impressive? No. Millions of children at his age learn to do the same thing. (In fact, the pastor felt that his own boy looks cuter and can do better than his. Of course, he did not say it out.)

The man was so excited about the child because he looked at him through the eyes of a father. Everything the boy did was seen with wonder and joy. It did not matter that other children do the same things. “That’s my boy!”

The pastor said, “You obviously miss your son. How long ago did you leave home?”

“Yesterday.”

One day away from his son is one to many.

God loves every detail about us. He knows every hair on our head and it would be painful for Him to not be with us for a second. He doesn’t want to know us from a distance or from far away; God desperately wants to be with us, so much so that He sent His Son so that He could be Emmanuel, God with us.