JOY: God is With Us

Read: Isaiah 12:2-6 and Psalm 100.

By Jerry Jernigan

Frederick Buechner wrote a sermon entitled, "Message in the Stars." In it he wonders what would happen if God literally wrote in the stars, "I REALLY EXIST." He imagines that, after some period of astonishment (and, no doubt, repentance), a child asks "so what?" And the message disappears.

We all want certainty that God is "up there" but scientific or philosophical proof won’t, in the long run, address our deepest needs. Buechner says "what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists [like some] cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives..."

Isn’t that the Good News of the Gospels? God came to be with us and, through the Holy Spirit, continues to be with us. Here and now. In the doctor’s waiting room before the scan. Past curfew as we wait for a child’s return. When the umpteenth job interview doesn’t land a job. In times of fulfillment and gratitude and in lonely moments when we wonder if God, or anyone, would miss us if we were gone.

Soon we’ll celebrate the birth of a baby born to a young couple in a hard, challenging time. In some mysterious way, this baby was human and God, Emmanuel – God with us – in the easy days and the hard, the ordinary and the exceptional. So make a joyful noise! Be joyful! God is with us.