May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Let
us pray, Jesus Christ reveal unto us Your humanity and divinity and enable us
to clearly understand You are not only our God, but we are Your people through
our baptism into Your life, death and resurrection for all of mankind,
including all of us gathered here at Emmanuel this evening. AMEN.
Who
is Jesus Christ? This is a question I pose
as we prepare for Christmas during this Advent Season, because it is asked of
clergy and laity all the time by individuals who did not grow up in the church
and have no idea about the church year, the change of seasons and their importance,
nor of what significance the colors on the altar or adornments around the
church have. But this is also a question
that some life-long church members actually ask, because, either they have
forgotten what they were taught in their Catechism class, didn’t pay attention
to what their Sunday School teachers taught them, never talked about it in
their homes or with their families, hadn’t been to church in a while or had not
celebrated Advent or Christmas.
The
plain and simple answer is Jesus Christ, is “true God, begotten of the Father
from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary”. Now it may seem this is just a quick easy
knee jerk reaction from a Pastor who has attended seminary, but this answer not
only has profound truth of Who Jesus is, it also is the answer we give every
Sunday. This simple answer clearly
articulates where and from Whom and by whom Jesus came into this world. This answer is what we confess in our Creeds,
what we read in Holy Scriptures and what we believe when we gather around the
table of our Lord and receive the sacrament.
Simply,
Jesus Christ not only is God, He is also our companion on our earthly
pilgrimage. Jesus Christ walks with us
daily and invites us to open our heads, hearts and hands for His blessings
offered to and for us daily. God in and
through His Son Jesus Christ blesses us with unimaginable blessings, all we
need to do is call on His Holy name, understand His attributes that bless us
and see His Divine Hand in our lives.
There
are nay-sayers who undeniably doubt the existence of God, but clearly as His
children we are called to give God, honor, praise and glory. Recently, this became very clear for one of
our extended family in the congregation.
While driving they were in an automobile accident. It wasn’t with another vehicle, it wasn’t
because of their inability to handle the vehicle. They simply were hit by a deer that caused
them to wreck. Thankfully no one was
hurt, but just as we experience in our daily lives being derailed or pulled
away from God by the things of this world, this young man gained a deeper and
more profound faith, because of His companion on His earthly pilgrimage, Jesus
Christ. In essence, Jesus took the wheel
and not only spared him harm, but reminded him of God’s great love that we find
in Jesus Christ and that we look towards celebrating as we prepare during this
Advent season. The great I AM, Jesus
Christ is calling us today. For Jesus
Christ is not an unknown to us, but someone Who calls each of us to be in personal
relationship with Him and individually seeks us out to save us and offer His
life for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel, including all of us
gathered here this evening in preparation during this Advent Season for the
celebration of His birth on Christmas. AMEN.
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