Emmanuel
“Praise God for the hallowed manger ground...
Emmanuel, Emanuel, God incarnate here to dwell.
Emanuel, Emanuel, Praise His name Emmanuel. “
Yes, I know its July and this is a Christmas song, however, I was working through some Christmas ideas this afternoon at work and I really tuned into the Christmas story again. How sacred and precious this story is, how gracious and loving God was and is to give His Son to us as a gift. And I pictured this beautiful little Jewish baby in a manger, a manger that belonged to the animals within that cave or stable or barn or whatever you want to call it.
We always seem to imagine that it was a smelly dirty stable, but, Wes and I have had animals on our little pretend farm and if there is one thing we learned pretty quickly it was this. If you change the straw often enough the animals actually don’t smell, there is actually a pleasant odour in the barns when there is fresh hay thrown into their stalls. So I prefer to think of Jesus lying in bed of fresh hay, because I love the smell of fresh hay.
As I prayed and read through my Bible I kept picturing the many images that we have all seen over the years of the nativity scene. The manger is often lit up with a bright light and the light tends to bleed around the manger, I suppose to highlight the fact that it is Christ. Often Mary and Joseph are within the spotlight...well, Mary more often than Joseph, but that’s another subject for another time.
Which brings me to the star, so often the star is perched majestically atop the peak of the stable which also explains the bright light on the manger. I thought a lot about that star this afternoon. How bright was that thing? Bright enough for the wise men to follow, but not bright enough to cause anyone else to be curious enough to follow it.
Then I thought about the shepherds in the fields, the angels came and proclaimed their personal message from God to them and again I wondered. How bright was that spectacle?
I had my three favourite Bibles on the desk in front of me this afternoon and I lovingly opened the one that has the most markings in it, my scribbling and notes, my scriptural graffiti. Each marking is made with love and this Bible has been with me the longest so it’s very well loved. I stroked the page as I scanned the words written within. There’s just something sacred and hallowed about your Bible isn’t there? Ah, but I digress.
Back to the brilliant lights.
There was something drawing me to the idea of how bright the angels and the star were. I just couldn’t imagine any of it. As I pictured the shepherds covering their eyes and being overwhelmed with the light I couldn’t help but wonder about the shadows. Though the shepherds were in the brilliant light of the angels, there were many in the shadows.
I thought, it must be sort of like when you see fireworks. When you are right there it is so brilliant and bright and you stand with your mouth wide open ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ over every little explosion. It’s exciting to be right there where the action is, if you have to look up even better, cause it feels like the lights are literally falling all around you. You look around and you see the same expression on everyone’s face. Awe. And then the lights burst into one last cluster of explosion and then just as suddenly it becomes dark. The cheers and whistles come from the crowd, but then just as quickly there is silence as the light fades to darkness. People realize that they need to gain their bearings back because they were so used to the bright lights and the brilliance and suddenly it’s gone.
Amazing how that changes the mood. You feel a bit disoriented and if you happen to be on a grandstand you step very carefully because your depth perception isn’t quite what it should be.
I usually leave wishing that the show would have gone on much longer than it did. For anyone standing outside the realm of those lights there isn’t that same excitement as there is for those that are right there where the action is.
I wonder if that is how it was for the shepherds. It must have been hard for them to suddenly be left in the darkness after such a display. What do you do after a show like that? Did they cheer and whistle? It said that they were praising God and then it says that they hurried. Perhaps they stumbled a bit as they hurried to the baby Jesus. What a drastic change in the atmosphere there must have been. To have the angels blazing out their message and then suddenly it’s over. The air must have crackled and been charged with the presence of God, can you imagine what that must have felt like?
I pictured them clapping each other on the back as they praised God together. They were selected to be a part of something so great, something to majestic and phenomenal. How would you react? Wouldn’t you be excited that you were chosen to be a part of this?
Ok, so I have a very vivid imagination and I pictured these grungy shepherds with huge smiles running off down the hill completely forgetting about their sheep.
So what about the shadows? I kept wondering about the darkness that framed the brilliant light. It was there, always on the edge, on the fringe of the brilliance. That darkness is reality for so many people. They don’t see the message even though it’s there right in front of them; they don’t hear it because they are too busy looking everywhere else.
Sometimes it can be that sadness or life overwhelms us right? Sometimes the brightness is dimmed by our burdens. I get that. Sometimes we have forgotten how to worship. We may have even forgotten how Holy God really is. We bring Him down to our level. So that’s why even reading about the chorus of angels can sometimes do nothing to excite us anymore. The message is old; the shadows have begun to overpower the Light.
Bow down and worship.
But what if I don’t feel like it.
Do it anyway.
Oh we can come up with a million excuses of why we don’t get passionate about the message anymore, but none of them fly with God, I’m pretty sure about that.
This morning in the office I was struggling and frustrated, something had happened that threw me off track and the last thing I felt like doing was giving God attention. The shadows had taken over the Light.
Then in the afternoon I wanted to start again so I began to read and study the Christmas story, not because I felt like it, but for some reason I was compelled to do it. I had begun to think about Christmas and figured I was just doing my job and then something happened. I got caught up in the story. God took my weakness and carefully worked to create a glimmer of a light so that the shadows of discouragement and grumbling would begin to recede. He caught my attention with an age old story; He wouldn’t stand for me staying in the shadows. Through His Word He called me to come out and enjoy the moment.
It’s kind of like those times when you tell family stories at a family gathering, you know the kind I’m talking about, the ones you or someone else has told a million times, but you love to hear them over and over again. It was that kind of moment. He wanted me to listen to the story, the family story again. And not just to listen but to hear what He had to say and to enjoy it. To enjoy the Light. To remember the Light.
I left work and climbed into the truck to go home. And this is the honest truth. I put the key in the ignition and I turned it on. I always have my music on and as the engine turned over the CD in the player began to play...Christmas music. I smiled as I slipped my sunglasses on. I wasn’t freaked out or afraid. I knew that I had left a Christmas CD in there, after all the CD player can hold six CD’s and I had just never bothered to take it out.
I had, however, taken my ‘Awakening’ CD out so that I could listen to it in the church and that then pushed this Christmas CD into the play mode. I laughed as I drove off the church yard listening to my Christmas music in the hot summer sun. I loved it.
When God wants to make a point He always makes it with style.
As I drove home the song ‘Emmanuel’ by Chris Thomlin came on and I sang at the top of my lungs and when it was over I clicked back to the beginning and listened to it again. Anyone who will have passed by me probably thought I was crazy, I was singing and praising with my arm outstretched. I got home, took the CD inside with me and while I made supper I played the song over and over again. I kept singing and began dancing to the music as I worked in the kitchen.
Now, a few hours later, as I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my comfy lazy boy with the stereo blaring out this song.
Yes, the shadows will always be there, here on earth. The tiredness of our human bodies will be there, the sadness of life that we deal with, the frustrations and hurts, the pain and sorrow, sickness and disease may cloud the brightness, but the Light is still there. There will always be A Light. ONE Light.
His name is Jesus, Emmanuel Emmanuel, Emanuel, God incarnate here to dwell. Emanuel, Emanuel, Praise His name Emmanuel. “
Amen.
“That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. This very day in King David's hometown a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."
Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said: "Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God." Luke 2:8-14
Emmanuel, Emanuel, God incarnate here to dwell.
Emanuel, Emanuel, Praise His name Emmanuel. “
Yes, I know its July and this is a Christmas song, however, I was working through some Christmas ideas this afternoon at work and I really tuned into the Christmas story again. How sacred and precious this story is, how gracious and loving God was and is to give His Son to us as a gift. And I pictured this beautiful little Jewish baby in a manger, a manger that belonged to the animals within that cave or stable or barn or whatever you want to call it.
We always seem to imagine that it was a smelly dirty stable, but, Wes and I have had animals on our little pretend farm and if there is one thing we learned pretty quickly it was this. If you change the straw often enough the animals actually don’t smell, there is actually a pleasant odour in the barns when there is fresh hay thrown into their stalls. So I prefer to think of Jesus lying in bed of fresh hay, because I love the smell of fresh hay.
As I prayed and read through my Bible I kept picturing the many images that we have all seen over the years of the nativity scene. The manger is often lit up with a bright light and the light tends to bleed around the manger, I suppose to highlight the fact that it is Christ. Often Mary and Joseph are within the spotlight...well, Mary more often than Joseph, but that’s another subject for another time.
Which brings me to the star, so often the star is perched majestically atop the peak of the stable which also explains the bright light on the manger. I thought a lot about that star this afternoon. How bright was that thing? Bright enough for the wise men to follow, but not bright enough to cause anyone else to be curious enough to follow it.
Then I thought about the shepherds in the fields, the angels came and proclaimed their personal message from God to them and again I wondered. How bright was that spectacle?
I had my three favourite Bibles on the desk in front of me this afternoon and I lovingly opened the one that has the most markings in it, my scribbling and notes, my scriptural graffiti. Each marking is made with love and this Bible has been with me the longest so it’s very well loved. I stroked the page as I scanned the words written within. There’s just something sacred and hallowed about your Bible isn’t there? Ah, but I digress.
Back to the brilliant lights.
There was something drawing me to the idea of how bright the angels and the star were. I just couldn’t imagine any of it. As I pictured the shepherds covering their eyes and being overwhelmed with the light I couldn’t help but wonder about the shadows. Though the shepherds were in the brilliant light of the angels, there were many in the shadows.
I thought, it must be sort of like when you see fireworks. When you are right there it is so brilliant and bright and you stand with your mouth wide open ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ over every little explosion. It’s exciting to be right there where the action is, if you have to look up even better, cause it feels like the lights are literally falling all around you. You look around and you see the same expression on everyone’s face. Awe. And then the lights burst into one last cluster of explosion and then just as suddenly it becomes dark. The cheers and whistles come from the crowd, but then just as quickly there is silence as the light fades to darkness. People realize that they need to gain their bearings back because they were so used to the bright lights and the brilliance and suddenly it’s gone.
Amazing how that changes the mood. You feel a bit disoriented and if you happen to be on a grandstand you step very carefully because your depth perception isn’t quite what it should be.
I usually leave wishing that the show would have gone on much longer than it did. For anyone standing outside the realm of those lights there isn’t that same excitement as there is for those that are right there where the action is.
I wonder if that is how it was for the shepherds. It must have been hard for them to suddenly be left in the darkness after such a display. What do you do after a show like that? Did they cheer and whistle? It said that they were praising God and then it says that they hurried. Perhaps they stumbled a bit as they hurried to the baby Jesus. What a drastic change in the atmosphere there must have been. To have the angels blazing out their message and then suddenly it’s over. The air must have crackled and been charged with the presence of God, can you imagine what that must have felt like?
I pictured them clapping each other on the back as they praised God together. They were selected to be a part of something so great, something to majestic and phenomenal. How would you react? Wouldn’t you be excited that you were chosen to be a part of this?
Ok, so I have a very vivid imagination and I pictured these grungy shepherds with huge smiles running off down the hill completely forgetting about their sheep.
So what about the shadows? I kept wondering about the darkness that framed the brilliant light. It was there, always on the edge, on the fringe of the brilliance. That darkness is reality for so many people. They don’t see the message even though it’s there right in front of them; they don’t hear it because they are too busy looking everywhere else.
Sometimes it can be that sadness or life overwhelms us right? Sometimes the brightness is dimmed by our burdens. I get that. Sometimes we have forgotten how to worship. We may have even forgotten how Holy God really is. We bring Him down to our level. So that’s why even reading about the chorus of angels can sometimes do nothing to excite us anymore. The message is old; the shadows have begun to overpower the Light.
Bow down and worship.
But what if I don’t feel like it.
Do it anyway.
Oh we can come up with a million excuses of why we don’t get passionate about the message anymore, but none of them fly with God, I’m pretty sure about that.
This morning in the office I was struggling and frustrated, something had happened that threw me off track and the last thing I felt like doing was giving God attention. The shadows had taken over the Light.
Then in the afternoon I wanted to start again so I began to read and study the Christmas story, not because I felt like it, but for some reason I was compelled to do it. I had begun to think about Christmas and figured I was just doing my job and then something happened. I got caught up in the story. God took my weakness and carefully worked to create a glimmer of a light so that the shadows of discouragement and grumbling would begin to recede. He caught my attention with an age old story; He wouldn’t stand for me staying in the shadows. Through His Word He called me to come out and enjoy the moment.
It’s kind of like those times when you tell family stories at a family gathering, you know the kind I’m talking about, the ones you or someone else has told a million times, but you love to hear them over and over again. It was that kind of moment. He wanted me to listen to the story, the family story again. And not just to listen but to hear what He had to say and to enjoy it. To enjoy the Light. To remember the Light.
I left work and climbed into the truck to go home. And this is the honest truth. I put the key in the ignition and I turned it on. I always have my music on and as the engine turned over the CD in the player began to play...Christmas music. I smiled as I slipped my sunglasses on. I wasn’t freaked out or afraid. I knew that I had left a Christmas CD in there, after all the CD player can hold six CD’s and I had just never bothered to take it out.
I had, however, taken my ‘Awakening’ CD out so that I could listen to it in the church and that then pushed this Christmas CD into the play mode. I laughed as I drove off the church yard listening to my Christmas music in the hot summer sun. I loved it.
When God wants to make a point He always makes it with style.
As I drove home the song ‘Emmanuel’ by Chris Thomlin came on and I sang at the top of my lungs and when it was over I clicked back to the beginning and listened to it again. Anyone who will have passed by me probably thought I was crazy, I was singing and praising with my arm outstretched. I got home, took the CD inside with me and while I made supper I played the song over and over again. I kept singing and began dancing to the music as I worked in the kitchen.
Now, a few hours later, as I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my comfy lazy boy with the stereo blaring out this song.
Yes, the shadows will always be there, here on earth. The tiredness of our human bodies will be there, the sadness of life that we deal with, the frustrations and hurts, the pain and sorrow, sickness and disease may cloud the brightness, but the Light is still there. There will always be A Light. ONE Light.
His name is Jesus, Emmanuel Emmanuel, Emanuel, God incarnate here to dwell. Emanuel, Emanuel, Praise His name Emmanuel. “
Amen.
“That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. This very day in King David's hometown a Saviour was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."
Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said: "Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God." Luke 2:8-14
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