Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel

Immanuel

Matthew 1:23 The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.

Sometimes people just don't know what they've got. 

It was about 20 years ago, a very tired, elderly lady took a bus to her downtown Minneapolis insurance company. Overwhelmed by such a large office she stood for a long minute, and then, with hesitation, she approached the receptionist. Our lady was asked, "How may I help you?"

Without saying a word, she handed over an old insurance policy she took from her purse. Then, with a lowered voice she explained she no longer had the resources to keep making payments on the policy. She said that anything she received was dedicated to keeping a roof over her head and some food in the fridge. She had just wanted to stop by and personally explain that while she was perfectly content with the policy, she just couldn't meet the payments any longer.

Sympathetically, the receptionist directed the lady to someone who could spend some time with her. The man took a quick look at the half-million-dollar policy and explained that dropping such a large plan was probably not the wisest thing she could do. Then he asked, “Ma’am, this is your husband’s policy. How does he feel about it?”

The woman replied, “My husband? He died a little over three years ago.”

The company officials kicked into gear. They investigated and found out she was telling the truth: her husband had died. She not only didn’t owe them money, they had to refund three years of premiums plus the face value of the plan. It was enough to keep her comfortable the rest of her life.

Amazingly, the lady hadn’t known what she had.

In some respects, “O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel” is something that we didn’t know we had. This hymn is one of the oldest in our hymnal. The hymn is based on the “O Antiphons” dating somewhere around the 8^th century or earlier. An Antiphon is a selection of Scripture and prayer chanted responsively, originally in Latin.

“O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel” is one of people’s favorite Advent hymns. We have been waiting to sing it until today where the whole theme of the service is based on Christ being our Immanuel. Though our hymnal only contains four stanzas, we will sing all of the original eight stanzas.

Each stanza or Antiphon focuses on a Scriptural title for Christ as He is named in biblical prophecy and a petition to Christ to come fulfilling the promise made through that title and prophecy. The basic progression of these Antiopons can be understood this way: The framer of the Universe (Sapienta/Wisdom) who gave the Law (Adonai/Lord) promised through David’s throne (Radix Jesse/Root of Jesse) to set free the captives of sin (Clavis David/Key of David) and bring the Light of salvation to dawn (Oriens/Light) not only on His chosen people but all nations (Rex Gentium/King of nations) and dwell with us as one of us eternally (Emmanuel).

In some respects many in our world, maybe many among us, do not know or fully appreciate what we have in our Immanuel. Think about what we are about to celebrate in a few days:

We are preparing to celebrate the human birth of the timeless and eternal Word of God. He was there at His Father’s side before God created the heavens and the earth, but now we celebrate one specific day as His glorious, yet humble, entrance into our world.

He is the Word that the Father used to speak everything into existence and yet He is the Word who would be conceived and born of the Virgin Mary. Though the universe cannot contain Him, He is contained inside the womb of a teenage girl. He already existed from eternity as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, yet He was born a human baby and laid in Bethlehem’s manger.

Christmas is not about any ordinary child. It is about God’s one and only Son becoming one of us. Our sins had alienated us from our God. Adam’s sin broke the perfect fellowship that once existed between creature and the Creator. Instead of being made in God’s image of holiness and perfection, we are now born in Adam’s image – enemies of God, hiding in the darkness, afraid to walk with God in the cool of the day, blaming others for our may failings. This separation is felt by us now but will last for an eternity.

One of the worst fears for humans is the fear of being alone. Oh, we may like being alone for short periods of time, but most people find it difficult and even frightening to be along for long periods of time. Ask someone whose children have all moved out or whose spouse has died and they will tell you how difficult it is to be alone. Have our sins have destined us to be alone – separated from God for time and eternity?

No! The Evangelist, Matthew, tells us of God’s solution to our loneliness. An angel came to Joseph in a dream to explain to him why Mary, who was pledged to be married to him, was pregnant. “Joseph,” he said, “this child is of the Holy Spirit. You will name this child Jesus for He will save His people from their sins.” And then Matthew quotes the great Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us.’”

We were destined to be alone and separated from God until someone entered the gap between sinful humanity and a righteous God. That someone is Jesus Christ! For He is God’s righteous Son and humanity’s perfect Son. Human beings are no longer alienated from God, for Jesus has overcome Adam’s sin by becoming Adam’s Son.

On that first Christmas, God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. He came to be with us to take away the sin that separated us from God.  He came to bring creature back together with our Creator. And by faith in Him we will never be alone again.

When I visited Israel a few years ago, I went to a small cathedral in the little town of Bethlehem. It marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main area and admire the ancient church. You can then enter the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There’s one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. (Even I had to stoop.) The door is so low you can’t go in standing up. You must bow before the King, our Lord, our Immanuel

That is what we do today in our worship. Unlike the elderly lady who did not know about her insurance policy, by God’s grace, we know about our God loving us enough to become one of us so that upon His death and resurrection we might become like Him. By God’s grace we know that we are never alone, for our Savior is with us in Water and Word, in His Body and Blood, through His absolution and benediction, hearing our prayers, enjoying our praises, healing our hurts, calming our fears, and giving us His abiding presence – now and for eternity.

We bow our heads in humility to see our humble Savior in the manger. We stoop low to see our divine King who lowered Himself to become a baby. We get down on our knees to worship our Immanuel. Amen.