No Longer Lonely

4th Sunday of Advent: Matthew 1:18-24

The prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew converge:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

A name which means ‘God-is-with-us’ (Matthew 1).

Vancouver, Year 2001.

A young Vietnamese woman is walking through the streets. She comes across a shop front with the question: ‘Interested in knowing God?’

She enters. Her life changes.

She tells me excitedly, ‘From this moment onwards, I am no longer lonely.’

God-is-with-us.

We have come from God and we are going to God. The world is God’s original covenant.

No need for us to look for God in strange places. He calls us where we are:

Brothers and sisters, in whatever state each was called, there let them remain with God (1 Cor. 7:24).

God-is-with-us every step of the way.

When we are conceived, God-is-with-us. When we are born, God-is-with-us. When we die, God-is-with-us.

No matter who we are, God-is-with-us. No matter what we are, God-is-with-us:

When we succeed, God-is-with-us. When we fail, God-is-with-us.

When we sleep, God-is-with-us. When we wake, God-is-with-us.

When we work, God-is-with-us. When we rest, God-is-with-us.

When we laugh, God-is-with-us. When we cry, God-is-with-us.

God-is-with-us – no longer lonely.

Amen.