God with us

Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23 (fullfilled)

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us.”

"The God of heaven and earth will not be bound by the processes of human existence. He comes bringing life out of death, good out of evil, and even Messiah from a virgin womb.

This is our God! And this is a sign of His coming to us, the virgin birth. As Christians we glory in the paradox that is Christmas. God becomes one of us, eternity breaks into time, and we are made the children of God. Who can understand! But we cherish the things we cannot understand, yet know to be true. The eternal Son of the eternal God who created the universe joins Himself to human flesh, through a virgin." T. Smith

http://www.waterfromrock.org/2012/12/10/december-10-2012/

Rev. Timothy Smith dug plenty out of a short solo from Messiah. This was a great post. It reminded me that the smallest verse of Truth is, well, full of all Truth.  "Behold, a virgin shall conceive.... God with us."

There's a lot happening in orthodox Christian theology right there. We have a virgin conceiving and giving birth, bearing a son Isaiah foretells.  This virgin shall name her son Emmanuel- God with us. Wow! What a name! 

Naming Babies- 

My son and his wife just named their daughter. He and I spoke about cultures that don't name children until their personalities are formed or after baptism. I found a great site for some naming trivia - http://www.babyzone.com/baby-names/baby-naming-traditions_71141

The Salish tribe follows a "naming trail" in which the name given to a baby by his parents at birth (usually a virtue or trait the parents hope for the baby) is eventually replaced at adolescence with another name that is given by the tribal leader at a ceremony called the Jump Dances. This name usually represents a talent or strength for which the child is known. Likewise, as an adult, yet another name might be granted, but this name would reflect expectations or something for the person to live up to.

My Name

I like that- a naming trail. I was named after a delivery room nurse when my parents couldn't agree on Priscilla or Penelope. My dad won out and I was named Kathryn Marie.  In third grade, in a room full of Kathys, I declared that my name was Marie. That was the year my teacher thought I was gifted in art and allowed me to draw, a lot. A year of creativity.  When I moved west I decided I would have a new name, it was a move both physical and psychological, and I became Kathryn. 

But when Jesus mother looked at Him, she knew His name- of all the names given, and turns out there are over a hundred,  the name His mother spoke was Emmanuel.  God with us.  

Why Emmanuel? 

 Of all the characteristics of Jesus, He wanted to be known from the very beginning as God with us-  dwelling with, along side, in the human trenches, the "I get you" friend,  suffering all the pangs of humanness.  And being God at the same time. 

We are a tiny emmanual in our world.  We are made in the image of God, we who profess Christ have the Holy Spirit transforming us, transmitting grace even when we just show up and love people and we are in the trenches, alongside the rest of the human race.  We bring the Life of Christ to a hungering world- even when we don't preach, or "witness" or know what to say.  We can bring His Spirit into our interactions- how well we allow the Spirit to move in those moments is another subject. 

A friend has spent a great deal of time in hospitals fighting for her life and the regular return trips to National Institute of Health in Maryland from her home in Maine are draining and always a reminder of her once precarious health. "What might they find this time? What if I can't go home like we want"- a real concern as she has been kept in when she longed to go home.   A older, wiser member of her prayer support team reminded all of us that she returns each time to be a witness, a reminder to the staff- miracles do happen. God is with us. 

Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father. He calls us to nothing less.  To be the light, to be the encourager, to be the reminder- it's Christmas, it's the birth of the Miracle of salvation, it's a time to reflect on Truth.  No matter what we name our babies or what names we chose to use, our first name is child of God. 

As for our little Christmas miracle,  her name is Mariam Charis.   Mariam for Mary, the first one to know Christ within. And Charis- Greek for "grace".