O Come, Emmanuel!

On Wednesday evenings at our small group we have been watching some short videos of people talking about Advent. Tonight, it was Bill Young who wrote The Shack. He started off by saying it’s about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit opening their circle to include a 14 year-old girl, asking her if she would be a part of their plan.

Then he talked a bit about why God came among us, and said something about wrath, that it is not what most people think it is. God’s wrath is not punitive, but saving. He told a story about a friend of his who was in the woods when wasps started stinging him. He began yelling for his mom. When he saw her running towards him, if he had not known her he would have said she was angry enough to kill him. Her anger was about his situation and pain, and she came to find him and save him. What a different take on wrath!

Think about that this Advent. God has come to find us. Emmanuel—God with us—has come to be with us. Not only has God come, but God continues to come, and continues to be with us in the Spirit.

Oh what joy, deep—not bouncing up-and-down—but deep, deep joy! This is what my spirit needs. O come, O come, Emmanuel!

Matthew 1.23:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”