“His Presence”
Isaiah 63:7-9 Matthew 2:13-23
There’s an old story that illustrates today’s message…a message based on today’s words from Isaiah and Matthew.
When Joseph, Mary and Jesus were on their way to Egypt, as evening approached, they were weary and took refuge in a cave along the roadway. It was very cold…so cold that the ground was white with frost. A little spider saw the little baby Jesus…and he wished so much that he could do something to keep him warm in the cold night. He decided to do the only thing he could. He spun a web across the cave entrance…to make a curtain there to help keep out the chill.
Along the roadway came a detachment of Herod’s soldiers seeking the boys that Herod wanted killed. When the soldiers got to the cave they were about to burst in to search it…but…their captain noticed the spider’s web stretched across the entrance. “Look”, he said…”at the spider’s web there. It is quite unbroken and there cannot possibly be anyone in the cave…for anyone entering would certainly have torn the web.”
So…the soldiers passed on…and left the family in peace…just because a little spider had spun his web across the cave’s entrance. Some say that is why today we put tinsel on our Christmas trees…for…the glittering tinsel streamers stand for the spider’s web…white with frost…stretched across the entrance of the cave on the way to Egypt.
Isaiah told the people….
“In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them.”
God was there for the people of Isaiah’s day. God was there for Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Though the story of the spider and the soldiers may not be true…the promise of God’s presence is true. What Isaiah described as “angel of His presence” comes in many forms.
For the infant Jesus and Mary…it was Joseph. Though Joseph was…in effect…Jesus’ adoptive parent…he was acting on the command of God’s angels…as seen in dreams. Joseph married Mary…though the custom of his day would have made it quite right for him to quietly dispose of her…to end their engagement. Joseph took Mary and Jesus out of their home to safety in Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. Joseph helped Mary raise Jesus through his youth and taught him carpentry skills. Like God our Father…acting on behalf of God our Father…Joseph was present to protect the child…Jesus.
When Isaiah was telling the people that God was distressed and present Isaiah was referring to some of the more spectacular…better known stories…Noah and the great flood…the Exodus from Egypt. He surely knew of the lesser stories. He also knew how all too often we don’t recognize…or maybe even ignore God with us. It still happens today….here’s another story that illustrates God’s presence in many different ways…in ordinary everyday people.
A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.”
The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.”
As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.”
The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!”
The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop.
A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up!” But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning. I sent you a car. I sent you a canoe. I sent you a motorboat. I sent you a helicopter. What more were you looking for?”
Perhaps there has been a time…or more than one time…in your life…when it was God to whom you released something…and God found a way to take care of it. The near loss of a child…loss of a job…economic calamity…days in combat…loss of an important relationship…serious illness. Isaiah spoke clearly of God’s presence. We call it the Holy Spirit. Joseph experienced it…and became a participant in God’s work. When you and I reflect there’s a good chance we can identify God’s presence… directly…or through another person.
Look at Walter Wangerin, Junior and his wife. Wangerin is an author and professor at Valparaiso University. He wrote these words after learning that one of his adoptive children wanted to locate and meet her real parents…those who abandoned her as an infant.
“In all our children’s faces is the image of the Creator. When any parents, by loving God, love their children right; and when by following God, they lead their children out of the house, into adulthood and the purpose for which they were born, then in that fullness, they, too, will find the face of God the Father, who had lent them the children in the first place.”
As I reflect personally…I can attest God was there.
My parents divorced when I was eight years old. I spent much of my time alone while my dad worked two jobs to earn almost enough to pay the rent…utilities and buy food. God was there in the neighbors and community chest volunteers who checked on me…brought us food and clothes.
In my teens I was a good student…but constantly looked for activities that would lead me to trouble. God was there in Ace…the Black man with whom I worked in the restaurant. He was also a house preacher. He didn’t preach to me…or judge…or scare me into thinking God would send a bolt of lightning to strike me. Instead he gave me love and told me what he would do when I talked with him about the temptations I encountered. God…through Ace… was there to walk me away from those temptations.
God was there in Bob…the Congregational Church minister with whom I played racquetball and drank beer. As we became closer friends…Bob began to encourage…encourage not push or threaten to walk away from our friendship… encouraged me to visit his church. Eventually I did…and that’s where God strangely warmed my heart one Christmas Eve…starting me on a journey that 36 years later places me in your pulpit today.
Though there are still temptations…I now recognize that it is God’s presence in the Holy Spirit that keeps me at a distance from them. Though there are losses and hurts…I now accept that it is God’s presence in the Holy Spirit that gives me comfort. Though there are decisions that if made incorrectly could lead me down a wrong path….I believe it is God’s presence in the Holy Spirit that guides me to the right decision.
Instead of being like the Christian in the flood story who ignored or didn’t recognize God…or the Israelites who continually rebelled against God…or like yours truly in my teen and early adult years…let us accept…desire…and expect God’s presence…always…as a direct presence in our lives…often working through someone like Joseph…the Wangerin family…my childhood neighbors…Ace…and Bob.
We have temptations…God will keep them at a distance.
We have hurts and losses…God will bring comfort.
We have decisions to make. Take them to God…and listen to his guidance…leading us to the right decisions.
And…by the way…look around around…not very far…God may be asking you to be His presence in someone else’s life. Open your life to God’s leading to whomever that person might be… as you…together with the Holy Spirit…make your way on your Christian journey and walk with them on theirs.
The very next step on that journey is supper with the Lord…in the presence of God…this morning.