November 30, Advent Day 3
Village Building Featured: Sunrise Theater
Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14
11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
13sup>And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Advent Reflection
Villager Featured: Advent Reflection from Bob Howell
That last line is so familiar to us because we hear something similar in Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. In fact, Matthew is deliberately quoting this passage from Isaiah, when he recounts Joseph’s dream of God reassuring him that marrying Mary is the right thing to do. And of course we love the origin story behind the name of Emmanuel, Southern Pines.
Drawing connections between Old Testament prophecies and New Testament accounts of the birth, life and teachings of Jesus can be satisfying and inspiring in many ways. The Scripture readings appointed for the season of Advent draw many lines of correspondence that knit together different sections of the Bible. Our first reaction at discovering these connections may be a kind of gee-whiz amazement that those writers – hundreds of years before Joseph and Mary made their way toward Bethlehem – could have predicted the future so accurately. Wow!
But all these links and similarities and echoes of fulfilled prophecies convey an even deeper truth about the story of God’s people throughout the broad expanse of history: Whatever the immediate circumstances of our lives, we have the eternal hope for something better because of the enduring promise of God’s love for us.
Members of my family, and many of my friends, have often heard me say that Advent is my favorite season of the church year. (I’ve also said that I like Christmas Eve more than Christmas, but that’s getting ahead of myself.) Why is this? Well, I think it has something to do with anticipation. Living with a sense of expectancy keeps us fully awake and alive. It’s an orientation that saves us from complacency … or worse, despair.
As with many words in English, hope means different things in different contexts. “I hope I can find a parking place!” “I hope they still have key lime pie for dessert!” These hopes come and go, and we utter such sentiments with the full knowledge that we might not find a place to park, and the restaurant might not have any more of that pie.
But our hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises is permanent and sure. That’s why the message of the prophets to the people of Israel is the same as the message of the angels to the shepherds. Next spring, in some one sermon or another, we’re likely to hear a version of the affirmation that “we are Easter people,” and that’s because we know the new life of the Resurrection. But we are also Advent people, living in the hope and promise of the Nativity.
Biblical scholars commenting on Isaiah’s words to Ahaz suggest that, in the immediate context of Old Testament political turmoil, the primary message was that God’s providence would ensure survival of the kingdom, life would go on, young women would continue to bear children. But as he often does in his Gospel, Matthew sees the bigger picture – the true Good News – that the story of Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Hebrew prophecies pointing to the coming of the Messiah.
It gets better: Emmanuel is not just “God is on our side.” Emmanuel is God right here, right now. May we prepare ourselves this Advent for Christ to be born anew in our hearts.
— Bob Howell
Upcoming Events with Emmanuel
Friday, December 10th: Fridays on the Fisk at 7pm, The Organ Studio of UNC School of Arts
Friday, December 17th: Bach’s Lunch at 12pm, Alina Cherkasova - soprano singer
Friday, December 24th, Christmas Eve:
3:00- Christmas Eve Eucharistic service with Children’s pageant
5:30-Choral Prelude
6:00- Christmas Eve Eucharistic service
8:00- Chorale Prelude
8:30- Christmas Eve Eucharistic Service