Advent Devotional Resource - San Francisco Theological Seminary

Matthew 1:18-25Thursday, December 24As I write this I am aware of the annual rite of passage we put our first-year students through; that is,confronting the strangeness of that ancient Near Eastern text we call the Old Testament, written inthat ancient Near Eastern language we call Hebrew. I remember the little thrill I got when I saw howexactly the term “Immanuel” translates to “God with us,” because this is for me the most powerfulmessage of the Christmas story.The idea that God would come to be with us, not through the powers of the world but through ahumble dislocated couple living in an occupied land, tells us that God can be with us, even when weface insecurity in home and church, even when we can no longer count on society for job security,health coverage, or human rights, even when we face loneliness in the belly of an empire like theUnited States.Wherever we are on our journey, Christmas is the one joyous moment when we can give thanks forthe little baby, longed for by freed slaves, sought after by foreign dignitaries, crowned by a star in theeast.As we prepare to spread the good news that God is with us, let us remember those who need to hearit the most. I am reminded of a 6-year-old orphan in Russia, whose handmade nativity scene had notone, but two, babies in the manger. He explained:When Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place tostay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. ThenJesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to givehim like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what Ihad that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a goodgift.So I asked Jesus, “If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?” And Jesus told me,“If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me.” So I got into themanger, and then Jesus looked at me and told me I could stay with him—for always.May we share Christ’s warmth with all of the world, knowing that God is indeed with us. Amen.Rev. Wendy S. TajimaSFTS Associate Dean of Enrollment