1. Title: A Life of Emmanuel

2. Scripture: Matthew 1 : 18 – 25

3. Sermon

Shalom~ May peace and grace be with the members of Yonsei University during this period of Advent, commemorating the birth of Jesus and waiting for the Lord's return. I especially give thanks to Senior Pastor Hocheol Kwak and the church who called me to preach the word of God in this precious pulpit during this period. Personally, I am very impressed. I remember vividly how thrilled I was when I attended my first worship service at this Ruce Chapel after entering the College of Theology 27 years ago. It's such an honor for me to stand here as a person who shares the Word after all these years. I am grateful to God for leading me that way. May all of you here have many days in your life when you are thrilled with God's guidance. In that sense, I would like to share the word about God who is always with us and guides us today.

(1) Jesus Born in a Manger

Now that Christmas is really close, it seems that the atmosphere of Christmas is felt everywhere in everyday life. Not only in churches, but also in the streets and shops, there are more Christmas-related decorations such as Christmas trees, and it seems that we are also listening to Christmas carols that we did not normally listen to. Maybe that's why the news that Mariah Carey's carol song, which was a huge hit with a Christmas song, also topped the Billboard charts, was the news of the week. It seems that Christmas must be a special time for many people, whether believers or non-believers.

What is the first scene that comes to your mind when you think of Christmas? It's a little different for each person, but in general, you'll think of these scenes a lot. Baby Jesus is lying in the manger, Mary and Joseph are next to Jesus, and the magi or shepherds are worshiping, and sometimes they are all worshiping together. And the livestock are watching the baby Jesus from the side or prostrate in front of the manger as if they were worshiping the baby Jesus. As you listened to this explanation, you probably immediately thought of pictures and decorations depicting such scenes. This scene has been used in church tradition for a very long time and is famous, so it is often used in Christmas cards and is decorated and installed in miniature in front of cathedrals or churches during Advent. Moreover, many paintings depicting this nativity scene follow the tradition of Matthew's Gospel by placing the star discovered by the magi on a manger. Numerous stars twinkle in the night sky, a large star reflects the baby Jesus lying in the manger, and the wise men, shepherds, and animals around them worship and bless. How romantic and beautiful does it feel? If a carol overflowing with innocence such as “♫ Silent night~ Holy night~♫” comes out, it would fit very well.

However, as I meditate on today's Word, I come to think about this. Is the message that the Bible wants to convey through the story of Jesus' birth really so beautiful and romantic? Could Mary and Joseph, who gave birth to Jesus in a manger, be so happy?

The scene in which Jesus is laid in a manger is found in Luke 2. If we read Luke 2:1 through 3, we can indirectly understand why Jesus was born where there were cattle. At the time of Jesus' birth, Augustus, who was the Roman emperor, ordered all residents of the empire to be registered (in order to collect taxes better). However, in order to register a family register, you had to go to your hometown and do it yourself. Recently, government administration has been electronicized, so these days you can get a copy of your resident registration on the Internet or at any community center, but before that, you had to go to the community center where you live to do such administrative processing. What was it like 2,000 years ago? As a result, Joseph and Mary had no choice but to come from Nazareth to Bethlehem, their hometown. In those days when there was no transportation on unpaved roads, the distance of 170 km in a straight line would have been too much for ordinary people. How much harder must it have been for Mary now that she has covered that distance near the end of her pregnancy?

In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they took a risk and traveled. But when they arrived, they ran into another obstacle. People from all over the country had to visit their hometowns for family registration, so there was no place to stay. Joseph was a poor carpenter, so he probably didn't have the strength to afford a good lodging, nor the means to get a room at a premium. How upset were Joseph and Mary's hearts when they failed to find a place to stay and ended up staying overnight in a stable given to them by someone? But at that moment, Mary's stomach started to hurt. She felt the signs that the baby is about to come out. There were no midwives who acted as obstetricians and gynecologists at the time. How embarrassing and difficult Mary must have been because she had no mother to help and rely on. Many of you in this room, myself included, have children and you know how painful the process of having a baby is and how fragile the life of a baby is. So, in order to prevent the baby from getting infected, hospitals thoroughly manage the hygiene of the delivery room and medical staff. On the other hand, the reason for the high number of infant deaths in the past is that babies were often born at home and babies were often infected if hygiene conditions were poor.

From this point of view, giving birth in a stable, far more unsanitary than at home, would have been downright dangerous. If you think of the time when your child was born, you will remember how precious and blessed the moment of giving birth to a baby was. What parent would want to give birth to a precious baby in a stable? Mary and Joseph would have been no different. They must have felt very miserable when they thought of their situation where they had no choice but to give birth to a child in a messy stable, let alone a cozy accommodation. Mary and Joseph may have cried and prayed, asking why God allowed the baby Jesus to be conceived by the Holy Spirit, but why did He have to give birth at a time like this? But the family's hardships did not stop there. According to the testimony of Matthew 2, King Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus, so he had to flee to Egypt with the newborn baby. He gave birth to the Son of God, but it must have been difficult to humanly understand why such hardships continued. The scene of the birth of Jesus may be beautiful when viewed by a third person, but it is such a scene with a story that cannot be seen without tears.

(2) The God of Immanuel – the God who comes to the low places

Then why did God choose the family of Joseph and Mary among many families in the world for the birth of Jesus? Most of the great figures in founding myths and heroic tales are born into aristocratic or royal families. However, the story of Christmas that the Bible tells is not simply the birth of a heroic human being, but the story of God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, being born as a human being. Almighty God could have chosen a king or at least a noble family, but why did he choose the more difficult and difficult human life of a carpenter's family, born in a stable? He must have asked this question once or twice during his life as a believer.

The answer to these questions is given to us by the text of Matthew's Gospel we read today. What do you mean? That's what Matthew 1:23 says. “He meant to fulfill what was said, ‘Behold, her virgin will conceive and bear her son, and she will name him Emmanuel.’”

And the reporter of Matthew kindly tells us the meaning of Immanuel. What do you mean? “God is with us.” Here we can discover one important attribute of God that the Bible testifies to. It means that the God of the Bible is the one who is with the creatures he created. Through this, you can also know the meaning of incarnation that Christmas speaks of. That is, God became human to be with us. Being together also means being on the side of the person you are with. God being with me and being on my side I don't think there are many words that are as powerful as this and as graceful as this.

However, there is a part that needs to be re-examined here. The reason why God chose Joseph and Mary's family was not the value that the world pursues, such as wealth, power, or family. The only reason is that Joseph and Mary were righteous people who lived their lives with faith that completely trusted God. If you look at today's text, Matthew 1:19, Joseph is described as a righteous man. If you look at Luke 1:28, you will find that Mary is said to have received grace.

Come to think of it, the God of the Bible always showed interest in people in a low position and came to that position to be with them. In the Exodus, God heard the cry of the Hebrew people who lived as slaves in Egypt. The God of the Bible is asking throughout the Bible to take care of widows and orphans at the time, who had no choice but to face social death without their husbands and fathers. To the kings who made the people suffer in order to enjoy their own wealth and power, God warned of severe judgment through the prophets and kept asking them to repent. However, Biblical historians estimate that the Jews who did not listen to God's warning eventually perished. Also, the Bible does not say that God's work is done according to the ranking of world power. The Jewish society of the Biblical Age was also very patriarchal, and the eldest son had a lot of power, just like the Korean society of the past. However, many of the people who continued God's work of salvation, such as Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David, were not all eldest sons. The reason they were able to participate in God's work was because they trusted God completely and lived a life of doing God's will.

(3) Jesus who lived the life of Immanuel

Above all, we must remember that Jesus most clearly showed what the content of life to do God's will is. The baby Jesus, born under the sign of Immanuel God, grew up and lived the life of Immanuel during his public life. I believe that this is one of the important meanings we should remember and celebrate Christmas.

As much as the manger was his first bed, Jesus could not have grown up in a carpenter's family. There are people like this among people who grew up in poor homes. I hate that poverty so much that I try to succeed to get out of it, and when I succeed, I often see cases where I forget the poor past and don't look back. However, Jesus did not aim for the heights, wealth and power that the world speaks of throughout his life. He befriended those who were called losers at the time, those who were pointed at, said that they were blessed, blessed them, and instilled in them hope for the kingdom of God. It is because he had a deep belief that living the life of Immanuel with lowly people is the life God wants.

(4) The Paradox and Question of Immanuel God

The God the Bible testifies to is very paradoxical. He is the most honorable and worthy of glory, but he descended himself to the lowest place and was with those who were treated as lowly in the world. This was very different from what the ancient religions believed in at the time. Whether he was the Baal god of the Old Testament or the god of Rome, he was a fearsome being who demanded human worship and unconditional loyalty, or a rich being who satisfied human desires. The Bible calls worshiping these gods idols, and this is a warning not to pursue the heights of greed and power.

At this time of waiting for Christmas, we must ask ourselves if our faith is pursuing the life of Immanuel that Jesus showed us. I said, “Let me be a lower one. Do you pray more often, “Let me live a life with the lowly?” Or am I praying for the high places the world shows are the blessings the Bible says? I hope you will be meditating on these questions during this Advent.

(5) Living the Life of Immanuel

A few days ago, I heard an unfortunate news related to the medical world. It was news that the number of people supporting pediatric specialists in large hospitals across the country was significantly decreasing, and that a famous hospital in the metropolitan area had stopped providing pediatric inpatient treatment. Another piece of news was about the tendency for top students to apply for medical school, and for students at top universities to apply for medical school either through second or half-takes. There may be several structural causes here, but what is the essence behind these two different news? Money. Pediatrics is not popular because it pays less than other majors, but on the other hand, doctors make more money than other professions, so top students flock to medical schools. Of course, money is necessary and important to live, but there was no way to erase the bitterness because it seemed to show the world that the biggest reason for becoming a doctor is money. I feel that the mission entrusted to Yonsei University, which has led the development of the domestic medical field with the spirit of Christ, and the Yonsei University Church, which intercedes for this, is greater.

We can say that Yonsei University and Yonsei University Church were actually founded with the spirit of Immanuel. It is because if Underwood and Appenzeller had not chosen a comfortable life in the United States and had not taken the low-lying path to the unfamiliar land of Korea, we would not be able to worship here.

I know that many people must have grieved over the loss of their lives at a young age in the Itaewon disaster not too long ago. At the time, I was so devastated and sad that I couldn't control my heart. I participated in a memorial prayer meeting at this Ruce Chapel supervised by the chaplain's office at Yonsei University. We comforted each other with songs and prayers, and there was also a time to commemorate them while offering flowers because two students who were international students at Yonsei University were also sacrificed. At that time, I felt the comfort of the Lord coming to my heart, and it seemed that the bereaved family was also comforted a little, and I prayed earnestly for that to happen. I believe that just as the Yonsei University Church has practiced the faith of Emmanuel at every difficult juncture for the nation for more than 100 years, it has been with neighbors in pain through memorial prayers during the Itaewon disaster. After this disaster, a trauma expert came on the air and said, “It is more comforting to remain silent than to force words of comfort.” That's right. The spirituality we Christians need is the spirituality of staying together, the spirituality of finding a lowly place, in other words, the spirituality and life of Emmanuel.

In the end, Joseph in Matthew's Gospel, read today, decides to stay with Mary and not leave her. That is what the Bible says about righteousness. Now, I would like to look around us. Who am I supposed to stay with? Where is the low place I must go? I pray in the name of the Lord that you become precious members of Yonsei University who share the love and grace of Immanuel with those people there. Let's meditate and pray together.