We have asked for God to be with us,
And he has answered our prayers in a way
very different than that which we expected.
"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,"
which means, "God is with us."
God does not arrive as a mighty king,
riding a snorting, raring charger.
He is delivered as the precious, helpless child
of a teenage mother whose own people
do not believe her incredible story.
This child is an outcast, not the patron,
not the host, but one needing
hospitality on even his first night
In our world.
A Prayer for Emmanuel
Ruth Duck
Come, Christ Jesus, be our guest,
And may our lives by you be blest.
Come, God-is-with-us,
And free us from the false claims
Of the empires of the world.
We are lonely for you and your peace.
Come, Emmanuel, and dwell with us.
Make us your people indeed,
The people through whom you bring
Love and justice to the world.
Come, Jesus, and reign;
Claim your rightful place within our hearts
And in the midst of our community.
Plant the seeds of hope amongst us.
Establish God’s reign on earth.
For we pray as you taught us
That God’s reign might come in fullness on earth.
Ruth’s prayer calls us to remember.
Remember, God has not come and then deserted us.
He said, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Remember, this presence is not vague or distant;
he is with us, up close and within our community:
“For where two or three are gathered in my name,
I am there among them."
Remember, we are his body – some of us his hands,
some of us his feet – and he lives and works
in us and through us, not as individuals,
but as a people.
May God in his grace, help us receive
the grace of his presence,
and enact the power of that presence
in our lives today.
Ron
(Matthew 1:23-24; Matthew 28:20: Matthew 18:20 – NRSV)
