Wednesday, January 31, 2018 

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, RSV)

                Someone plastered a poster on the outside of the sign board at my wife’s church workplace reading, “Sign Frozen”. There is still a Christmas message on that side of the sign but apparently, they can’t get into the sign board to change it because it is frozen shut.  There is another church sign in the city which reads, “Too cold to change the sign. Message inside.” Clever!

                Signs are important to us.

                The beleaguered King Ahaz and the war-torn people of Jerusalem were overwhelmed by their enemies. We are told, “the heart of Ahaz and the heart of the people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.” (Is. 7:2) They are quaking in their boots at the future that seems to be before them.

                God attempts to re-assure them: “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear and do not let your hearts be faint…” (v.4) The future is not as bad as it seems, but there is a dire warning about what will befall them “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you shall not stand at all.” (v.9)

                Perhaps Ahaz was still not convinced for God, seeing that their faith still wavered, promises a sign. That text about the sign (noted above) of a child being Immanuel has become one of the classic texts of Advent, leading into Christmas.

                Now I know what you are thinking, Christmas has been over for a month. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner as so is Lent.  I am as frozen with my Christmas message as is the church sign.

                Is that such a bad thing?

                This is far more than just a Christmas text. Any good sign will point us in the right direction. A good sign will indicate the road we need to be on. A good sign will give us hope that the future, although currently in doubt or seemingly under attack, has renewed possibility and better options and a way forward. And if we don’t stand firm in that faith and have courage and trust God in the process we are at risk of not standing at all. “Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13)

                Immanuel, as most know, means “God is with us.” This is the mantle that has been thrown on Jesus. He is the living, breathing, personal embodiment of what it is means to have God with us. His incredible display of love, grace, forgiveness, truth, inclusiveness were signs of how God reaches out to all people with his Love. Jesus, too, spoke the same message as we heard in Isaiah: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

                A frozen faith may not be much good, nor a frozen heart, but a bold, stalwart, perseverant trust in what God is doing in the world and leaning into such a future may be the way forward and through.

Dale