Dear Christian friends:

Loneliness seems to be a universal malady, and it seems to afflict rich and poor alike. The Prince of Wales, Charles of England has said, "The older I get the more alone I become." The poet Coleridge writes:

"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone in a wide, wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."

Even at Christmas when we are with family and friends we somehow manage to feel alone and alienated often.

There is really only One who can really help us in our loneliness and that person is Jesus Christ, our best and truest Friend. Our text, which is the Gospel lesson for today tells us the great, good news that we need not be alone for Jesus is:


Although it may seem incomprehensible to us, God is really and truly with us! God was with Israel in Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary. When Jesus was born that first Christmas the ancient prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled.

Matthew writes: "All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means, 'God with us.'" (verses 22-23)

God himself came to live with his chosen people, Israel, in the Christ Child. His mysterious conception proves this. In our text Matthew explains: "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit." (verse 18)

Joseph had difficulty in believing this mysterious conception. In our text Matthew tells us that when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant he made plans "to divorce her quietly." (verse 19) Matthew does not explain how Joseph found out that Mary was expecting. She, herself, may have told him what the Angel Gabriel had said to her as recorded in Luke, chapter one, that she would be the mother of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-28) Assuming this, apparently Joseph did not believe her.

It seemed like a very big story to him and he assumed that Mary had been unfaithful to him. Down through the centuries millions of people, like Joseph, have had difficulty believing in the mysterious conception of Jesus Christ.

However, God in his graciousness and understanding confirmed this mystery to Joseph and all of us doubters today! Matthew tells us that "an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." (verse 20)

So, in Jesus Christ, son of Mary, God was with Israel during his thirty-three years here on earth and especially during his formal ministry, the last three years. In his gospel John writes of Jesus. "The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, John 14:7-10)

God is also with us today in Jesus Christ and has been with his Church ever since he ascended into heaven. After Jesus had commanded his apostles to make disciples of all nations he added these significant words: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

He is with us even more intimately than he was with Israel. Then he was visible, yet he could be only here or there at one time, with one or a dozen or maybe a multitude. But now that he has ascended to the Father and sits at his right hand and is invisible, yet he is everywhere present with all the members of his Church at one and the same time. For you need to see that he is with us through his Word and the Sacraments. He has promised: "Where two or three are come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

He is with us also when we minister to one another. Jesus has commanded us to "love one another" and to "strengthen our brothers and sisters" by speaking his Word to each other. So, we really need not be lonely.

Given all this evidence that God is really with us, we may still doubt it. Because of our sinfulness and sins we may wonder if we can really be with the holy God. We certainly must feel uncomfortable in being with him, and for good reason. Sin separates mankind from God as it also separates one person from another. Sin really causes all our loneliness and agony. There is really only one way mankind and God can come together and that alienated human beings can come together, and that is through the forgiveness of sins.

God can be with us and we can be with one another because God is gracious and forgives sins. Only Jesus Christ, Emmanuel - God with us, can save us from sin and effect reconciliation.

The angel said to Joseph, "She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (verse 21) To those who forbade apostles to preach in the name of Jesus Peter said: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

This one and only Jesus is able to save and reconcile because he is Emmanuel - God with us. He is God and true Man in one person.

Our Savior had to be a real human being. Why? So that he could take our place under the Law to fulfill the Law for us. God's holiness and justice requires this. St. Paul says, "When the exact time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

Our Savior also had to be a true man so that he could suffer the penalty or curse of man's law-breaking, death. The writer to the Hebrews explains: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he also accepted flesh and blood, so that by his death he might destroy him who has the power over death, the devil, and free those who all their lives were enslaved by fearing death." (Hebrews 2:4)

Our Savior also had to be true God. Why? Only God himself could fulfill the Law and merit perfect righteousness for all mankind. St. Paul teaches this when he writes: "Through the obedience of the one Man the many will be declared righteous." (Romans 5:49)

Our Savior had to be true God so that his suffering and death might be sufficient payment for all mankind's being freed from sin and the penalty of sin. Jesus himself said, "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

Emmanuel - God with us, has reconciled all mankind to God by his holy life and by his innocent suffering and death. Paul states: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Now we are to be reconciled to God and to one another. We need only confess our sins and believe in this Emmanuel! This is not easy because of our pride, but God's Spirit through the Word and the Sacraments enables us to do this!

Herman Gockel tells the story of a Christmas Eve in 1906, when Lars Erickson and his family faced a cheerless holiday. Lars was in poor health and out of work. He had reached the point where he didn't care if Christmas ever came or not. Depressed and irritable, he made poor company for his wife, Anna, and his five-year old daughter, Greta. As they sat around their coal stove on that cold December evening, little Greta was humming carols and busy at work with her scissors, cardboard and paste constructing a crude little manger (nativity) set.

"How do you like it, Daddy?" she asked. "Fine," he replied, in a disinterested tone of voice. "Daddy," she said with disappointment, and with a wisdom of which she herself was not aware, "You didn't look at my manger set. If you want to see the Christ child, you'll have to get down on your knees."

We are all like Lars. If we are to see Emmanuel - God with us, this Christmas, we will have to come to him in humility and trust, kneeling before the manger of the Christ Child.

Now we need not be alone this Christmas or any time. Emmanuel is here! God is with us and we can be with him! We also need not be alienated from one another. We can forgive those who sin against us and we can expect them to forgive us when we sin against them and hurt them! This is what Christmas is all about!

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall
come to you, Oh, Israel!"
(Refrain - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel hymn)

Amen.