This sermon, "Home for Christmas," is part 4 in Dr. Glen Miles' "Where the Love Light Beams" sermon series. Your ears might perk up when you hear the reading from Isaiah 7:10-16, which proclaims, "Look the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." The old prophet is referring to a sign within the context of his own situation. Ahaz, a lousy king, is the target of Isaiah's words. The king has tried to pretend like he is super religious. Like too many politicians, even contemporary ones, he thinks a sudden influx of faith will convince the people, Isaiah and God, to leave him alone. Isaiah will have none of this false piety. He is basically saying, "If you trust in God the future will be fine. If you try to cover your bases by telling everybody what they want to hear, you're in trouble."
When the earliest Christians read this old text, they thought of Jesus. They saw in this story a reflection of the way Jesus' life and teaching, spoken not from political power but rather through the authority that comes from an authentic life, can challenge even the greatest and most powerful Kings and Caesars. The same is true today. A Presbyterian preacher I know writes, "What keeps the wild hope of Christmas alive year after year in a world notorious for dashing all hopes is the haunting dream that the child who was born that day may yet be born again even in us and our own snowbound, snowblind longing for him." When that child is born again in us, we will finally be home.
