Immanuel

"Immanuel"
Matthew 1:23; Psalm 23

Human beings all share a common fear.  It is the greatest human fear.  It seems to be a part of the human condition and it doesn't matter what gender, race, or nationality you are.  We all have to deal with this fear.  If we don't get through this fear in a healthy way, it will effect us for the rest of our lives.

It is the fear of abandonment, particularly the fear of abandonment by our mothers, who are usually the primary caregiver.  Another name psychologists give it is "separation anxiety."  We start going through this stage in our lives when we are just a few months old.  It begins to subside when we are around two years old.

The famed psychologist Erik Erickson called this first stage of human development, "Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust."  We need to know, as infants, that we can trust our environment.  That we can rely, without question, on our primary caregivers.  We need to be sure, if we are going to have a firm foundation for the rest of our lives, that our caregivers are familiar, are safe, and can be relied upon.

If we are left alone for too long of a time, or untouched, or our primary caregiver is out of sight and and out of range of hearing for too long of a time, infants begin a foundational feeling that life is unsafe.  We, when we were babies, will begin to assume that life is unsteady and threatening.  Without that assurance that we can rely on our environment and primary caregivers, we will feel alone and fearful.

By the time they are two, toddlers will have made up their mind if their environment is safe and reliable.  Or unsafe and unreliable.  They will have made up their mind if they can trust their primary caregivers so that when they leave the room, leaving the toddler alone and is out of sight, that child knows the caregiver will return later, and everything will be OK.

As I mentioned, Erik Erickson has proven that if we don't get through this initial stage well, it will effect all the subsequent stages of our human growth and development.  As you have listened to me describe this primary stage of Basic Trust vs. Mistrust, you may be thinking of people who fit this description.  People who have never been quite trusting of others around them, and never feel completely safe and secure.  It's a terrible way to have to live.


I think we go through the same development process in our Christian life.  When we give ourselves to Christ, it is like being spiritual infants.  Paul says the same thing when he wrote his letter to the Corinthian church—that we start out with spiritual milk, so to speak, until we can move on to more substantial "food."

We start out asking ourselves if we can trust this God that we have decided we believe in.  We start testing the boundaries of God's supposed caring, just like infants do with their new parents.  We want assurances that God won't abandon us, especially when we feel we need God the most.  That this God is not only the great mind behind the universe, but also the great heart who somehow cares and loves us each individually, as mind boggling as that is.  Will our assumed caregiver God leave us alone?  Can we get to the place, as human beings, where we feel safe under God's care?  That we are confident when we need succor and embrace from God, God will be there?

That's why Jesus, and this name, Immanuel, is so important.  As the gospel writer Matthew, tells us, the name Immanuel means, "God with us" or "God is with us."  Calling Jesus, Immanuel, is God's signal to us that, in Jesus, and through Jesus we work through the primary stages of our faith development.  That Jesus is the one, God has given us to establish our spirituality beyond our anxiety and attachment issues.  That when we ask the basic questions about familiarity and safety, in face of an unsure and scary existence, Jesus is the one, God has given us to establish that faith.  That when we feel most unsafe and threatened by what the world throws at us, Jesus is the one, God has given us to provide the safety and security we need to grow more and more secure.  That we can get to the point in our faith that even when it doesn't feel like God is in the room, or out of sight, that, in Jesus, God is always near, always with us.  That when we are trying to decide if the world is a place we can trust or mistrust, Jesus is the one, God sent to be the one we can ultimately and constantly trust.  That Jesus really is Immanuel, God with us.

Hanging in the US National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is a series of four paintings by Thomas Cole. The series is called “The Voyage of Life”. Each painting depicts a stage of life: childhood, youth, manhood and old age.

The first painting is of childhood. It shows a mountain with a dark cave at its base and a river flowing out of the cave. A beautiful timber boat glides out of the cave into a world of lush vegetation, flowers in bloom and a peaceful, gentle surface on the water. Inside the boat is a laughing baby with a Guardian Spirit standing right behind. The painting shows childhood as a time of wonder and joy.

The second painting is called “youth”. We see the same boat now travelled further downstream. The baby has grown into a teenage boy. He stands in the rear, confidently steering the boat towards a majestic white castle off in the distance. The riverbanks are still lush and green and the Guardian Spirit stands on those banks, watching the young man boldly chart his course. The painting shows youth as a time of dreaming and absolute self confidence that nothing can hold us back.

When we look at the third painting the scene has changed dramatically. The youth has become a man, the river is on the verge of becoming a raging torrent, and the sky has become dark and threatening. The castle of dreams is nowhere to be seen and the boat’s rudder has broken. Up ahead lie treacherous rocks, with white water crashing all around them. The man in the boat is caught up by forces he can’t control. With the rudder broken he cannot steer his boat. All he can do is look up to the sky and pray. Meanwhile the Guardian Spirit sits somewhat hidden in the clouds, but is still watching over the man. Cole is picturing adulthood as a time when the joy and wonder of childhood have been tamed by the difficult and tragic experiences of life, when the confidence and boldness of youth have been swept away by the harsh realities of life, but yet the presence of God is there.

The final painting is called “Old Age”. The battered and weathered boat has finally reached the ocean. The dark clouds remain but the water is still. The boat’s occupant is now an old man, and his gaze is fixed firmly on the clouds out there in front of him, clouds pierced by the glorious light of heaven, the light pierced by angels coming to and fro. For the first time in his life the man sees the Guardian Spirit that has accompanied him on his journey. It comes, takes him by the hand and prepares him for his journey into the heavens.

What an amazing picture of Immanuel.  What I noticed in the paintings, and maybe you did too, is that in each of the three paintings, the person's face, while in the boat, is turned away from the presence of God.  The boatman doesn't realize he is being watched over and cared for as he goes through each stage in life.  Not until the end does he finally recognize the Immanuel, the God is with us presence of the protecting Spirit.


There are lots of places in the Bible that point to this Immanuel, God is with us theme.  But none more clearly than the 23rd Psalm.  There are two affirmations in this Psalm that affirm the Immanuel character of God.  The first affirmation is at verse 4:

I may walk through valleys
as dark as death,
    but I won’t be afraid.
You are with me…

When I was younger I read this wrong.  I read it as if the Lord were at the end of the valley, calling us on, encouraging us to keep going through dire circumstances, by ourselves.  That's what the person in the boat may have thought—that he was alone. But that's not what this verse in Psalm 23 says.  It says, "I won't be afraid (because) You are with me."  Which is the word, Immanuel.  Immanuel, God is with us, takes away our fear when we feel we are alone but are not.

The last verse of this well-loved Psalm is:

Your kindness and love
will always be with me
    each day of my life,
    and I will live forever
    in your house, Lord.

Notice, there are those words again:  "…will always be with me…"  It's the word, Immanuel.  Kindness and love speak to the deep and enduring commitment between two persons.  What I like about the paintings is that it shows this relationship of commitment starts when we are born.  Whether we realize it or not, whether we desire it or not, God has committed God's-self to us at our birth.  The psalmist—and the painter, Thomas Cole—recognizes that God's kindness and love will be shown in this steadfast presence of relationship throughout our lives.  That's why the coming of Immanuel at Christmas is so important for us to see and celebrate.

We will never go a day without the ever present kindness and love of God in Jesus.  God sent Jesus to let us know that Immanuel, God with us, is determined and intentional when it comes to showing love and kindness.  Of being with us, no matter what, no matter when.  May be you feel the Immanuel, not just at Christmas, but through every part of your life.