Fragile Understanding
October 22, 2013
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Matthew 1:18-23
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him 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. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Yesterday day Father God,
our hearts were bursting with the joy of your creation,
as we remembered your beauty and the glory of our world.
But today we remember that this beauty has been stained.
The ravage of war;
bombs tearing huge rents out of nations,
blood seeping down streets,
places of worship desecrated, t
he sound of gun fire mingled with screams,
Where are you God ?
As sticky black oil sucks the life out of the oceans,
as men kill animals in the name of sport,
as sunrises are hidden behind the smog of industrialisation,
Where are you God?
As babies die with empty stomachs and mother’s watch on,
too weak to cry;
as families are destroyed for the want of cheap medicine,
people live in rubbish dumps scavenging through the dirt for crumbs of food.
We see aid money being spent on big cars and fancy houses
for corrupt government officials.
Where are you God?
Earthquakes strike in the night
and tsunami waves engulf whole cities.
Floods poor into villages
and people try in vain to cling onto their meagre possessions.
Buildings collapse without warning,
forest fires burn out of control,
tornados hit where least expected
and humanity has so little control.
Where are you God?
Our children die,
our cars crash,
our businesses fail,
our relationships falter,
those we love get cancer,
dark thoughts creep into our minds
and we can no longer see the light in our future.
Where are you God?
In our anguish we cry out to you,
in our pain we fall to our knees
where are you God?
Some days we see the glory,
some days it is so easy to praise,
some days we feels so lost in the darkness.
But this day we simply seek Emmanuel ....
the God who walks with us in our pain,
who stands beside us in our desperation,
who understands our humanity
Where are you God?
“I am here, right beside you, my child”.
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