Brian had just received a major job promotion that required a 2,000-mile cross-country move during the Christmas season. As a dutiful father, Brian was very concerned about how this sudden move would affect his children, particularly his six-year-old son, Adam. When it was Adam's bedtime, Brian spent several minutes giving a carefully rehearsed presentation about the impending family relocation. He described the new city, their new house, and all the new friends Adam would meet at school. He even told Adam that he could play his favorite sport, baseball, every day of the year because of the warmer climate. Adam took it all in, silently. He did not pout. He did not cry. Adam was just silent. However, Brian could "see" the wheels turning in his young son's head. So, he asked, "Do you have any questions, Adam?" After a few agonizing (for Dad) seconds. Adam replied, "Just one question, Dad. Did you know that if you look a leprechaun right in the eyes he will steal your bag of gold?"

Good try, Dad. Adam will be fine. So will your baby daughter, Caroline, and your wife, Christy. Indeed, they were and they are. Their love for each other, the support of friends and family, and especially the love of God carried them through a challenging, anxiety-filled Christmas-time journey.

We might not get everything just right. We might not always understand everything. We might not even want to face the life challenges ahead, with our children and especially with the little child that still dwells within each one of us, but God understands. God is with us in every challenge. God gets it right every time. This very night God gives a child to us and to the world. This very night God shows a love and joy that transcends all time and space; from cross-country moves to family separations; from hospitals to gravesides; from sorrow and grief to broken promises and shattered dreams; from oppressive terrors to depressive darkness. In the opening verse of our Old Testament lesson Isaiah declares; "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2).

But what about the baby? Have no fear. This night, right here, right now, the baby is born. This night, right here, right now, the baby enters our world. This night, right here, right now, God enters the dark and empty spaces of our lives. This night, right here, right now, God places a baby, the baby, into the manger of our souls. Tonight, it's all about the baby, God's baby; God's Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14).

Rejoice in Isaiah's resounding proclamation: "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us" (Isaiah 9:6). For us, to us, ... wow! In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, Isaiah is using a marvelous play on words here to emphasize this gift of God. In Hebrew, the same word, lanu, is translated both as "for us" and "to us." Now, remember our Old Testament text in Isaiah 7:14 from last Sunday? Here, Isaiah also announces an impending kingdom changing birth! "Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall call him Immanuel." In Hebrew, immanu is translated "with us." El is translated as "God." But, what about the baby? Why bother with all this scholarly language stuff? This right here, right now, that baby has become lanu immanu or God's precious gift for us, to us, and with us forever. In the gospel words of the angel to the shepherds, "To you is born in the city of David, a Savior who is the Messiah [Christ], the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

When Christ was born, Judea was a conquered land, existing under the domination of the mighty Roman Empire. When Isaiah was announcing the birth of the Messiah, the powerful Assyrian army had devastated northern Israel and was laying siege to Judah. Military oppression, political unrest, and social injustice were part of daily existence. In both Isaiah's time and 700 years later during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus (Luke 2:1) the outlook of God's people was filled with gloom and doom and darkness. Even in our time this very night, we hear news of wars and rumors of war; stories of economic injustice, racism, poverty, and violence. For us, too, at first glance, we see only gloom, doom, and darkness.

And yet, on the other hand, God gives light in the center of despair. But what about the baby? The baby was, is, and will always be the light that obliterates our darkness. That baby was, is, and will always be God's light, given lanu immanu, for us, to us, and with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

In our text, Isaiah proclaims that in this baby, God will bring an end to military oppression. God promises to lift burdens, shatter the rod of violence, and use military boots and blood-stained garments as fuel for fire (Isaiah 9:4-5).

Using the language for the coronation of the new king, Isaiah presents the names by which the baby, the king, will be called: "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). During this season, many of us have heard these words sung with power and praise in the "Halleluiah Chorus" of Handel's majestic choral work, Messiah.

So, what about the baby? Why is it so important to have just the right name for a baby? Well, as we all know, choosing the name is tough. Most of us have been involved in that process, and we know how difficult and confusing it can be. We consult countless books and online lists of popular names. We consider family names and biblical names. We try to avoid offending an overlooked family member. We try to avoid names that may rhyme with anything objectionable. The best names connect memory and hope, possibility and promise. Choosing names for a child is serious business. Indeed, the name we select is a major step in reflecting a child's identity and purpose in life.      

Isaiah presents the ceremonial names for a king that certainly reaffirm God's promise and purpose. These names express God's intention for a renewal of spirit, a restoration of power, and a promise of eternal salvation. These names also connect with the yearning of God's people for a transformed identity and a renewed hope. God's people were more than ready for a miracle. So are we! Get ready!

Keep your eyes on the manger, lying open in your family, in your community, and in your souls. Open the manger of your heart to receive the baby, the Christ Child. Get ready to see with new eyes the light of God that forever shines from the baby's face. Get ready to reflect the joy of the new baby, the joy given to God's named and claimed people everywhere. Get ready to show what it looks like to live in the promise of lanu immanu; the gift of God for us, to us, and with us.

Listen again to Isaiah's list of names for the child and pay attention to how they describe how the reign of that baby will turn our lives, our darkened world, upside down.

Wonderful Counselor — Here is wisdom that both listens to our heart hungers with understanding care and also shows us right and faithful paths through whatever valley of shadows that we may travel.

Mighty God — Here is the power we desperately want and need from the King of kings. Here is power, but not in terms of the world's expectations. Rather, this baby has power to forgive, to renew, and to transform exhausted, lost, and broken lives.

Everlasting Father — In this baby, God's promise endures forever. In this baby, God demonstrates resolute and unwavering commitment to be lanu immanu; for us, to us, and with us for eternity ... no matter what.

Prince of Peace — This baby, this king, born in this manger tonight, is a sure and certain promise of peace, in our hearts, in our families, and in our darkened world. Hear again, God's words of promise in tonight's lesson: "His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace ... He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forever more" (Isaiah 9:7).

It is incredibly difficult to recognize God's own words of promise in the midst of the hundreds of voices that constantly seek to distract and confuse us. Just think of the many conflicting voices you have heard these past few weeks that diverted your attention from the baby, or as folks say, "The reason for the season." Shop 'til you drop! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Do this, do that; run here, run there! There's never enough time and even less energy to pay attention to all the voices, sometimes even to God's voice of promise of hope and peace!

There's a story about a young student who had the habit of daydreaming during his high school physics class. One day, his teacher asked him, "Ralph, if you were in a perfect vacuum, would you be able to hear my voice?" Suddenly awakened, poor Ralph responded, "Well, it would depend if the vacuum was turned off or on."

Sometimes it really does seem as if our lives exist in an endless and perfect vacuum, with no escape whatsoever. Sometimes it seems that like Brian, we are so frightened by the Christmas journey that we are unable to hear the promise of God's Christmas gift, the baby given lanu immanu; for us, to us, and with us.

This night, we see the baby born and cradled into the manger of our darkened world. This night, breaking into the vacuum of our lives, we hear the voice of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace speaking directly for us, to us, and with us, as Jesus Christ proclaims, "This is my body, given for you! This is my blood, shed for you!"

There was no room at the inn for the baby. This night the baby, the Christ Child, makes room for you in his heart. Tonight, God gathers us and all God's children into his loving arms. Tonight God's voice, God's Word made flesh, declares to us, I love you. I will care for you. I will embrace you. I will forgive you. I will die for you.

That's the gospel truth!

Merry Christmas! Amen.