God is with Us when the World Feels Godless

Show Notes

Deacon Scott Madison | December 21, 2025 In a world filled with healthcare crises, violence, and injustice, it's easy to wonder where God is. This Advent sermon explores the profound meaning of Emmanuel—God with us—through Joseph's faithful obedience and God's relentless love demonstrated in Christ. Discover how God is already present in our lives, calling us to embody that divine love for our neighbors even when the world feels godless. A powerful reminder that we don't just wait for God to show up—God is already here, working through us. Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-16, Psalm 80, Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-25, John 3:16 --- We are a community of believers in South Austin committed to growing in faith and sharing God's love. Join us at www.rezaustin.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rezaustin/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1gUKwQSR6HbpEZljGxd4Ti?si=b9c871728fd442fc Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resurrection-south-austin/id1045744334

What is Resurrection South Austin?

Rez is a community where Jesus welcomes, shapes, and sends disciples for the good of our neighborhood. No matter where you are in life, this is a place for you.

Life Together In The Goodness Of God

For the past several weeks, we have been in the season of Advent. This season is the start of the liturgical year where we wait with anticipation of God drawing near to us and becoming incarnate in the birth of Jesus. These weeks of Advent are filled with preparation, and in the world, many of us are focused on getting ready for Christmas celebrations, shopping for the perfect gift for that special loved one, making our favorite holiday goodies, making our homes ready for family and friends to visit all the hustle and bustle in order to plow the perfect Christmas tree. And Jesus, Jesus, that's how things look to me. This aspect, though, this aspect, that's the difference. It's been that different. It is my first as an ordained person, and Rez, you have reminded me what this season is about. You see, during the first week of Advent, we are to remember God's peace, the kind of peace that fills this room every Sunday, the peace you all give me whenever I see you. The second week, we are to remember God's hope, and the hope you all have for Rez, the hope you help to bring into the world by serving our neighbors. The third week of Advent focuses on God's joy and man. Do we do that well? The joy I feel every time we get to worship together. And this week, we are focusing on God's ever-present love for us. And our readings this morning help guide us in that direction. And Isaiah, the prophet is telling King Ahaz that things will be all right, that there is hope for the people of Judah. Ahaz sees the kingdoms around him joining forces to take him down. And though they will eventually conquer his kingdom, the prophet Isaiah is offering a word of hope. A son will be born of a woman, and he will be of the house of David, the great King David. And he will be Emmanuel, God with us. He will rescue his people, and he will be the personification of God's love for us. God will love us so much that God will send a son to be with us and ransom captive Israel to free Israel from its oppression. And that love of God extends into our gospel reading. Here we meet Joseph, a son of the house of David. He is betrothed to Mary whom he realizes is pregnant. He knows he is not the baby's father, and we are told he plans to quote, dismiss her quietly. Now, I don't know how you do that in the ancient Near East, but we are told this fact in order to realize that Joseph is a good man, an honorable man. And then the proverbial record scratch moment happens. Joseph has a dream in which he is visited by an angel of God. The angel tells him that Mary has not betrayed him, that the child Mary has conceived was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This child, this son he is to name Jesus, will be the Emmanuel, God with us. That the people of Israel have been waiting for. He will save them from their sins and rescue them from their oppression. Being a good and faithful man, Joseph awakes from his dream, keeps his commitment to Mary, and raises Jesus as his own, making Jesus a son of the house of David. Now at first glance, this narrative from Matthew may seem to diminish Mary's role, seem to even diminish the role of women. But in the first part of Matthew chapter one, we get Joseph's ancestry, and we see how he is of the house of David. The writer of Matthew traces back 42 generations from Jacob, Joseph's father, to Abraham. He asked that Abraham whom God promised to build a nation where descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky. And in that genealogy, Matthew calls out a number of women from Tamar who saved the line of Abraham to Rahab, the Canaanite woman who hides two Israelite spies sent by Joshua before her city is overtaken to Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David. So don't believe these verses focusing on Joseph are meant to sideline the women. I mean, this is really the only passage that focuses solely on Joseph and his role in Jesus' life. Instead, we are to see here the faithfulness of this man and the love God has for him. See, God eases Joseph's concerns about Mary's pregnancy and he obeys the angel from his journey. Joseph recognizes the love God has for him, for us, for us all, and names the baby Jesus, knowing that he will be Emmanuel, the God with us. This story establishes Jesus' divine nature being conceived by the Holy Spirit and fulfills the prophecy from Isaiah that a child born of the house of David will be the Emmanuel, the God with us that will rescue us from our sin and oppression. And our reading from Romans drives this point home and it Paul declares the divine nature of Jesus, though born of a woman in the house of David. And God's love for us is shown in the resurrection and Jesus being crucified for our sins and conquering death to rise in glory and it is this love, God's love for us that we are called to belong in Christ. And in that belonging in Christ, God is with us, a promise of God's love and protection. Now I know it can be hard sometimes to see God's love for us. I know in this world we live in while healthcare is being taken away from those who desperately need it, where mass shootings seem to happen daily and innocent people being detained and deported because of their skin color. I know through all of that it can be hard to see God's love for us. But that's the meaning of that then I think. In this season we are waiting for our Emmanuel for God to come and make things right, for God to show God's love for us. But here's the thing, God is already here. God is already with us and God's love for us shows when we look out on God's creation and see the sunrise reset, the beauty that is all around us and the God in one another. And so it is up to us to be the God in the world, to show God's love in any way we can by loving ourselves and loving our neighbors. In my short time here at Reds I have seen how you all love and care for each other, how you show up when someone needs you, whether that need is material or otherwise like a shoulder to lean on or just an ear to listen. I have seen how we show God's love for all. I have seen how we show it beyond the walls of this place. Father Sean is constantly reminding us that we are to share and serve our neighbors here in South Austin and time and again, you answer that call following Jesus' command to love our neighbors as ourselves. And we do this because we know we are loved by God. We were created in God's image and we know we are called to show that God in our lives. So despite the world around us despite the seemingly Godless news we are inundated with every single day we still show God's love and prove God is here. Emmanuel is with us. And so is Reds. But the season of Advent coming quickly to a close with the birth of our Savior on the horizon let us take some time to reflect on God's love for us. As John 3.16 says God will love the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And though we go through the season of anticipation where we recognize God's hope God's peace God's joy this week God's love for us we cannot forget that God is working in the world working in us and calling us to bring God's kingdom here on earth. Amen.