Reaching Out
Immanuel
December 23, 2006

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, 'God with us'." Mt 1:23

This familiar verse took on new meaning for me about ten years ago. I can no longer read or hear it without picturing in my mind a young black man with gold teeth, gold chain and full leg cast. It was early 1997, not too long after I, along with two friends, had started wandering around public housing offering to pray with people.

My heart had been easily opened to the beautiful children and struggling single mothers I had met. It had not yet been opened to the men who usually held back in the shadows. Men whom I saw as takers - there to sleep in a subsidized housing bed, eat food stamp-purchased groceries, and contribute little.

God very painstakingly set the stage to expand my heart. A friend had agreed to repair a broken washing machine for Nancy, a single mom of two, whom we had been regularly visiting. When we arrived at her apartment, we learned that Nancy had miraculously gotten a job and just left for her first day at work. Her current boyfriend answered the door, mumbled a greeting and showed my friend the washer. It was obvious that the young man would have preferred to be just about anywhere but stuck in a small apartment with me. But stuck he was - it was snowing hard outside and he had just broken his leg and was sporting a full-leg cast. To make matters worse for him, the washing machine problem was a bit more complicated than initially expected and my friend announced that the job was going to take a while.

We sat down in the living room to wait and I began trying to find out a bit about my new morning companion. He spoke quietly but more freely than I would have expected and told me about his life growing up in a small nearby community as a member of one of the few black families in town. He said he had never felt very good about himself and had eventually dropped out of school and gotten into some trouble. He was really trying to do something with his life but it seemed that everything was a struggle. At one point, he began to weep and I joined him. We prayed together and watched a Christian music video I had brought for Nancy.

When we got ready to leave, I said, "Now tell me your name again. I didn't quite catch it when we arrived." He shyly stuck out his hand and said, "Immanuel. My name is Immanuel."

I couldn't help but pull him into an embrace at that point. Fortunately he seemed pleased about it though I'm sure he had no idea how deeply he had impacted my life. I knew for a fact that God had drawn near me in that apartment that day and had, in order to stretch my heart, come in the form of someone I had wanted to hold at arm's length.

I've since held the hands and hugged the necks of many "Immanuels". I have made it a practice to go looking for them whenever I can and have been immeasurably blessed.

"Where is He who is born King of the Jews?" the wise men asked King Herod. (Mt 2:1-2) No one thought to look in a manger. "God with us" - He never seems to show up exactly where we would expect. If He did, our hearts would surely stay the same and our concept of Him would be way too small.