I woke up at 4:15 this morning, and I am not a morning person. But, as I desperately tried to fall back asleep, my mind wouldn’t cooperate. Unusually for me, I left some Christmas errands until the last minute, and I spent too many hours yesterday trying to deep-breathe my way out of parking lot road rage. As I lay in the dark this morning, ignoring the sound of my cat getting into the wrapping paper, I wondered whether I had completely lost track of what I celebrate each Christmas. I turned my mind to my favorite Christmas carol, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, to remind me of “the reason for the season,” but God had different plans for my reflection time. As I thought about what “God With Us” actually means, I realized I had altered the words. Instead of thinking about God with us, I was contemplating God with me.

Yesterday, I listened to a lecture about corporate worship. The speaker emphasized more than once the problem of many songs we sing in church: they are populated with “I” pronouns, but no “we’s.” While he rightly emphasized that many of these songs express important truths, he also made a case for them being more appropriate for personal worship. In our individualistic society, it is hard to live out the truth that we, as Christians, are parts of one body, dependent not just on God, but each other. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12, when any of us acts as an independent individual with respect to our church, the entire congregation suffers.

I have a 12-year-old pair of purple- and gray-striped, wool long johns. They have countless snags and holes, but man, they are comfortable. Last night I dreamt that I showed up to church wearing them. I wore them because I planned to sit in the “crying baby” room, where certainly no one would see me. Naturally, the front doors of the church were broken, and the entire congregation entered the building through that usually empty room. I suppose it was my version of giving a presentation in my underwear. Suddenly, everyone saw the real me, not the jewelry-clad, put-together woman people usually chatted with on Sunday mornings.

This morning, as I contemplated why the “us” in Emmanuel was so important, I remembered my dream. Though I was mortified to be in church in ratty pajamas, no one seemed to notice. I’ve been missing church a lot lately, and in my dream, everybody was just glad I was there. I’m wondering whether my unconscious mind picked up on the way I often agonize over what to wear to church or whether my jewelry matches my shoes. I trust my church to accept me whether I’m wearing my “lounge pants” (I have a drawerful) or an ironed, coordinated outfit. It’s my overconcern with my image that trips me up. Too often, I show up to church as an individual, with my own needs and insecurities, to seek Emmanuel, God with… me.

First Corinthians 12:13 says, For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…. One God dwells in each believer. It is God’s oneness within himself which joins and binds us together, not our own feelings or hobbies. Though I have trouble understanding the concept of a three-in-one God, I know that, whether I feel it or not, God dwells among his people. So why do we sing Emmanuel only in December? Before the first Christmas, humanity’s brokenness and sin kept us separate from each other, as well as from God. From Adam and Eve to a divided Israel to the separation of Jews and Gentiles, we, as fallen humans, were classified and defined by our culture, nationality, relatives, and wealth.

Only Jesus’ incarnation and self-sacrifice could bring true unity to all seekers of truth. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he also lifted each of our souls up to stand next to him before the Father. Now, the suffering of the weakest among us affects us all, as does the prosperity of another. Yes, we are certainly unique children of God and will someday walk the streets of heaven in individual, resurrected bodies. Thanks to Christ Jesus, though, we have inherited far more, right now. One Spirit dwells in each of us, and it is he who binds us more closely together than even a mother and her child. God has drawn us into a new, improved family.

If you go to church on Christmas or Christmas Eve, look around. Just as God is your Father forever, so these people are your eternal siblings, each bearing the invisible mark of the Holy Spirit. Emmanuel, God with Us, is also Emmanuel, God Among Us. So, after singing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, let’s sing a new song.

I am coming soon, Jesus says.

We will rejoice and rest, for then, in all ways,

the dwelling place of God will be with man.*

*Selections from the book of Revelation:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. -Revelation 19:11-16

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” -Revelation 21:1-4

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! -Revelation 22:20