The Promise of Presence

by Nathan Brasfield, Director of Youth and Community Ministries

It is circa 734 BCE. The one nation previously known as Israel remains tragically divided into two kingdoms. The southern kingdom known as Judah faces threats from both the northern kingdom known as Israel and the nation of Syria to join forces with them against a still larger threat to all of them, the nation of Assyria. But Judah’s King Ahaz is too fearful to go along. So to reassure him about what is going to happen in the near future, through the prophet Isaiah, God gives Ahaz a sign involving a young woman who is about to bear a child. Even now, during this most tumultuous and uncertain time, the young woman dares to name her child Emmanuel, meaning “God (is) with us” (Isaiah 7:14).

Nearly 800 years after this prophecy of Isaiah, the nation of Israel is no longer divided but is instead dispersed within lands occupied and exploited by Rome. In telling the story of the birth of another child during this tumultuous time—one who would be named Jesus—the Gospel of Matthew finds in Isaiah’s old prophecy a kept promise in its own time about the presence of God. “All of this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet” (1:22), the text says, about a child who in their name and in their very being signifies the presence of God among the people: “Emmanuel” (1:23).

And then, nearly 2,000 years after the writing of the Gospel, a church in downtown Memphis, just up the bank from the Mississippi River, finds in these scriptures the proper way to name one particular way this old promise continues to be fulfilled among its own community. And it doesn’t have to do with warring nations or with political upheaval. It has to do with something as truly basic as a blessed meal shared with those who hunger. And this month, Calvary once again hosts the “Emmanuel Meal” at this time of year, when we celebrate the kept promises of God’s presence among us.

If these old scriptures and Calvary’s Christmas meal, shared with our hungry neighbors over the decades, indicate anything about the promised presence of God, it is that it does not exist in a sort of vacuum. It is felt, experienced, and made active in this world and in our daily lives through tangible expressions of faith, hope, and love.

This tangibility of God’s presence with us is part of the culmination of our gatherings, when we share in the communion meal of the Eucharist with bread and wine. And in a way, we share the Emmanuel Meal because we share in the communion meal. Feeding others as we are fed is central to this unique way that we commit to follow in the world. And without worrying too much about how it is there, as Episcopalians, we believe in the real presence of God in the communion meal. God is truly present—God is truly with us, that is, in the meal and in everything that comes out of it.

The volunteer sign-up for this year’s Emmanuel Meal on December 22 is already full, but there is still plenty of opportunity to help provide the meal itself, including all the supplies and gift bags prepared for our guests. We have a goal of raising $8,000 to ensure we have enough for up to 300 of our neighbors who will join us on this special day. Please consider giving online or stopping by our table near the building entrance the next two Sundays to make your donation in person. Gifts of any size are welcome!