Storm clouds and strong gusts of wind had come up suddenly over Columbus, Ohio. The Alpine Elementary School radio blared tornado warnings. It was too dangerous to send the children home; instead, they were taken to the basement, where they huddled together in fear. The teachers were worried, too. To help ease the tension, the principal suggested a sing-along. But the voices were weak and unenthusiastic. Child after child began to cry.

Then a teacher, whose faith seemed equal to any emergency, whispered to the child closest to her, "Aren't we forgetting something, Kathie? There is a power greater than the storm. Just say to yourself, 'God is with us.' Then pass the word on to the child next to you."

As the words were whispered from child to child, a sense of peace settled over the group. The wind could still be heard outside, blowing with the same ferocity of the moment before, but it didn't seem to matter now. Inside, fear subsided and tears faded away. When the all-clear signal came over the radio, students and staff returned to the classrooms with the peaceful sense that something wonderful had happened in the dark of that basement that day.

One of the keys to understanding Advent and Christmas is wrapped up in the word "Emmanuel." Emmanuel is actually two Hebrew words combined into one: emmanu, which means "with us," and el, which means "God." Hence, Emmanuel means "God with us."

The confidence of a "God with us" was typical for and in Israel, as seen in many Old Testament references. God was viewed as the shepherd of his flock, who abides and walks in the midst of his people. Unlike the impersonal, absent, distant-relative deities of her surrounding neighbors, Israel believed in a personal, living Being who identified and associated with humankind.

The Hebrews had a way of thinking and expressing their ideas in concrete terms; only rarely did they think abstractly or use abstract terms. Some ancient theologies (and some modern ones, too) transported God beyond human reach, exalting God completely out this world, out of history, out of life. But the biblical writers placed God in the midst of the world, declaring boldly that he was Emmanuel God with us!

Matthew picks up this strain in the very first chapter of the Gospel bearing his name. In his Christmas story, Matthew sees in the Christ child yet another, if not the strongest, evidence of the presence of God in the midst of the world. Along with other biblical writers, he was a finger-pointer saying, "There's God again!" It was important to "recognize" God, and they did that in the birth of Jesus, the wonderful counselor, the prince of peace, the human presence of divine love and goodwill.

Advent gives us a time in the busy pace of life to stop and recognize God again. As we look back to Bethlehem, we say, "Yes, that was God!" As we look at our faith in Christ and Christ in our hearts right now, we say, "Yes, this is God! He is here! He is with us! He is not distant or hard to find! He is with me today and tomorrow to show me his love and to accompany me in my life. My worst fears cannot control me." Like the kids in the basement, we hear those wonderful words of assurance once more, "Haven't we forgotten something? God is with us!"

Billy Graham once wrote, "The meaning of Christmas is Emmanuel God with us. It was as though I, while walking along a road, stepped on an anthill. I might look down and say to the ants, 'I'm terribly sorry that I stepped on your anthill. I've disrupted your home. Everything is in confusion. I wish I could tell you that I loved you, that I did not mean to do it, that I would like to help you.'

"But you say, 'That's absurd, that's impossible; ants cannot understand your language!' That's just it! How wonderful it would be if I could only become an ant for a few moments and in their own language tell them of my love for them."

That is what Christ did. He came to reveal God to humankind. He is the One who told us that God loves us and is interested in our lives. He is the One who told us of the mercy and grace of God: "... not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins." (I John 4:10) He is the One who promised life everlasting.

But more than that, Jesus Christ became flesh and blood in order that He could give His life as a ransom for many. This is the heart of Christmas.