Christmas: God's Bandwidth

Well I got all excited when I was pondering what the word, "Emmanuel" means because I thought of a technology expression that seemed to go with this biblical title. "Emmanuel" means, "God with us." It is the stuff of Christmas carols and angel announcements. "His name shall be called Emmanuel."

So I thought I had this wonderful word that I overheard that has to do with computer stuff called, "band-with." This is great. Is that not what God does in that manger. God "bands with" us....Emmanuel...get it? Then I found out that the word is not "band-with" it's "bandwidth." Shucks, my image comes unwraped...un-band-withed...so to speak.

But alas the meaning of the word "bandwidth" has to do with the amount of data that can be handled in a certain amount of time. It is kind of like pipes and water. The bigger the pipe the more water can go through and the faster the water can get to its intended destination.

So, I'm back with the image. Emmanuel, God's bandwidth. God decided that we did not have enough bandwidth so the message was simply "not getting through." God tried laws, prophets, and all sorts of signs like floods and rainbows but we thick headed children simply did not get it...so God expanded the bandwidth. The way God did it, however, really surprised most folks. How could so much information come in such a small package? How could the heart of God be contained in a manger?

Just goes to show you that when it comes to God bandwidth gets turned upside down. God becomes flesh, the transfer of information is instant, but the method is quite small.

Emmanuel, God with us...God is still trying to get through to us. The information highway is filled with all sorts of data but in the midst of all the "bits" and gigabytes...whatever they are... there comes again this year the "good news of great joy to all people...unto you is born a savior...Emmanuel"...God gets through to us. In the midst of all the bad news and the horror that seems not to go away God gets through. We may run out of bandwidth and things can slow down or get clogged up but God will not be denied. It seems that God has all the bandwidth in the world. And you thought the Internet was big.

Advent blessings
jody
jseymour@davidsonumc.org