The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s texts are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger-related threads –sermon starters – among the themes of this day’s texts. (We're presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!

The prophet offers the sign even though the king refuses to ask for it, thereby showing God’s commitment in spite of the lack of faith the king displays. However, the passage says less about sign asking than it does about God’s work through them as a way of communicating God’s relationship with us. The sign of Immanuel brings both dread and hope. The following vision is not the most positive one, but the hope is found in God’s commitment on behalf of the vulnerable and threatened in the midst of a fraught political climate.

The appeal for God’s presence and redemption is heightened by reference to the people’s plight. One of the concerns is that the people have even been praying in a way that has angered God. Exactly what has angered God can only be speculated, but it is clear that the livelihood of the people is at risk. The plea at the end of the chapter reinforces the importance of livelihood in turning toward God: “give us life, and we will call on your name.” Seeking the livelihood of those whose livelihood is at risk becomes an important part of honoring the life of the community as a whole. Here we get the sense that restoration is more of a communal matter than an individual one.

The genealogy of Jesus earlier in the chapter sheds some light on this birth announcement. There we see Jesus the Messiah, “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is placed in the line of the faithful. Like Isaac (the actual son of Abraham), the birth of Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s promise. The event illustrates God’s desire to take the initiative in the relationship with humanity, so much so that “God with us” becomes a physical reality rather than a cozy spiritual thought. It is interesting that this profoundly theological event becomes realized in such humble flesh. It is likely that our human interactions, as simple or unremarkable as they might seem, are opportunities to share this deep theological truth.