阅读经文 

不久前，一所公立大学的牧师听到一位管理人员说：“我无意冒犯您，但我认为每个相信上帝的人都有精神健康问题。上帝在像大学这样的科学机构里是没有位置的。”

那位管理人员不是个例外。一家教会杂志的文章曾报导，在德国大学的一群神学生相信，“上帝和教会在当代都无关紧要”。尽管他们是路德改革宗教会的受洗成员，但他们已经感觉上帝无关紧要了。

我认识的一些人有着同样的困惑：即使上帝存在，但祂离我们太远了，已经不再重要。

大约在2700年前，在耶路撒冷和犹大属神的百姓也有过同样的感受。他们许多人被放逐，似乎主已经弃绝他们。但神透过祂的先知以赛亚提醒他们，神每一步都与他们同在。无论别人怎么想，神都在这里，祂也仍在我们现今这个世界工作。

以赛亚先知之后大约700年，神藉着祂儿子，主耶稣的降生，证实了祂的同在。信息本圣经这样说，祂“成了我们的邻居”。（参约 1:14，信息本圣经）任何一刻也不要以神为无关紧要。神此刻就在这里！

Some time ago a chaplain at a public university heard one of the administrators saying, “No offense, but I think anyone who believes in God has a mental health problem. God has no place in a scientific institution such as a university.”

That administrator is not alone. An article in a church magazine reported that a group of students who were studying theology at a German university were convinced that “neither God nor the church were of much relevance today.” Even though they were baptized members of Lutheran and Reformed churches, they felt that God had become irrelevant.

Some of the people I know have come to the same conclusion: If there is a God, he is far away and no longer matters.

About 2,700 years ago God’s people in Jerusalem and Judah felt the same way. Many of their people had been taken into exile, and it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them. But God told his prophet Isaiah to remind them that he was with them every step of the way. Regardless of what anyone might think, God is here, and he is at work in our world still today.

Some 700 years after Isaiah spoke, God proved his presence through the birth of his Son, the Lord Jesus. He “moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message). Don’t think for a moment that God has become irrelevant. Our God is here!