Luke 2:1, 4-7 (NIV) In those days
Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire
Roman world. 4 So
Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem
the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who
was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for
the baby to be born, 7 and she
gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in
a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Micah 5:2a-5a (NIV) 2 “But you, Bethlehem
Ephrathah, though
you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will
come for me one
who will be ruler over Israel, ....” 3 Therefore Israel
will be abandoned until the time when
she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the
Israelites. 4 He will stand and
shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of
the name of the Lord his God. And they will live
securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be our
peace…
Bethlehem was and still is small town, and Micah
was probably seeing more than he knew when he prophesized that you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the
clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be
ruler over Israel...And he will be our peace. Bethlehem is a reminder that little things can mean a lot. Bethlehem
is God at work in small, seemingly insignificant ways to accomplish His plan
and purpose for the world. Bethlehem is often overshadowed by the power of Rome
and the splendor of Jerusalem, both of which feed our hunger for the mighty to
destroy evil and to make goodness and justice triumph.
Imagine bringing someone to
this baby born in an obscure village and under some rather suspicious
circumstances, and trying to claim that in this baby God had come, and under
his influence the power of Rome would crumble, the splendor of Jerusalem would
end, and death would no longer be the end of our life. Today we can see it, but
then the news would have been preposterous, and it would be, except it was
true.
Christmas reveals God’s strategy to change the world through
the small and seemingly insignificant. Jesus often described the work of God as
being like salt, like leaven, like a mustard seed. Chances are you can think of
such events in your life that seemed small and insignificant, yet turned out to
be important, crucial times in the way God has worked in your life. If life can
be lost in small uncaring ways, then Christmas affirms that life is gained and
re-gained in a thousand small caring ways that come to us from God. This is the
hope Christmas gives. Having seen him in a stable we can never be sure where He
will be with us again, to what lengths He will go or to what depths He will
descend in His pursuit of you and me. If the power, majesty, grace, and love of
God is present in Bethlehem then there is no place, no event that does not hold
for us the possibility of the gift.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope December 22, 1985
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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