Dear fellow travelers,
Pastor Bob and I
have a wonderful deal. He e-mails me his Sunday sermon text so that I can more
slowly review his message on Monday. Being -11’ and slippery I opted to stay
home this past Sunday. Consequently I especially appreciated his cyber delivery
on Monday morning. I share it with you now along with the suggestion of your making
the same deal with your pastor. Why? Because dear Ann taught me the importance
of utilizing both ear and eye gates.
To serve Him all our days,
EBB4
+++++++
Small Beginnings
Micah 5:2-5a
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Introduction: Underdogs
and Overcomers
I’ll admit it. I watch too many sports games
on TV. I especially like this time of the year when the NFL is coming down to
the end of their season and the playoffs are being lined up. Being a Dallas
Cowboys fan, I’ve seen my share of disappointment since the 1990’s. This year
I’m hopeful. There is a chance. Maybe.
If I’m watching a game where the Cowboys
aren’t playing, I’ll root for any team that isn’t New England and is the
underdog. That may explain why I’m always a little depressed on Mondays.
Mostly, I’m disappointed. They’re not underdogs for nothing.
We seem to have a fascination with underdogs
in America. It’s in our DNA. We like to beat the odds. We sure did against the
British when this country was founded. There’s something about going against
the grain – against the way things are. There are all kinds of inspiring
underdog stories in sports: the Butler Bulldog basketball teams of 2010 and
2011, Kurt Warner who went from being a grocery bagger at Hy-Vee in Iowa to the
Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl 34, James Braddock the surprising “Cinderella
Man” who became the heavy-weight boxing champ against the heavily favored Max
Baer. There are social underdogs, too, who challenged the system and overturned
it. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus for a white man and
ignited the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s that forever changed
the racial landscape of our country for the better.
I don’t know. Do you ever feel that way? Do
you root for the underdog? Are you captivated by the adventure of beating the
odds? The world’s systems can be cruel and unjust. It’s a real delight to see
them overturned from time to time. Perhaps God wired us that way…
God specializes in
overthrowing the world’s system in surprising ways. An octogenarian fugitive
named Moses challenged Pharaoh and the strongest nation on earth in his day.
While his mission to deliver the Hebrews was accomplished, the mighty army of
Egypt drowned in the Red Sea. Gideon defeated an uncountable host of Midianites
and Amalekites with a tiny band of 300 men. A young shepherd boy named David
armed with only a slingshot and five small stones defeated the seasoned nine
foot tall champion of the Philistine army. It’s God’s way. He delights in
underdogs. His ways are not our ways. Perhaps no other story in the Bible highlights
God’s preference for the humble and the small than his selection of Bethlehem
for the birthplace of the Messiah – the Savior of the world.
Text: Micah 5:2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem
Ephrathah,
who are too little to be
among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth
for me
one who is to be ruler in
Israel,
whose coming forth is from
of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give
them up until the time
when she who is in labor
has given birth;
then the rest of his
brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and
shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name
of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell
secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their
peace.
Prayer
Unlikely Roots
You can’t put God in a box. His ways are not
our ways. He is a God of surprises and he specializes in paradox. Do you know
what paradox is? It is the situation where two things are undeniably true, but
seem to be in direct contradiction to each other. The gospel is full of
paradoxes: the first will be last, the servant is the greatest, and persecuted
people are particularly blessed. Just
read the beatitudes that Jesus taught in Matthew 5 and you will scratch your
head at the world’s values turned upside down.
The King of kings was born in the most
unlikely of places. It wasn’t Rome, the seat of political and military power.
Nor was it Jerusalem, the heart and soul of Hebrew devotion. No. It was the
little town of Bethlehem. Think of a town like Tekamah, NE or Crescent, IA.
Little towns – villages really – that don’t hold any particular significance to
national or world power. It was in Bethlehem, a little village in the hill
country of Judah, just five miles south west of Jerusalem that the Jewish
Messiah – the Savior - would be born. The scholars of Jesus’ day knew. When
questioned by Herod where the Messiah would be born, they cited this passage
from Micah to indicate that it would be Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:3-6).
But in this feeble little
hamlet, the Source of all power would take on the form of a helpless baby. St.
Augustine reflected:
Man’s maker was made man,
That He, the Ruler of the
stars,
Might nurse at His
mother’s breast.
The prophet tells us that
this little child would be the ruler of Israel. His origin was not just human,
but eternal, for, “[His] coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (vs.
2b) John’s gospel tells us:
In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing
made that was made.
John 1:1-3
Micah goes on to say,
“Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given
birth.” (vs. 3a) What he means is that the Hebrews would be without a strong
shepherd and leader until Messiah comes. No wonder the heart cry of Israel
since their exile in 4
Babylon has been for the
Messiah to come. They need him so desperately today because the prophecy
concerning him is full of promise:
then the rest of his
brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and
shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name
of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell
secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their
peace. (vs. 3b-5a)
The greatest tragedy in
all history is that his own people did not recognize him when he came. (John
1:11) You see, God’s ways are not our ways. He specializes in surprises.
God Specializes in
Surprises
Over the years we have tended to romanticize
the birth of Christ. It is a fantastic story and we tell it in songs, drama,
paintings, Christmas cards and in film. But as it happened, it was a story
without glamour. It was gritty and hard. It was dangerous and scandalous. It is
full of paradox and difficulty. It shows our humanity and brokenness. It is,
after all, a very human story.
Scott McKnight, a
professor at the American Baptist Northern Seminary in Chicago reminds us that
“Christmas is the message of impossible odds.”1 Joseph was a righteous man, but
he chose to marry a disgraced woman. He would forfeit his reputation to be
obedient to God’s command. Mary would be forever known as the girl who got
pregnant before marriage. The towns were too small and the people too closely
related for them not to know. And her child, Jesus, would be forever branded as
an illegitimate child. Without the glitz and glamour of a Christmas pageant,
that’s the true story. The first witnesses were the lowly and outcast shepherds.
1 Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2014/12/11/impossible-odds/#ixzz3MCNPdiKc
But this was God’s way. A small beginning.
These are humanly impossible odds. A little non-descript village. Three people
with seemingly moral baggage – at least in society’s perception.
This is where God’s Kingdom begins. It always does. In
brokenness. In smallness. God’s Kingdom starts this way because it is
revolutionary. It will overturn the world’s system that had been given over to
Satan in the Garden of Eden. Bethlehem is where Heaven’s rebellion was launched
against Hell.
God, in Jesus, came into our world to become
one of us. McKnight says it so well, “Christmas is a message that God has
entered into the depths of our condition in order to redeem us from our
condition. No matter our conditions, God’s been there and brings hope.” Let me
rephrase that: Christmas is a message that God has entered into the depths of
your condition in order to redeem you from your condition. No matter what your
condition, God’s been there and he brings you hope.
There are others who know
about this miracle birth
The humblest of people
catch a glimpse of their worth
For it isn't to the palace
that the Christ child comes
But to shepherds and
street people, hookers and bums
And the message is clear
if you've got ears to hear
That forgiveness is given
for your guilt and your fear
It's a Christmas gift you
don't have to buy
There's a future shining
in a baby's eyes
Like a stone on the
surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on
forever
Redemption rips through
the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe
Bruce Cockburn, Cry of
a Tiny Babe
I like that. He came “to
shepherds and street people, hookers and bums.” The lowest of the low. But the
gift of salvation comes not to those who are worthy, but rather those who are
humble enough to receive it. Jesus entered your condition to save you from your
condition. In just a moment, we’re going to close our service with the
wonderful Christmas hymn, “O Little Town 6
of Bethlehem.” If you’ve
never received this Christmas gift that “you don’t have to buy” the words of
the carol give you language to do just that.
How silently, how
silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human
hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His
coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will
receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
That’s the invitation.
Here’s the prayer:
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and
enter in, be born in us today.
©BMyers2016
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