Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Micah 5:2-5a
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 23, 2018

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This detail of the Christmas story is one we often pass by without a second thought, because, frankly, why should the name of an ancient town matter in our lives today? What can Bethlehem possibly teach us about living and loving our God as Christians in the 21st century? Well, surprisingly enough, quite a lot and I believe that Micah would agree. His prophecy of Bethlehem, which is our text today, meant everything to him and his people. For Micah and for you and me, this small village isn’t just the location of Jesus’ birth. Bethlehem is the key to understanding the implications of our Savior’s advent. Bethlehem teaches us about the love of God and the correct stance our hearts should assume this Christmas.

The full story of Bethlehem began more than 1000 years before Jesus was born…Samuel, the prophet, set out from his home in Ramah walking south toward Jerusalem. A ram’s horn filled with oil hung from his belt. And as he walked, he couldn’t help but remember the day long ago that he had taken a horn of oil to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel. Saul was so young then, a tall boy and yet unassuming, even humble. But thirty-some years had passed and the young man in whom Samuel had put so much hope was long gone. The prideful, rebellious king who now reigned had been rejected by the Lord and Samuel knew that this horn of oil would be poured out on God’s choice for Saul’s replacement. As he walked he passed by Jerusalem, but a new king wouldn’t be found in that great city. The Lord had told him that a son of Jesse of would be the new king. And so he traveled further south until he came to the small village of Bethlehem. When Samuel arrived he asked for Jesse and invited him and all his sons to sacrifice and eat with him. Jesse was honored to have the great prophet visit him and quickly came with his sons. When the sons entered, Samuel began to look at them carefully. He noticed that the oldest son was tall and strong. He thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!” But the Lord spoke to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So one by one, seven sons of Jesse all passed in front of Samuel, yet none were chosen by the Lord. Finally, Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse answered, “There is still the youngest, but he is out tending the sheep.” So Samuel ordered them to go and get the youngest son. “We shall not even sit down until he arrives,” said the prophet. When the boy came in, the Lord told Samuel, “This is the one.” So the prophet took the horn of oil and anointed David, the small shepherd from Bethlehem, as king over all Israel.

When David grew up he did become king. Through all his triumphs and his failures he never lost faith in the God who chose him. He was the king after God’s own heart and Israel was faithful to the Lord during his reign. But 300 years after David sat on the throne, the kings became wicked and the kingdom split in two. The power and wealth were centralized in the two biggest cities, Samaria in the north and Jerusalem in the south. The country at this time was like France in the years before the Revolution, when Paris had all the wealth, and the provinces were oppressed and pillaged to feed the luxuries of the rich. This was period in which the prophet Micah preached in rural country of Judah. This meant that Micah and his people were victims of the city’s greed. It was a bleak situation. The small town people were already starving and abused, and with Assyrian forces amassing in the north, the only prospect ahead of them was that of a slave in Babylon. But then the Word of Lord came to Micah and he realized that he had good news to tell the small, suffering villages of his homeland: Verse 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, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

The thought of the prophet is this: even though Israel was soon to be deported and exiled, one day God would restore the kingdom by a return to its original starting point, the ancestral home of David. Bethlehem, the small village which had already given birth to one king would give birth to another king of the same type. But this second ruler wouldn’t be exactly like David. No his origins were from of old from ancient times, literally in Hebrew it reads “from the days of eternity”. The promised Messiah, God himself,  would come to Bethlehem.

It must have meant so much to Micah and his people that God’s future ruler wasn’t going to be another domineering king, but a strong, gentle shepherd. It must have meant so much to the rural prophet and his little towns that God would pass by the pomp and pride of the city and bring out his king from a small insignificant place like Bethlehem. You see Bethlehem was the birthplace of David, but it never became anything more than some obscure Jewish village. Just as Micah stated, “though you are small among the clans of Judah”. And even after Micah’s prophecy, it was still forgotten. In the list of Judean villages which Nehemiah gives after the return from captivity, Bethlehem is not even named (Nehemiah 11). And it didn’t seem destined to any more notable place in history until Jesus’ birth. Even Mary and Joseph testify to its insignificance. They could trace their lineage back to David through a long line of kings and yet that didn’t earn them anything and Mary and Joseph didn’t expect it to. Even in David’s old hometown, that didn’t matter and they had to sleep in a stable. What I’m saying is, Bethlehem wasn’t just small physically, it’s only notoriety was seemingly forgotten and insignificant.

These are the same two ways we often feel small as well: our size physically and our size in significance. I went to the Grand Canyon once on a choir tour and I noticed a group of hikers walking down at the bottom of the canyon. They looked like ants. And suddenly, I felt small; I knew I was small. And just to think that the deepest part of the Grand Canyon in comparison to the thickness of our planet is like chipped paint on a water tower. And then to think how small our planet is compared to the universe, which as far we know doesn’t even end. We can’t even comprehend how big it is. Any rational person knows that we are small when we look at God’s creation, it’s only natural. Perhaps this is what God intended. We know that our God is big and powerful, and we are rightly humbled by the sheer magnitude of his creation. But that isn’t usually the smallness that bothers me.  

It isn’t being small physically, but feeling small in significance that troubles me. I think you know what I mean. Perhaps you don’t feel like people take you seriously. Perhaps people belittle you in what they say or do.  When someone leaves you there’s a terrible feeling of insignificance. When your parents don’t listen to your opinions. When people don’t take you seriously because you are too young, or too old. When you work hard and no one notices or is thankful. When you once did so much for someone or an organization and yet after that period is over you find yourself and your work so quickly forgotten. When your husband or wife has passed away and you sit alone by the Christmas tree. There can come to all of us at times a terrible sensation of smallness, not just in size, but significance. And it is in these moments that the Devil tempts us to wonder, “Do I matter at all? I’m so small! If people right next to me on earth don’t care about me, then how could God? He’s too big and too busy to know me or love me.” With this lie in place, we turn either to pride or despair. And the devil doesn’t care which just as long as we don’t believe in the love of God.

But in those moments, we must remember that God chose to be born in Bethlehem. This has always been contrary to human experience and expectation. Samuel passed by the king’s city of Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem and anoint the son of Jesse, and he was astonished to hear God reject the oldest sons and choose the small, seemingly insignificant boy, David. Micah and his people must have been overjoyed in surprise to find out that the Messiah would not be born in the proud Jerusalem, but in rural Judah, the tiny town of Bethlehem. Even the wise men from the East were surprised. They came first to Jerusalem, naturally expecting to find the new king in a great city. But they didn’t find him there; the star led them to Bethlehem. And surprisingly enough, God also comes to you, no matter how small, or insignificant you feel. He delights to come to small places. He makes his home in humble hearts which receive him with joyous surprise and thanks.

My dear friends, do you not believe that the Lord is able to get on your level? Listen again to these words from Micah. “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, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” The Lord, who is bigger than the universe, whose origins are from of old, from eternity, decided to link himself with time and enter into human history. And where did he come into our world? In a stable, in a horse’s feeding trough, of little Bethlehem. Yes, the God born as a tiny baby, David’s son and David’s Lord, knows what it is like to be small.

Jesus comes to you in perfect humility and love. And it isn’t like a celebrity visited your house or an NFL player gives you an autograph. Just like David, Micah prophesied that Jesus would come as a shepherd-king. He says that the coming ruler from Bethlehem, “will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.” And what did Jesus himself say? “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”  (John 10:14)  Jesus takes care of us like a shepherd and as the Good Shepherd, he knows us even better than we know ourselves. We cannot be in two places at once, and even our affection is spread thin when we stretch it over many people. But God is omnipresent. He is present everywhere in his fullness. He does not get spread thin, he does not lack time for you. He is not too busy, he is not distracted; he is fully with you and fully concentrated on you. Jesus also said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) You are small compared to the size of this universe, and maybe you do feel small in significance based on how people treat you sometimes, but in God’s eyes you are not small. You are incredibly loved and cared for in the closest and most personal way. You are significant to God, and he would do anything to keep you, even die for you.

I drove here today in a 1998 Toyota Camry with 190,000 and change on the odometer. Regardless of what it should be worth, if you offer me $25,000 for the car, the BlueBook value will be meaningless to me. (BTW, sold!) Something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. We know this. Yet, we need to hear it again and again. Peter reminds us “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed…but with the precious blood of Christ.” God was willing to bankrupt heaven to redeem you. You are worth everything to him. You are immensely significant in Christ. You are a giant, measured in the length of God’s love.

Before I conclude today, I couldn’t help but note the similar thoughts that flows between Micah’s prophecy and the words of Mary’s Magnificat, the song she sang after meeting Elizabeth and celebrating the truth of God’s promises. She says in Luke 1:51-52, “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” We see the truth of these words throughout Scripture, but Micah’s prophecy about little Bethlehem is such a striking example of how God loves to lift up the humble. My friends, let go of pride in your innermost thoughts; don’t stress over earthly significance, don’t worry about how you stack up next to others. Remember, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. May your heart be a Bethlehem this Christmas. May you stand in humility, disarmed of pride and merit, gazing, astonished, into the manger at God’s gift of love: the tiny infant who has made you so big in the heart of God. Amen.