Rose Hill Presbyterian Micah 5:2-5a Rev. Brian North December 1 st, 2013 Sing a Song of Christmas Kirkland, WA O Little Town of Bethlehem

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1 Rose Hill Presbyterian Micah 5:2-5a Rev. Brian North December 1 st, 2013 Sing a Song of Christmas Kirkland, WA O Little Town of Bethlehem This morning we begin a journey through the season of Advent, leading us to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As you all know, there are many traditions associated with this time of year: giving gifts, Christmas lights, trees, parties and pageants, Santa, flying reindeer, red-nosed reindeer, talking snowmen, Christmas Eve services, nativity scenes...and many more. Many of these traditions are universally celebrated, while others are not so much. Perhaps some Christmas traditions are unique to you and your family. Some of the traditions are holy and closely aligned with the first Christmas and many of them are purely secular diversions from the meaning of Christmas. Sometimes the holy and the secular traditions become intertwined. This isn't necessarily bad, but it can be confusing. A few years ago one of my kids pointed out the back window of our house and said to me, Daddy, look at the lights. And sure enough, we could see Christmas lights strung across the top of a fence, and around a gazebo in the back yard of one of our neighbors. It looked pretty and I thought it was nice, until one of my kids said, Maybe that's where Jesus was born. I quickly gave assurance that Jesus was not born in our neighbor's back yard. One tradition, however, that has been handed down over the years is the singing of special songs that celebrate the Christmas event. There are a plethora of Christmas hymns that draw us into the love of God expressed in the birth of Jesus Christ. And while none of them that we sing today were actually sung at the birth of Jesus, they have been cemented as the traditional songs of Christmas. And so this Advent, in this series titled, Sing a Song of Christmas we will look at one of those hymns each Sunday, and especially look at the Scripture passage that inspires its message and what it means for us today. We begin with O Little Town of Bethlehem. Is there anyone here this morning who might claim this hymn as your favorite Christmas hymn? It's always been one of my favorites, and I love singing it at this time of the year. The words to this beloved hymn were written by the Reverend Phillip Brooks in 1868, a few years after he visited

2 Bethlehem in While this hymn is probably what Phillip Brooks is best known for today, he was known in his own day as an excellent preacher and communicator of the gospel. Initially this song was a poem that he wrote, but his organist later set the words to music. And today, depending on what part of the world you live in, you might find yourself singing the hymn to one of 2 or 3 different tunes. While we rightly associate all of our Christmas hymns with the New Testament, this hymn has its roots in the Old Testament. So do others, such as O Come, O Come Emmanuel which we'll look at next week. But O Little Town of Bethlehem is inspired by Micah 5:2-5, which we just read. We'll sing the hymn in a few minutes, but here are some of the words. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!...yet in the dark streets shines the everlasting light! The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight...and praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth... There are common themes between the passage and the song, particularly of Bethlehem's small stature, and the peace that Jesus brings. So these words that Micah wrote are a prophesy of a coming ruler for Israel, who will in fact be great to the ends of the earth as Micah writes. In other words, his sphere of influence will be beyond Israel's borders. At the time of his writing Israel was under attack. Things were not looking good. Verse 1 says, Marshal your troops...for a siege is laid against us. And then verse three continues the theme of trouble and challenge saying that Israel will continue to be in this painful place, much as labor before birth. These are difficult times for the people of Israel when Micah wrote, and it s important to recognize that. But in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty for the future comes this prophetic word of hope: The promise of a ruler who will come, who will stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and he will be the one who is peace. Some 700 years after these words were written, the prophecy is fulfilled with the birth of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Matthew picks up on the fulfillment of this prophecy. In fact, according to Matthew, it was King Herod and history shows that he was not a very nice man; very

3 protective of his power, including killing his own family to protect his position Herod asked the Jewish chief priests and scribes about this birth he's heard about, and they were the ones who pointed out to him this very prophecy, and showed to him how verse 2 of this passage from Micah is fulfilled in the birth of Christ. And it's Micah who foretold of the coming of a great king who's strength would be from the Lord, and who would be great to the ends of the earth: and this person, this leader, this ruler, is going to come out of the little town of Bethlehem. You know: Sometimes in life the best things come from the smallest and most unlikely of places. This is the first thing I want us to take away from this passage. Bethlehem fits that description to a T. It's not that Bethlehem was unheard of or had always been a completely insignificant suburb of Jerusalem. In fact, some 300 years before Micah wrote these words, a little shepherd boy named Dave was growing up in Bethlehem, who would later come to be known as King David (I Samuel 16:1-13). And in verse 2 we see Micah himself making the connection between David and the prophecy that Jesus fulfills. He writes from the perspective of God from you (Bethlehem) shall come forth one for me, one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. That's a reference to King David, and the fact that Jesus' earthly father, Joseph who we might more rightly say was Jesus' adopted earthly father was a descendant of King David. In spite of Bethlehem s connection to King David, it s a small town that isn t really on anybody s radar screen, In fact, you may recall in Luke's account of the birth story, because of the census that Herod mandates, Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem because of his family connection to that town because everyone was to return to their hometown for the census. And when they arrive, we're told that there's no room in the inn. Not in the inns. In other words, there's one tiny, crummy motel in town, and that's it. No choosing between the Ritz Carlton, the Hyatt Regency and the Four Seasons...let alone a Motel 6 and a Comfort Inn. Tourism isn't a big industry in Bethlehem. Only small towns have just one motel. Bethlehem had the inn and no other. This is a small place. But out of this small town comes Jesus, the savior of the world. You see, you never know where you're going to uncover a blessing from

4 God. You never know who is going to help you along in the road of life. The smallest thing, the most incidental of conversations, just a word or a phrase that you come across might be just what you need to be set off on a new and better course in life and into a relationship with God your Creator that lasts into eternity. On the flip side, maybe you feel like you're small and insignificant in the world. Maybe you feel like you have nothing to offer to Jesus, to the Church, to your family, or to your neighbors. God just might work through you to impact someone in a big way. You never know how you might impact someone for the cause of Christ, and sometimes it's the ordinary acts of grace that have the most profound effect. For instance, a man decided to show his wife through words how much he loved her. So after dinner he began to recite romantic poetry, told her he would climb high mountains to be near her, swim wide oceans, cross deserts in the burning heat of day, and even sit at her window and sing love songs to her in the moonlight. After listening to him go on for some time about this immense love he had, she ended the conversation when she asked, But will you do the dishes for me? 1 Oftentimes, it is the simple acts of service and involvement that lead to great impact in people's lives. Bethlehem shows that: it s a small, 1-motel town that hasn t had any real significance since King David 1,000 years earlier. And yet that is where Jesus was born. Now, there's a second lesson to learn here as well. And it is this: Even in the worst of times, the worst of situations, God speaks hope into our lives. How often we need to be reminded of this fact. I already briefly mentioned the larger context of these verses: the people of Israel are being attacked by their neighbors, the Assyrians. They are in a difficult situation. The future is bleak. And just as the people of Micah's day were undoubtedly stressed out and worried about their future, so are many people today stressed out and worried about the future. There are a lot of personal as well as global challenges. For instance, although the housing market has had some rebound in the last year, and stocks prices have regained all that they lost 5-6 years ago, people are still struggling to make payments on their homes and some people owe more than their house is worth. We ve been reminded that our stuff and our money isn t very faithful to us, no matter how faithful we may be to them. And people have 1

5 always faced health challenges and end of life issues, and that s no different today as well. Just this week we had a couple prayer requests for serious health concerns for extended family of people here this morning. We have global challenges of not enough food or drinkable water in many parts of the world recovery from storms and earthquakes. 2,700 years ago, in the midst of facing their own challenges, God brought a word of hope through Micah: one is coming who will lead them and bring them peace. Now, the people in his day didn't live to see the prophecy fulfilled in Christ. But these words reminded them, and they remind us, that our current circumstances are a small piece of a much larger story. It's a story that we can never fully grasp, but in the end the love, grace, truth, and forgiveness of God will win out. And the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus gives us an assurance about what the end of the story is, and how the battle is won. Jesus does bring peace in the midst of the storm. And we can face whatever our present crisis may be declining value of our stock portfolio, struggling marriage, children that seem out of control, loss of income, addiction, deteriorating health, hunger, disease...whatever it may be, we can face those challenges in light of the rest of the story. And these verses from Micah, and this great hymn inspired by them, remind us of that bigger picture and the goodness of the Lord that will win out as well. The hymn ends with these words, We hear the Christmas angels, The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel. Great and glad tidings. In other words, the angels, upon announcing the birth of Jesus, were announcing good news! In fact, it's great news! And then it closes with prayerful words, inviting Jesus to abide with us. There-in lies the hope that Jesus Christ provides. When we ask him to come to us, he abides with us. He doesn't visit for a time and then leave. He makes his dwelling in us. He brings hope into our lives, regardless of the circumstances we may be in right then. And this hope rests on solid ground. This isn't like saying, I hope I get a new Ferrari for Christmas. That's a hopeless hope at least for me. I remember when I was approaching my 16 th birthday, I held out a secret hope that my parents would buy me a car. I didn't dare ask for a

6 car because I didn't want my parents to feel like they were going to really disappoint me if they didn't get one...but I hoped for a car, nonethe-less. Didn't have to be a Ferrari. A BMW would have been just fine. Ok, even a Yugo would have been great...needless to say, that hope was really hopeless. That was foolish hope, and I knew it, and there was no car. Jesus gives a different kind of hope. Hebrews says, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf (Hebrews 6:19-20). The resurrected, living Lord Jesus goes before us wherever we go and that gives us hope. He is an anchor for the soul, and he is firm and secure. In a couple of minutes we're going to join together and sing the words of this wonderful hymn, that's inspired by this prophetic word of hope in Micah and fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. And I pray that the words of the song, and the message that it embodies, will touch your life. This Advent season, be looking for the ways in which God might bless you through the small things in life, or how God is seeking to work through you in a small way to have a big impact on someone s life. And secondly, no matter what we're facing in life, let's remember that there's more than meets the eye, and we can put our hope in Jesus Christ. It s a firm and secure hope. In fact, they tried killing him, but the grave couldn t hold him. That s how certain it is. And it all began in the little town of Bethlehem. Let's pray...amen.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS WE HAVE LOVED Part 1: O Little Town of Bethlehem By Rev. Will Nelken

CHRISTMAS CAROLS WE HAVE LOVED Part 1: O Little Town of Bethlehem By Rev. Will Nelken Presented at Trinity Community Church, San Rafael, California, on Sunday, December 2, 2007 Introduction Yes, Christmas