I really liked this sermon. It leaped a bit from point to point, but it was a fun study of Bethlehem for me. The final leap to "why does it matter to us" seemed to really strike home in those who were there. If that point did not grow naturally out of the first two points (you can decide), it at least was two sermons that were worth preaching (in my estimation!).
You might also note that I sang the words in italics. It added to the sermon, I think.
Christmas Eve the sermon focuses on the innkeeper. I will try and get that posted on the blog at some point.
I am out of the pulpit next Sunday, but then finish up the series on "Bit Players" with the post-
Christmas appearance of Anna and Simeon.
"O
Little Town” December 21, 2014; FPC, Troy; Advent 4 2014; Bit
Players series; Luke 2: 4-5; Micah 5: 1-6
Introduction:
Bit
players – this week, the small little town of Bethlehem.
We
know about Bethlehem. We read about it every year. There's a
wonderful Christmas carol written about Bethlehem, so it must be
important, right?
Of
course, if you think about the title, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,”
or who the prophet Micah speaks of Bethlehem as one of the little
clans of Judah, it might remind us that Bethlehem was a little
non-descript town in Jesus' time.
But,
this little town of Bethlehem becomes the birth place of the
Christ-child.
a. In Hebrew, Bethlehem literally means “house of bread.”
1. Not sure why? I remember in Hebrew class when we learned “beth” means house and then later that “lehem” meant bread, we made the discovery that Bethlehem meant house of bread.
2. Seemed sort of odd revelation. I remember thinking that has to mean something. We asked the professor, but he didn't think it meant to much.
3. Bread does not seem to play a part in Bethlehem's role in the Christmas story.
4. I suppose that if the birth story were found in the Gospel of John Bethlehem might make sense.
5. After all, in several places in the Gospel of John Jesus calls himself the bread of life in the Gospel of John.
6. that would preach – the bread of life is born in the house of bread!
7. but the Gospel of John, you may remember, does not tell the story of Christ's birth, only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke do, and they don't call Jesus the bread of life.
b. Bethlehem is a 100 miles from Nazareth.
1. Google maps says you could walk it in 34 hours. That seems a bit ambitious to me. Maybe if you just counted walking time, and not the time spent on breaks or eating.
2. If you were Mary and Joseph, that might have taken a week or more make that journey.
3. In some ways, the point of mentioning Bethlehem in the birth stories seems more geared to explaining how Bethlehem fit into the story when Jesus is really from Nazareth and begins his ministry there.
4. in fact, in the Gospel of Matthew there is no journey to Bethlehem. Matthew just notes that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and the significant part of the story is Jesus and his parents fleeing from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape from King Herod. Then they return to Nazareth.
5. but Bethlehem is where Jesus is born.
c. Bethlehem is only 10 km south of Jerusalem
1. A 10K away – 6.2 miles.
2. If you were going to have the Birth of Jesus fun run, you would go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. For the half-marathon, you would add the return run.
3. Think about that for a moment – the Messiah, the one for whom the Israelites had been looking for generations; the Son of God that the prophets had been promising would arrive,,
4. this long expected appearance occurs a fun run distance away from Jerusalem.
5. Frankly that makes no sense.
6. Why end up in Bethlehem when you could have the Christ-child arrive on the doorsteps of the Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem?
7. The long-expected Messiah arriving at the center of the Jewish religion?
But Mary and Joseph go to little ole Bethlehem to give birth to God's son.
Move 2: going to Bethlehem matters.
3. Bread does not seem to play a part in Bethlehem's role in the Christmas story.
4. I suppose that if the birth story were found in the Gospel of John Bethlehem might make sense.
5. After all, in several places in the Gospel of John Jesus calls himself the bread of life in the Gospel of John.
6. that would preach – the bread of life is born in the house of bread!
7. but the Gospel of John, you may remember, does not tell the story of Christ's birth, only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke do, and they don't call Jesus the bread of life.
b. Bethlehem is a 100 miles from Nazareth.
1. Google maps says you could walk it in 34 hours. That seems a bit ambitious to me. Maybe if you just counted walking time, and not the time spent on breaks or eating.
2. If you were Mary and Joseph, that might have taken a week or more make that journey.
3. In some ways, the point of mentioning Bethlehem in the birth stories seems more geared to explaining how Bethlehem fit into the story when Jesus is really from Nazareth and begins his ministry there.
4. in fact, in the Gospel of Matthew there is no journey to Bethlehem. Matthew just notes that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and the significant part of the story is Jesus and his parents fleeing from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape from King Herod. Then they return to Nazareth.
5. but Bethlehem is where Jesus is born.
c. Bethlehem is only 10 km south of Jerusalem
1. A 10K away – 6.2 miles.
2. If you were going to have the Birth of Jesus fun run, you would go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. For the half-marathon, you would add the return run.
3. Think about that for a moment – the Messiah, the one for whom the Israelites had been looking for generations; the Son of God that the prophets had been promising would arrive,,
4. this long expected appearance occurs a fun run distance away from Jerusalem.
5. Frankly that makes no sense.
6. Why end up in Bethlehem when you could have the Christ-child arrive on the doorsteps of the Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem?
7. The long-expected Messiah arriving at the center of the Jewish religion?
But Mary and Joseph go to little ole Bethlehem to give birth to God's son.
Move 2: going to Bethlehem matters.
a. Going to Bethlehem matters because Jesus' birth in Bethlehem links Jesus to King David.
1. Bethlehem is where David grew up.
2. David watched the sheep in the fields near Bethlehem and honed his skills with the slingshot there.
3. The prophet Samuel anoints David in Bethlehem.
4. David leaves his home in Bethlehem to slay Goliath and serve in the palace of King Saul.
b. Going to Bethlehem matters because the prophets had foretold it.
1. Micah had told a besieged Israel that God would come to them by way of Bethlehem.
2. Isaiah had promised the Savior would come from the stump of Jesse, David's father, which brings us back to Bethlehem.
3. Jesus is the one whom the prophet had been speaking of for generations.
c. Going to Bethlehem matters because it links Jesus to the God of Israel.
1. Christ’s birth is not the arrival of some unknown God;
2. but the God who had created the world; the God who had breathed the breath of life into humanity; the God who had led the people out of Egypt; the God who had acted before has now acted again by coming in Christ who arrives in Bethlehem.
c. Philip Brooks, the renowned American preacher, wrote the hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to share of the magic of what it meant to go to Bethlehem.
1. It is based on the view he saw as he rode by horseback on Christmas Eve 1865 from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
2. “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."
3. A beautiful vision of what has happened in Bethlehem in the birth of Christ.
4. The hopes and fears of all the years of God's people have finally been met in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.
Move 3: why does it matter to us in our time and place that God came to Bethlehem
a. Maybe it doesn't.
1. To suggest that the only reason Christ is the Son of God or that Christ can only redeem the world if he makes his entry into Bethlehem makes no sense.
2. The issue of Christ's arrival is not about limiting God if Christ does not appear at Bethlehem, but instead coming to some understanding of what God is saying by arriving in Bethlehem.
3. ultimately, Christ’s arrival in Bethlehem matters to us because it is where God chose to arrive in Christ.
b. But it also matters because we believe God acts with a purpose.
1. If God works it out for Christ to be born in Bethlehem, for whatever reasons that God had and that we can try to figure out, it also means that God has a purpose for us in the places where God sends us.
2. Have you ever had to try and decide on one place or another to live?
3.how do you go about making that choice?
4. Maybe which town has the best economic opportunity for you and your family?
5. Or where can you find the right house with the right number of rooms and bathrooms for your family.
6. Or the right school district?
7. Maybe your employer does not give you a choice about where to live if you want to stay employed at that particular place.
8. Maybe you're tired of the cold and want to be someplace warmer, or you want to find a place that has all four seasons instead of the same range of temperatures all year round.
9. Or you want to be near extended family.
10. But the underlying questions that matters most -- where does God want you to be?
c. I remember when Leslie and I were in Austin, TX finishing my time in seminary and were looking for the place we would begin my time in full-time ministry and Leslie's work as a part-time dentist, and a place to begin our family.
1. we had all those concerns in mind.
2. We visited a small town in AR, and it seemed nice.
3. we visited in a little bigger town in LA, and it seemed OK as well
4. I remember thinking as I flew to KY (Leslie was running a day behind on that visit – not the first or last time she was late!).
1. Bethlehem is where David grew up.
2. David watched the sheep in the fields near Bethlehem and honed his skills with the slingshot there.
3. The prophet Samuel anoints David in Bethlehem.
4. David leaves his home in Bethlehem to slay Goliath and serve in the palace of King Saul.
b. Going to Bethlehem matters because the prophets had foretold it.
1. Micah had told a besieged Israel that God would come to them by way of Bethlehem.
2. Isaiah had promised the Savior would come from the stump of Jesse, David's father, which brings us back to Bethlehem.
3. Jesus is the one whom the prophet had been speaking of for generations.
c. Going to Bethlehem matters because it links Jesus to the God of Israel.
1. Christ’s birth is not the arrival of some unknown God;
2. but the God who had created the world; the God who had breathed the breath of life into humanity; the God who had led the people out of Egypt; the God who had acted before has now acted again by coming in Christ who arrives in Bethlehem.
c. Philip Brooks, the renowned American preacher, wrote the hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to share of the magic of what it meant to go to Bethlehem.
1. It is based on the view he saw as he rode by horseback on Christmas Eve 1865 from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
2. “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."
3. A beautiful vision of what has happened in Bethlehem in the birth of Christ.
4. The hopes and fears of all the years of God's people have finally been met in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.
Move 3: why does it matter to us in our time and place that God came to Bethlehem
a. Maybe it doesn't.
1. To suggest that the only reason Christ is the Son of God or that Christ can only redeem the world if he makes his entry into Bethlehem makes no sense.
2. The issue of Christ's arrival is not about limiting God if Christ does not appear at Bethlehem, but instead coming to some understanding of what God is saying by arriving in Bethlehem.
3. ultimately, Christ’s arrival in Bethlehem matters to us because it is where God chose to arrive in Christ.
b. But it also matters because we believe God acts with a purpose.
1. If God works it out for Christ to be born in Bethlehem, for whatever reasons that God had and that we can try to figure out, it also means that God has a purpose for us in the places where God sends us.
2. Have you ever had to try and decide on one place or another to live?
3.how do you go about making that choice?
4. Maybe which town has the best economic opportunity for you and your family?
5. Or where can you find the right house with the right number of rooms and bathrooms for your family.
6. Or the right school district?
7. Maybe your employer does not give you a choice about where to live if you want to stay employed at that particular place.
8. Maybe you're tired of the cold and want to be someplace warmer, or you want to find a place that has all four seasons instead of the same range of temperatures all year round.
9. Or you want to be near extended family.
10. But the underlying questions that matters most -- where does God want you to be?
c. I remember when Leslie and I were in Austin, TX finishing my time in seminary and were looking for the place we would begin my time in full-time ministry and Leslie's work as a part-time dentist, and a place to begin our family.
1. we had all those concerns in mind.
2. We visited a small town in AR, and it seemed nice.
3. we visited in a little bigger town in LA, and it seemed OK as well
4. I remember thinking as I flew to KY (Leslie was running a day behind on that visit – not the first or last time she was late!).
5. In my mind I had it figured out – we'd seen two small towns and now the third one. It would be about the same, and then we'd decide which churches would call us and decide between them.
6. But I was overwhelmed by what happened when I arrived in Mt. Sterling. As I drove into town on the main street from the highway, Maysville Ave (welcome to the KY accent), It seemed different. I remember think, this is a place I could do ministry; this is a place I could call home.
7. and it became both to us.
8. I still look back at our time there and know that we ended up in the right place for us, and I think for the church as well.
9. I have no doubt that God was at work in bringing us to that place.
10. I suspect to others Mt. Sterling, KY might not have seemed much different from the other two towns, but ti was different to me.
11. It mattered where we lived out our calling as disciples of Christ, where we would be fed by God and join in God's work.
d. That's the thing about Bethlehem.
1. It mattered because that's where God sent Mary and Joseph when it was time for Mary to give birth to Christ.
2 It mattered because that's where God decided to begin work on earth.
3. We can see connections between who Jesus was and what he was going to do with the history of Bethlehem, which are interesting and informative, but the what really matters is what God was doing in Bethlehem.
e. likewise, look at your own life here in Troy, or Tipp City, or Piqua, or W. Milton, or Pleasant Hill, or Covington, or out in the reaches of Miami County.
1. I suspect you can point to many reasons as to why you ended up there. Family, schools system, all the other criteria that you used.
2. But what matters is what God is doing with you in that place.
3. You are not here by accident. God has a plan for you life and a purpose for you being here.
4. You may not live in Bethlehem, but God has arrived in this place with you.
Conclusion: Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light (it shines not just in Bethlehem, but in your streets), the hopes and fears of all the years are met by you tonight.
6. But I was overwhelmed by what happened when I arrived in Mt. Sterling. As I drove into town on the main street from the highway, Maysville Ave (welcome to the KY accent), It seemed different. I remember think, this is a place I could do ministry; this is a place I could call home.
7. and it became both to us.
8. I still look back at our time there and know that we ended up in the right place for us, and I think for the church as well.
9. I have no doubt that God was at work in bringing us to that place.
10. I suspect to others Mt. Sterling, KY might not have seemed much different from the other two towns, but ti was different to me.
11. It mattered where we lived out our calling as disciples of Christ, where we would be fed by God and join in God's work.
d. That's the thing about Bethlehem.
1. It mattered because that's where God sent Mary and Joseph when it was time for Mary to give birth to Christ.
2 It mattered because that's where God decided to begin work on earth.
3. We can see connections between who Jesus was and what he was going to do with the history of Bethlehem, which are interesting and informative, but the what really matters is what God was doing in Bethlehem.
e. likewise, look at your own life here in Troy, or Tipp City, or Piqua, or W. Milton, or Pleasant Hill, or Covington, or out in the reaches of Miami County.
1. I suspect you can point to many reasons as to why you ended up there. Family, schools system, all the other criteria that you used.
2. But what matters is what God is doing with you in that place.
3. You are not here by accident. God has a plan for you life and a purpose for you being here.
4. You may not live in Bethlehem, but God has arrived in this place with you.
Conclusion: Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light (it shines not just in Bethlehem, but in your streets), the hopes and fears of all the years are met by you tonight.
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