The 4th Sunday of Advent arrived with the traditional lectionary text focused on the prophet Micah's reference to Bethlehem and Luke's story of Mary gathering with Elizabeth while both were pregnant. I had lots of information on Bethlehem, which at times felt like it bogged the sermon down. Preaching felt a bit sluggish this morning. I've been preaching from an iPad for the last few weeks. Overall, I like it, but I also struggled a bit with preaching from that format. In the first draft of the sermon, I quoted GK Chesterton's poem "house of Christmas." It got cut for the final draft, which was a good decision, but you can go to this website to read the poem - https://www.journeywithjesus.net/poemsandprayers/3637-GK_Chesterton_House_of_Christmas
“Looking for God in Bethlehem”, December 22, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Micah 5: 2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5 and he shall be the one of peace.
Introduction:
Maia sings
“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."
Philip Brooks, the renowned American preacher, wrote the hymn "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to share the magic of what it meant to go to Bethlehem.
It is based on the view he saw as he rode by horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve in 1865.
A beautiful vision of what has happened in Bethlehem in the birth of Christ - “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Bethlehem!”.
As we look for God this Advent,
specifically, as we look for for God in Bethlehem this morning,
I invite you to imagine how others might find God in Bethlehem.
Move 1: Imagine you are someone hearing first-hand the words of the prophet Micah
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
Where might that person look for God in Bethlehem?
a. That imagined person, of course, is living and listening to Micah at some point in the latter part of the 8th century BCE.
1. The northern kingdom (what we know as Israel when Gods people were divided into two kingdoms - Israel to the north and Judah to the south) has already fallen.
2. Those in Judah are suffering from financial hardship and displacement.
part of it due to the influx of refugees from the northern kingdom.
3. Judah is also suffering at the hands of Assyria, the powerful nation threatening to conquer Judah.
in fact, the rulers of Judah are being extorted by Assyria and are paying tribute to the Assyrians. to keep them from taking over Judah.
If you are part of the lower socioeconomic class in Judah, this means you are being heavily taxed by the leaders of Judah to pay for the tribute.
b. This imaginary person listening to Micah might expect the second coming of King David.
1. he too came from the small town of Bethlehem before he becomes a world leader in Jerusalem.
The prophet Samuel anoints David in Bethlehem.
David watched the sheep in the fields near Bethlehem and honed his skills with the slingshot there.
David leaves his home in Bethlehem to slay Goliath and serve in the palace of King Saul.
2. Micah’s prophecy about Bethlehem make sense when you remember king David was from there.
2. If Micah is describing the coming of another King David, someone hearing Micah’s prophecy finds hope in the God who is not satisfied with the way things are in the world and will send a leader to set things right.
they might even can dare to hope for Judah to rise again as a world power.
c. Of course, the person hearing Micah’s prophecy might be surprised to discover that the baby born in Bethlehem,
the baby who comes from King David’s lineage,
will be the baby who grows up to be the crucified Christ, not the warrior who conquers the world, but the one who submits to death at the hands of the world powers.
Looking for God in a traditional place like Bethlehem might also lead to finding God in surprising ways.
Move 2: Or, imagine Elizabeth remembering the words of the prophet Micah as she gathers with Mary.
Perhaps she is waiting for her cousin to arrive and she remembers these words:
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
where is she looking for God in Bethlehem?
a. Elizabeth may not have it quite figured out, after all, she believes Mary is pregnant with the son of God and MAryis from Nazareth,
but maybe she knows about the looming census that will take place so she anticipates Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem.
or, she does not quite get it, but she figures if she can somehow become pregnant after years of being barren, then how hard is it to believe that somehow Mary’s child will be the Son of God and be from Bethlehem.
b. Elizabeth is from a small Judean town herself.
so small, we are not even given it’s name.
probably even smaller than Bethlehem.
c. Elizabeth might be thinking about Mary’s child as the next King David - a great warrior, who came from Bethlehem.
1. Surely she has heard others interpret the prophet Micah to be talking about another leader in the mold of King Davd.
2. But the conversations Elizabeth have with her cousin Mary as they gather during pregnancy surely shift her expectations.
3. Mary speaks these words about what God is doing:
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
4. As Elizabeth hears these words, perhaps she is filled with the growing realization that Micah’s prophecy may be correct -
the next great leader of /God’s people will come from Bethlehem -
but that leader will be far different than the powerful warrior King David.
5. Elizabeth begins looking for God in new places,
like among the poor and the powerless.
Move 3: Imagine Mary on her way to visit her cousin Elizabeth, remembering and reflecting on the words of the prophet Micah.
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
Where is Mary looking for God in Bethlehem?
a. What - Joseph and I have to go to Bethlehem so that Micah’s words can come true.
1. Bethlehem is a 100 miles from Nazareth.
2. Google maps says you could walk it in 34 hours. That seems a bit ambitious to me for Joseph and Mary, even if Mary were not pregnant.
Maybe if we just counted walking time, and not the time spent on breaks or eating.
3. . If you were Mary and Joseph, that might have taken a week or more make that journey.
b. Mary might be wondering why Bethlehem and not Jerusalem.
1. Bethlehem is only 6.2 miles south of Jerusalem, a 10K away.
2. Why go to Bethlehem to give birth to God’s son, when she and Joseph could have the Christ-child on the doorsteps of the Temple in the holy city of Jerusalem?
3. Does it that make more sense to The long-expected Messiah arriving at the center of the Jewish religion instead of Bethlehem?
4. But Mary and Joseph go to little ole Bethlehem to give birth to God's son.
c. Of course, If Mary is looking for God in Bethlehem, she knows she is going to find God because she knows she is carrying God’s son in her womb.
1. Wherever Mary is when she gives birth,
that is place to look for God.
2. God arrives in flesh as the baby born to Mary, born in Bethlehem.
Move 4: how are you hearing the words of the prophet MIcah today?
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
What does it mean for you to look for God in Bethlehem?
a. We know about Bethlehem.
1. We read about it every year during Advent and maybe even on Christmas Eve.
2. There’s a wonderful Christmas carol written about Bethlehem, so it must be important, right?
Of course, the title of the carol is “O Little Town of Bethlehem,”
and the prophet Micah refers to Bethlehem as one of the little clans of Judah, which might remind us that Bethlehem was a little non-descript town in Jesus' time.
3. Admittedly, it is hard for us to imagine Bethlehem as little because we know that is where Jesus, the son of God was born.
That sort of takes away the little part of Bethlehem doesn’t it?
b. You might know that 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 if the birth story were found in the Gospel of John Bethlehem, it might make sense.
5. After all, in several places in the Gospel of John Jesus calls himself the bread of life.
6. that would preach – the bread of life is born in the house of bread!
c. of course, we are looking for God in Bethlehem because no matter how little or unimportant Bethlehem might seem,
we know it as the place where the Christ-child was born.
no one who is looking for God today is surprised to hear Micah’s prophecy about Bethlehem because we already know the story.
d. but as we look for God in Bethlehem, we have this nagging suspicion that finding God in Bethlehem means more than the prophet Micah was correct in his prophecy.
1. We remember the hope Micah brought to those embattled people who desperately needed hope when he shared the promise that God had not forgotten them,
that God was not done,
that God was coming to save them.
2. And we dare to believe that the hope Micah gave them is our hope;
that God is sending someone to save us
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5 and he shall be the one of peace.
Amen.
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