Devotions

December 21 – O Little Town

I would like to spend these last few days leading to Christmas singing the Christmas Carols.

“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.”

Little Bethlehem. Rachel was buried there. Ruth met Boaz there. David was anointed there. And Micah prophesied that “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 . . .. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” [Micah 5;1-5]

Little Bethlehem. The hopes and fears of all the years were brought together one night in little Bethlehem. The words of the prophet were fulfilled when a young woman gave birth to a son, a son whose origins are from old, from ancient times. She would call Him Jesus, and He would become the apex of time and eternity.

Little Bethlehem. To this little town would come the King of all the ages, the Everlasting One who would sit on David’s throne to rule the nations, the Son of God, Son of Man. All that had come before looked forward to this King; all that would come after would look back to Him.

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

You may have heard this story before. I apologize for its length, but it is one of my favorite Christmas tales. Recently I was had opportunity to tell an expanded version of this story at the 5^th Annual Middleton Christmas Concert. The Story of the Imperfect Little Innkeeper.

A group of nuns ran a small elementary school in the mid-west. One year the nuns decided to put on a Christmas pageant. They went through the school and chose some classes to be choirs and sing carols, others to read Scripture and little stories.

The nuns looked at all the classes and they decided that the second-grade class would be the perfect one to present the Nativity Story. So, they gathered the class around and look at all the children. The nuns spotted one little boy who they thought would be the perfect Joseph. Then they saw a beautiful little girl that they decided would be the perfect Mary.

Off to the side were three little boys who would make perfect wisemen. They would have them bring gifts and tell Mary and Joseph what each gift meant. In the front row was a bright little girl with a shining smile – she would be the star to lead the wisemen to the nativity.

Another group of sturdy little boys were chosen to be shepherds, the nuns would give each one something to say to Mary about what the angels had said about the baby Jesus. The rest of the little giggly girls would be the angels who would sing songs to the glory of God

Off in the corner however, there was one boy who really wasn’t perfect for anything. He was a little bigger than all the other children, and a bit clumsy. He bored easily and would get fidgety and easily distracted. He often had trouble remembering the simplest of things.

He wanted to be in the play, but the nuns weren’t sure what to do with him. One of the nuns had a bright idea – let’s make him the innkeeper. He’ll be right at the beginning of the play, so he won’t get bored or fidgety or distracted. We’ll give him something very simple to do and say. When Joseph knocks on the door, we’ll have him open the door, say “NO ROOM!” and close the door.

For weeks the nuns worked with the imperfect little innkeeper. When Joseph knocked, he would open the door, say “NO ROOM!” and close the door. Over and over they practiced, “Knock, knock, open door, ‘NO ROOM!” close door.”

Finally, the night of the performance came. All the children were so excited. The nuns led the imperfect little innkeeper behind the door on the side of the stage and quietly reminded him what to do when he heard the Knock, Knock.

The curtain rose. Out walked perfect little Joseph and perfect little Mary. They came to the Inn’s Door. “Knock, Knock” The nuns held their breath. The imperfect little innkeeper opened the door, scowled at perfect Joseph and perfect Mary, and in a loud voice announced, “NO ROOM!” Then he shut the door. The nuns breathed again and gave silent high fives to each other backstage.

Perfect Joseph and perfect Mary turned to walk toward the stable and manger set center stage when suddenly the door of the inn flew open with a bang. The imperfect little innkeeper raced out, tears streaming down his face, “Wait, wait” he wailed. He grabbed the hands of perfect Joseph and perfect Mary and pulled them back toward the Inn, “Come in,” he cried, “You can have MY room!”

One day we will each stand before our Creator to give an account of our lives. I don’t think He’ll care what the sign says on the door of the place where we worship. I doubt He’ll have us recite the Doctrinal Statement for our Denomination.

I think he’ll have one question for each of us. When my son Christ Jesus came to you knocking, what was your response. Did you say, “NO ROOM!” Or did you, like the imperfect little innkeeper open the door, say, “Come in, you can have My room?” Those really are our only two choices, and how we choose will determine our eternity.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” [Isa 7:14]

Immanuel, God with us. That’s the old, old story. God came to us so that we could one day go to Him. He wanted His children around Him, but we had rebelled, shaken our fists at Him and declared we didn’t want Him to rule over us. We became His enemies. We didn’t want His laws or His moral obligations. We wanted to do things our way without interference from His Holiness or His Righteousness.

But God was relentless. He pursued us until one day the time was exactly right. One exact moment in time, God entered the world through a humble, obedient servant who found grace, favor with Him. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” [Gal 4:4-5 NKJV]

Immanuel, God with us. I am always undone by the thought that the God of the universe wants me. For God doesn’t just love people, He loves persons, individuals, you, me, our neighbors, family, friends, and yes even our enemies. He loves us with a sacrificial love that spans the millenniums from eternity past to eternity future. It is a love that is as boundless, as glorious, as He is.

And on that day so long ago – in the fullness of time – God proved that love and glory and grace when He sent His Son to redeem lost mankind. Immanuel, God with us.

When we think about the birth of Christ Jesus our LORD, we don’t usually think about Joseph. In a way, he’s just there, rounding out the “Holy Family.” We set his statue out in our nativity sets, but he’s not the center of attention. That honor rests with the Christ Child and His mom. Even the shepherds that came that night and the wise men who showed up later get more attention than poor Joseph.

Joseph is just the background. He leads the donkey from Nazareth where he was a simple carpenter, to Bethlehem. He finds a bit of privacy for his expectant betrothed. He probably helps deliver her baby, although I’m sure he was fairy clumsy in his efforts. And then he retreats once again into the background.

Yet, God chose this man to be the protector, the guardian for His Son’s early years on earth. He chose Him to teach Him a trade, to raise Him in the admonition of the LORD, to teach Him the Word of God.

The Scriptures describe him as a righteous man. We know he was kind and compassionate. Before God informed him by an angel in a dream that Mary was pregnant not because of infidelity but because of the miraculous working of God’s Holy Spirit, he was going to put her away “quietly” rather than expose her to ridicule or scorn. [Matthew 1:18-22]

We know Joseph was obedient. He did what the LORD commanded him to do. When it became necessary to leave Jerusalem after the visit from the wise men and Herod’s avowed attempt to kill the newborn king, Joseph gathered his wife and child and fled in the middle of the night to Egypt and stayed there until God told him it was safe to return. [Matthew 2]

Read the account of Joseph in Matthew. Matthew must have thought him important for he concentrates on this man in the background more than any other aspect of the birth of our Savior. There were so many ways in which this all could have turned out differently, if Joseph had not been a man of compassion, obedience and quiet strength.

You’ve traveled far. It’s not like you really wanted to, after all you’re very pregnant. You have to, however, the government says you do … the top guy (Caesar) has decided he wants a census of the entire Roman world, and that includes you and your betrothed husband Joseph. So heavily pregnant, you travel from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea because you and Joseph are from the lineage of King David.

When you arrive, the town is bustling with all the others who were doing what the government commanded. There’s no room anywhere to rest. Finally, Joseph secures a bit of privacy in a place that houses the animals. The time for your baby to be born arrives. No family. No friends. No mid-wives. One nervous husband. You give birth.

You’ve brought wrapping cloths for your newborn. Exhausted you put him to sleep in a feeding troth while you rest a bit. Joseph keeps watch.

Suddenly a bunch of rough men show up with a story almost beyond belief. Angels appeared to them and told them that they would find a baby in a manger that was the Savior, Christ the LORD.

Such a story would be almost beyond belief, but not for you. You remember the angel Gabriel and his sudden appearing and the words he spoke to you. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” [Luke 1:35]

One amazing night to be remembered forever. “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” [Luke 2:19]

Luke 2:8-20 tells the story of the shepherds on the night the Christ Child was born. It’s starts simply, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby.”

Shepherds were not a highly respected lot (although King David had elevated their stature some). Necessary, of course, someone had to watch all those sheep that would one day end up as sacrifices. Life wasn’t easy for them, outside in the elements, sleeping beside their flocks, ever vigilant for predators. But it was to this lot of rough, tough men that God first gave the news of the birth of His Son … “a Savior has been born to you.”

God also, through the angelic announcement gave them directions to find this Savior … in a manger, in a stable, wrapped in binding cloths. Look for Him among the animals.

The shepherds followed the angel’s instructions and left their animals to go find this Savior born in a place where other animals were housed. Ever wonder if the announcement had been given to kings or priests or men of honor if they would have gone? Would they have lowered themselves to tramping around in the middle of the night searching through stables to find a baby amid the animals?

That didn’t bother the shepherds one bit. They went. And what did they find? A worried carpenter. An exhausted new mother. And a baby, wrapped in cloths, in a manger, in a stable, among the animals. And somehow, they knew, they knew, that what the angels had proclaimed was true … this was “Christ the LORD.”

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

I was reading again this morning in Luke 1, focusing on Mary’s Song, “The Magnificat.” We are probably all familiar with her opening statement, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” [vs 46-47]

Mary shows an abundant knowledge of the OT Scriptures. Her song is much like Hannah’s Song in 1 Samuel. In her song, Mary expresses God’s work in Israel, His character, His might, His care for the humble, His Holiness and His grace extended to her personally and to all of Israel.

One verse caught my attention. “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” [vs 50 NKJV]

God’s mercy isn’t unpredictable or haphazard. God’s mercy is an attribute – meaning it is what is true about Him. Just as God never changes, so His attributes remain secure in Him. As God displayed His mercy to the people of faith who came before Mary, Mary acknowledged that God’s mercy will continue to flow out to people of faith who will come after her – or as she says, “from generation to generation.”

Habakkuk reminded us that “God’s ways are everlasting.” [3:6]

What God has done before God will do again. Man’s ways are changeable … God’s ways remain as true as He is, as secure as He is, as amazing as He is. I think each of us one day will sing a “Mary’s Song” – one of very own that acknowledges that our souls, like hers, magnify the LORD and our spirit, like hers, rejoices in God our Savior.

Tomorrow morning’s message at The Way is the first of three parts, “Tell Me the Old, Old Story – Part 1 Mary.” It is about Mary’s humility, faith and obedience.

As I sat meditating, praying and studying over the message, a vivid image came to mind. A few years ago, I took my then 18-year-old grandson to Washington DC. One of the places we toured was the National Art Gallery. There was a display of an artist I particularly wanted to see in Gallery 50-something. Carter, however, wanted to start our tour in Gallery 1 and hit every gallery in between, which we did.

One thing I noticed was the way ancient artists displayed the Christ Child, usually with a halo, but always with a glorious light surrounding His face, or His manger. I’m not sure that’s what Mary saw that night. I think she saw a newborn baby, common in every way. There was no halo, no supernatural light in that stable or around that manger. That perhaps is the most miraculous thing about this child. God with us. Housed in a common body. Born in a common way. To common everyday folks.

But with that common birth, everything changed. Darkness was doomed. Light now broke through the darkness that had permeated the human race since Adam was banished from the Garden. Light, God’s light, would soon take up residence in the hearts of men and women who would come to Him through His grace by faith. For through this little common newborn, God would redeem mankind and give us light to behold His glory.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” [2 Cor 4:6]

We have prayer on Tuesday evenings. We pray for our country, for revival, for specific needs of specific people. We pray as the Spirit of the LORD leads. Last Tuesday, I listened as others prayed for me, for my specific health needs and for me as a pastor. May I say, that is a humbling experience.

I appreciated the prayer for my physical needs as I had just come from the doctor and had more questions than before I went. But on Tuesday they also prayed for me as their pastor, that I would have illumination of the Scriptures and hear and know the direction God wants our church to go, what messages for growth He wants brought. That was what humbled me.

It is an awesome and humbling responsibility to pastor a church, to know that you must hear what the Spirit is saying to the church today. It often takes my breath away to understand that spiritual growth for a congregation depends in part upon what I minister from behind the pulpit, and what I exhibit in my lifestyle in front of it.

Yes, I know we are all responsible for our own spiritual growth, but a pastor has so much influence to lead in a wrong direction. My greatest fear is to one day stand before the LORD our God, our Maker, and hear someone say that I led them down a wrong path, or I failed to warn them or tell them of the ways of the LORD.

To hear the prayer on Tuesday went straight to my heart. When Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 that he was the least of the apostles and didn’t deserve that honor because he had persecuted the church, he also made a comment about what he and others preached … “this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” [v11]

And that expresses exactly why this is so humbling … what we preach is what others believe. As pastors and teachers, we, I, better make sure that it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary…. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’” [Luke 1:26-32]

“You have found favor with God.” The word favor is charis in the Greek. It is usually translated as grace. Mary found grace in the sight of the LORD, just as so many before her had … people like Noah and Abraham, Moses and David. Grace. God’s good favor.

Grace is an attribute of God. In God grace and mercy are one, but as they reach us, they are seen as two. Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human misery and guilt (He doesn’t give us what we deserve, judgment). Grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit (He gives us what we don’t deserve, salvation, redemption, love).

John 1:20 tells us that “…grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

 The wonder of Mary finding favor/grace with God is that she is going to give birth to the very means by which grace is going to come to all mankind, including her.

Grace didn’t suddenly come into existence when Jesus Christ was born on earth. Grace, God’s good favor, has existed for all time in the heart of God. It is as boundless, as eternal, as He is. Everyone who has ever come to God has come though His Divine Favor/Grace, whether in the Old Testament or in the New. That included Mary. That includes us! What a wonder!