Roger Lynn
December 20, 2020
4th Sunday in Advent
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I think that sometimes we find understanding God to be a challenge, not because God is so big, but because God acts in such small and unexpected ways. We appreciate stories like the creation story. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It has a certain grandeur and spectacle about it. Such stories fit with who we want God to be. We really want a Cecil B. DeMille/Charleton Heston kind of God. There is a certain comfort and security which comes with believing in such a God.
The problem comes when we begin to discover that much of Scripture is filled with a very different image of who God is and how God works. Over and over again we find God choosing backwater places, obscure situations, and ordinary people as the focus of God’s action and attention. Look at Abraham – a nomadic sheep herder. Look at Moses – a fugitive from the Egyptian government hiding out in the wilderness. Or David – the youngest son of an unknown family. Or, for that matter, look at the whole nation of Israel – a small collection of tribes who kept getting run over and conquered by their more powerful neighbors. None of these cases would appear to be likely candidates for providing a showcase for God’s divine action. But in every case they became defining pieces in the tapestry of God’s relationship with the world. It is not what we would expect. It is not even necessarily what we would choose. But it appears to be how God does things.
Which brings us to the scriptures for today. Again we find God working, and promising to continue working, in obscurity. “But you, O Bethlehem, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel.” (Micah 5: 2) Not from some major capital or trading center of the world. Not from some long-standing ruling dynasty. But from backwater Bethlehem. And when it happens, when God finally does bring forth this long-promised ruler from Bethlehem, it is the same story all over again. We find Mary (who?) and her kinswoman, Elizabeth (who?) about to have babies (babies?). In those days women often didn’t count for much in the large scheme of things, and babies counted for even less. So why in the world would God choose women and babies to serve as primary players in this auspicious undertaking? Because that is what God does.
There is a song which gets sung about this time of year that says, “Love came down at Christmas.” It certainly did! God’s Love is so great that God isn’t afraid to bring it down to where we live. I remember seeing an ad for a movie once which announced that it was “larger than life.” Such descriptions appeal to us. We like the big and the dramatic. But if God had chosen to be simply “larger than life” then most of us would be left out. The problem with a Cecil B. DeMille/Charleton Heston kind of God is that most of us don’t live in that kind of world. Most of us are ordinary folks living ordinary lives in backwater places. That is where the vast majority of life takes place. So it is a very good thing that God chooses to devote so much time and energy to just our kind of living. It is a good thing that God chooses places like Bethlehem, because we live in places like Bethlehem. And it is a good thing that God chooses unknown women like Mary and Elizabeth, because we have a lot more in common with them than we would have with someone like a Caesar or a Pharaoh. And it is a good thing that God chooses babies, because it reminds us that it isn’t how educated, or powerful, or famous, or attractive, or anything we are that matters. What matters is God choosing to love us no matter what. The truly remarkable message of the gospel is that there is no limit to how far God will go to love us. God’s love knows no bounds.
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the temptation is to make everything big and flashy and spectacular. Let us remember that the One whose birth we are preparing to celebrate once said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) God’s love stoops to greatness. May it be so for us as well.
I think that sometimes we find understanding God to be a challenge, not because God is so big, but because God acts in such small and unexpected ways. We appreciate stories like the creation story. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It has a certain grandeur and spectacle about it. Such stories fit with who we want God to be. We really want a Cecil B. DeMille/Charleton Heston kind of God. There is a certain comfort and security which comes with believing in such a God.
The problem comes when we begin to discover that much of Scripture is filled with a very different image of who God is and how God works. Over and over again we find God choosing backwater places, obscure situations, and ordinary people as the focus of God’s action and attention. Look at Abraham – a nomadic sheep herder. Look at Moses – a fugitive from the Egyptian government hiding out in the wilderness. Or David – the youngest son of an unknown family. Or, for that matter, look at the whole nation of Israel – a small collection of tribes who kept getting run over and conquered by their more powerful neighbors. None of these cases would appear to be likely candidates for providing a showcase for God’s divine action. But in every case they became defining pieces in the tapestry of God’s relationship with the world. It is not what we would expect. It is not even necessarily what we would choose. But it appears to be how God does things.
Which brings us to the scriptures for today. Again we find God working, and promising to continue working, in obscurity. “But you, O Bethlehem, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel.” (Micah 5: 2) Not from some major capital or trading center of the world. Not from some long-standing ruling dynasty. But from backwater Bethlehem. And when it happens, when God finally does bring forth this long-promised ruler from Bethlehem, it is the same story all over again. We find Mary (who?) and her kinswoman, Elizabeth (who?) about to have babies (babies?). In those days women often didn’t count for much in the large scheme of things, and babies counted for even less. So why in the world would God choose women and babies to serve as primary players in this auspicious undertaking? Because that is what God does.
There is a song which gets sung about this time of year that says, “Love came down at Christmas.” It certainly did! God’s Love is so great that God isn’t afraid to bring it down to where we live. I remember seeing an ad for a movie once which announced that it was “larger than life.” Such descriptions appeal to us. We like the big and the dramatic. But if God had chosen to be simply “larger than life” then most of us would be left out. The problem with a Cecil B. DeMille/Charleton Heston kind of God is that most of us don’t live in that kind of world. Most of us are ordinary folks living ordinary lives in backwater places. That is where the vast majority of life takes place. So it is a very good thing that God chooses to devote so much time and energy to just our kind of living. It is a good thing that God chooses places like Bethlehem, because we live in places like Bethlehem. And it is a good thing that God chooses unknown women like Mary and Elizabeth, because we have a lot more in common with them than we would have with someone like a Caesar or a Pharaoh. And it is a good thing that God chooses babies, because it reminds us that it isn’t how educated, or powerful, or famous, or attractive, or anything we are that matters. What matters is God choosing to love us no matter what. The truly remarkable message of the gospel is that there is no limit to how far God will go to love us. God’s love knows no bounds.
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the temptation is to make everything big and flashy and spectacular. Let us remember that the One whose birth we are preparing to celebrate once said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) God’s love stoops to greatness. May it be so for us as well.
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