1 Kings
Dear Friends in Christ, our Newborn King:
Sometimes God speaks to our hearts, meets our needs, and interacts with us in the most unexpected ways and in the least likely places. Sometimes God uses the ordinary for the extraordinary. And sometimes God gets to the big things – the things that really need to be addressed – through the little things…
Ever had that experience? I would guess you have. I know I have.
I can recall, for example, the period of time following the birth of our last child. The situation and conditions surrounding his entry into the world were such that we spent a lot of time at the hospital. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. And the only reason I feel comfortable in sharing this story is because many of you, in one way or another, can relate to the emotions that accompany a long period of uncertainty…
I also remember an unlikely, but great source of strength
the Lord provided. We were living in
What he wrote in large spray painted letters were these two words: “Trust Jesus.”
And I remember, especially on those not so good days,
waiting to turn onto
SOMETIMES GOD USES THE LITTLE THINGS…
The great Old Testament Prophet Elijah would agree to that. The text we heard just a moment ago finds Elijah in a rather fragile emotional state. He had just been in a conversation with God. Elijah had explained that he thought his work was not bearing any fruit, that the forces of evil were winning, and that personally he felt very alone and very tired. Elijah had some big needs. He needed God to speak to him in a powerful way to get him back on track.
So God told him to go stand on the mountain; there He would address Elijah’s concerns. Elijah did as he was told. The first thing he experienced was a mountain-rending, rock-shattering gale force wind – a tremendous display of power. But God wasn’t in the wind.
Next there was an earthquake that shook the ground around him. Another tremendous display of power. But God wasn’t in the earthquake.
Next came a fire. A third tremendous display of power. But God wasn’t in the conflagration.
Finally, Elijah heard a quiet, gentle whisper in his ear. And when he did, he pulled his cloak over his face. Because he knew that it was in this most unexpected and unpretentious way that God addressed him.
For thousands of years – that entire period we now refer to as B.C. (before Christ) – the people of God were watching and waiting for the Lord to fulfill the many promises He had made of a Savior who was to come. Since the introduction of sin and death into the world by Adam and Eve, God’s people knew all about hardship and hopelessness. They experienced firsthand the problems and heartache that went along with living in a world permeated by sin.
They were eagerly looking forward to the One who would provide them with big things like forgiveness and redemption and hope and eternal life. They were looking forward to God doing something great among them.
Today we are here because roughly two thousand years ago, He did. He met all the big problems that sin brought upon the world and the people in the world. But not in a way that the world may have expected. It wasn’t a display of power and majesty. It wasn’t accompanied by a hurricane or an earthquake or an all consuming fire.
No, God used something unlikely, something little, to get at the big things…
We know what it was, and we know why we are here. But try to listen to these words as if you’re
hearing them for the first time. “While they were there, the time came for
the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
God used a baby. No,
more than that. The mystery of Christmas
is that God was that baby. “Veiled
in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our
Immanuel.”
Last night was glorious.
Our church was once again filled with the sounds of Christmas. But what was the most important sound on that
first Christmas night? Was it the stunning, breathtaking
proclamation of the angels to the shepherds?
Was it the excited buzz among the shepherds as they traveled to and from
I would suggest that the most important sound on that first Christmas night was a little thing. I would suggest the most important sound on the first Christmas night was that of a newborn baby sucking air into its infant lungs for the first time and then letting out a shrill, small cry. Because that cry was the announcement of Immanuel – God is with us.
And that little, brittle cry coming from the stable shattered not only the stillness and darkness of the Judean night; it shattered some big problems. Jesus was born and that was the beginning of the end for huge problems like sin and sorrow and death and uncertainty.
And those problems, which were put on alert when Christ was born, would completely come to an end 33 years later. Because that baby grew up to be a sinless man who lived his life perfectly as our substitute. He kept all the commands and demands God makes of us, but which we can’t deliver because we are sinners.
Then, since “the wages of sin is death,” Jesus died for us. In our place. As our substitute. The lungs which took their first breath today took their last breath on Good Friday. But just before that final breath came this proclamation: “It is finished.” Meaning everything necessary for us to live with Him in heaven forever had been taken care of…
And with His death came the death of death and the power of
sin and the emotion of hopelessness and the fear of uncertainty. These things may still trouble us while we
are here on this earth, but they no longer rule us. They have been conquered. As the hymnist writes: “No more let sin and sorrow reign…”
And the end of all those big problems began in a most unobtrusive, unlikely way today. Through the birth of a child.
Sometimes God uses the little things to get at the big things.
I’d like to end this morning by reading you a story someone sent me. Maybe you’ve heard it. I hadn’t. It’s a bit lengthy, but I think it’s worth sharing. It’s entitled “Why Christmas?”
There was once a man who didn't believe
in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion
and religious holidays, like Christmas.
His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have
faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve
service in the farm community in which they lived.
She asked him to come, but he refused.
"That story is nonsense!" he said.
"Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's
ridiculous!"
So she and the children left, and he stayed home.
A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As
the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm.
He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.
Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump.
He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a
little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window.
In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had
been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and
could not go on. They were lost and
stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings
and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of
them had flown into his window,
it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them.
The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and
safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.
So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and
waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside.
But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the
barn or realize what it could mean for them.
The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and
they moved further away. He went into
the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a
breadcrumbs trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward
the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except
toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they
would be warm and safe.
"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this
is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a
moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I
were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
Then he had an idea. He went into the barn, got one of his own geese, and
carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He
then released it.
His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one by one
the other geese followed it to safety.
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier
replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save
them!"
Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier.
"Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"
Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese
-- blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us
the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. As the
winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this
wonderful thought.
Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. Years
of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in
the snow, and prayed his first prayer:
"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the
storm!"
What
this man discovered, we know. That’s why
we are here. God became a little baby so
the world’s big problems – our big problems – would disappear. God became one of us so we might find in Him
refuge from the storm and live with Him safely, securely, eternally home in
heaven.
Therefore, Christians rejoice: “For
unto you is born this day, in the city of