Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father gently humble our pride-full hearts. Father, we ask for your help in humbling ourselves. But be gentle, Father. Your discipline, while certainly loving, also brings pain if done correctly. But it is worth enduring to more fully become like your son. In the name of your son, Jesus, and by the Spirit, help us to remember who we are, who you are, and what that means for our daily living.
Your Morning Song: "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by Chris Tomlin
Your Monday Morning Sermon Recap: Luke 2:1-7
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 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 guest room available for them.
...
Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? If we were to answer this question after the shape of a funnel, which is broadest at the top, and narrowest, but deepest, at the bottom, we could start here. Politics and lineage. The government says go and Joseph went to Bethlehem because that's where his family was from. And, like Mary, Joseph was from the line of David. Prophecies had foretold that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem and political and familial factors aligned to make it happen.
But what sort of town was Bethlehem? At the time of Jesus's birth it may have been David's hometown, but it was not a place of consequence, of any sort of significance. And looking back over Israel's history, Bethlehem actually had quite a bad reputation (the end of Judges and in Ruth).
You could quite easily say that Bethlehem was not a significant place. So why was Jesus born there? It goes hand in hand with the question we asked last week about Mary? Why her? You could quite easily say that she was not a significant person.
And in Bethlehem Jesus was not born in the best house. He was born where animals were kept. Likely not an "inn" as is commonly thought (the Greek word doesn't fit). Jesus was most likely born in the household of someone of Joseph's family. But not in the actual living space. He was born where the animals were kept, a four-walled, no-roof enclosure, or a cave. Either way, you could say that it was not a significant space.
The question then, why Bethlehem, fits into a larger pattern. Jesus was born to an insignificant woman, in an insignificant place, in an insignificant space.
Why?
Because God wanted to make sure that everyone knew whose Gospel it was and whose glory it was. The good news of Jesus's birth was for everyone. And the one wholly responsible for it was God.
It is tempting to allow our pride to influence our daily Christian walk as we follow after Jesus. But our savior was not born to a queen, He was born to an un-wed peasant girl. Our savior was not born in the best neighborhoods of Rome. He was born on the wrong side of the tracks. Our savior was not born in a palace. He was born amongst animals and laid in a manger.
How often and how easily do we forget who Jesus is? Who He loves? Why He was born? Why He died? Why He rose again?
May we be daily, desperately dependent on Jesus during this Christmas season. May our hearts be guarded. May our thoughts be humble. May we rejoice in our savior's lowly birth. Knowing that as the whole world was perishing, God sent His son.
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