Preaching points for the day

December 1, 2019 - Micah

·                     Scripture: Micah 5:1-5a

·                     and 1 Corinthians 4:1 ESV "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

·                     Message/Theme: Christmas as Mystery/Wonder

Introduction

·                     Chad and Barbie Soper of Rockford, Michigan.  They became new parents in 2008, their firstborn daughter was born on August 8 of that year.  If you missed that, she was born on 08/08 of 08.  They had a son the next year, his name was Cameron.  He was born on September 9th. 09/09 /09.  And they had another girl born to them the next year, Cearra was born on 10/10 of 10.  Isn't that wonderful?

·                     Now that we are in December and turn our attention to the birth of Jesus - there is TRULY something wonder-full about His birth.  The prophets spoke of things that mankind should watch for so that the Messiah would be recognized and believed. These signs or prophecies in the Old Testament were written 450 years before Christ came.  The Old Testament contains over 300 prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus through His birth/life, death and resurrection.

·                     Mathematically speaking, the odds of anyone fulfilling this amount of prophecy are staggering. Mathematicians put it this way: 1 person fulfilling 8 prophecies: 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 (quadrillions?).  1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power. 1 person fulfilling 300+ prophecies: Only Jesus!

The birth of Christ is a story filled with wonder...

I) One of those prophecies is about Bethlehem

2"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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. "

·                     God's wonder-full way of orchestrating and weaving history together.  The connection between Micah 5 and Jesus Christ is crystal clear. In Matthew 2:1–6 it says:

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

·                     The chief priests and the scribes knew that Micah 5 was a reference to the Messiah.  God saw to it that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though his mother and Joseph were living in Nazareth when she got pregnant.

·                     This was the popular understanding among the people as well, because In John 7:42 they ask, “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

Bethlehem is so small, but it had to be there. 

II) Messiah of David's Lineage

·                     Someone so great from somewhere so small - this can only be the work of God.  There is a reason.

·                     At least three links with David in this text. (1) David was from Bethlehem — that’s why it was called the “city of David.” (2) David was a ruler in Israel — he was the greatest ruler, a man after God’s own heart. And (3) David was a shepherd as a boy, and later he was called the shepherd of Israel (Psalm 78:71).

·                     The point of these three links with David is this: Micah is reasserting the certainty of God’s promise to David. Recall from 2 Samuel 7:12–16 that God said to David,

"I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. . . . And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever."

Someone so great from somewhere so small - this can only be the work of God because it certainly does not make sense by the world's standards.  There is a conflict...  not unlike the conflict in values Paul points out to the Corinthians...

II) Worldly Standards of Success and what is really important

1 Corinthians 3  (NIV)

·                     Paul chastises the Corinthians because they think themselves better than their brothers because of who they heard the Gospel from because they think one teacher better than another...

 ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

·                     Those are definitively Worldly standards. He goes on to say...

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ²¹ So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, ²³ and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

·                     Your worldly credentials are so puny compared to the gifts that God has given you.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13  (NIV)

·                     You think you are so wise, and success is your banner and proof... but for Paul, being faithful did not mean blessed with riches...

⁹ ...it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

·                     Paul says what he has endured in faithfulness to God does not line up with their version of success at all.  But he would choose it anytime because it lines up with being faithful and obedient to God. 

·                     And Paul goes on to say that he will not be swayed by their opinion of him either... even if they think him a failure, as if his hardships are proof of failuere.  From our passage we read in 1 Corinthians 4 (ESV)

³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

·                     PAUL SAYS, "THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD THINK OF ME/US..."

·                     "As servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."  I love the way the ESV puts it, "stewards of the mysteries of God."

Why should the Gospel be a Mystery?  Not because it is to be kept secret, but because no person would have done it the way God does.  Often God's ways are contrary to the World's ways.

III) Understanding the "But" of the Gospel

·                     Back to the Wonder of the message... It does not make sense that Bethlehem is chosen

·                     But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah [an old name for Bethlehem meaning “fruitful”; see Genesis 48:7], who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

·                     Note that when they quote Micah in Matthew 2 (which we read from) they say "Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah..." But Micah says, "Bethlehem, though you are least in the land of Judah."  The difference is that despite being so small - God chose Bethlehem.

·                     Bethlehem is scarcely worth counting among the clans of Judah, yet God chooses to bring his magnificent Messiah out of this town. Why? Because when he acts this way we can’t boast in the merits or achievements of men but only in the glorious mercy of God. We can’t say, “Well, of course he set his favor on Bethlehem, look at the human glory Bethlehem has achieved!” All we can say is, “God is wonderfully free; he is not impressed by our bigness; he does nothing in order to attract attention to our accomplishments; he does everything to magnify his glorious freedom and mercy.” The apostle Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 1:27–31:

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. . . . Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

·                     The deepest meaning of the littleness and insignificance of Bethlehem is that God does not bestow the blessings of the Messiah — the blessings of salvation — on the basis of our greatness or our merit or our achievement. He does not elect cities or people because of their prominence or grandeur or distinction. When he chooses he chooses freely, in order to magnify the glory of his own mercy, not the glory of our distinctions. So let us say with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest!” Not glory to us. We get the joy. He gets the glory.

The "But" of the Gospel

·                     BUT you Bethlehem... though you are least...

·                     things may be one way, BUT God works in mysterious ways...

·                     The grass withers and the flower fades, BUT the word of the Lord lasts forever...

·                     On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, BUT when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus...

Conclusion/Transition to Communion

·                     God reminds the people of his good works on their behalf, how he cared for them while they cared only for themselves. Rather than leave God's people with the fear and sting of judgment, the book of Micah concludes with the prophet's call on the Lord as his only source of salvation and mercy (7:7), pointing the people toward an everlasting hope in their everlasting God.

·                     The amazing thing about Micah is that he reasserts the certainty of this promise not at a time when Israel is rising to power BUT at a time when Israel is sinking toward oblivion. The Northern Kingdom is destroyed and the Southern Kingdom will come under the judgment of God.

·                     They have not earned any merit form God.  They are not in a position to bargain, wager, purchase, or be deemed worthy of salvation.

·                     Salvation (the birth of a Savior) is the gift of God that comes not because of our strength or merit, for we are not worthy... it is Grace.

·                     In Communion, it is not those who are worthy, or great, or whole - who come to receive, but the small, those who know and acknowledge their sin, and need of a savior...

For the receiving of the Cup

            In the birth story of Jesus, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she, though a virgin, will give birth to the savior.  Mary responds (in her song of praise in Luke 1) that God has looks upon her lowly estate and exalted her. This is also Bethlehem's story.  And it is ours as well (there is nothing we have done to deserve/achieve the gift we remember in Communion).