Sermon Tone Analysis

Maybe you remember who Paul Harvey is.

If you are younger then chances are you have never even heard of Paul Harvey.

He was a radio broadcaster who reported news on syndicated radio for many, many years.

But besides reporting the news each day, Paul Harvey also told stories.

He would take a famous person from American history and tell the story of his or her life before they were famous—but he wouldn’t tell us the name.

And by the time he got to the end of his biographical piece—and it would by then become somewhat obvious whom he was talking about—Paul Harvey would give the name of the person and then he would always say…and now you know the rest of the story.

This week we get to a place in our journey through Micah where we start to see glimpses of Jesus coming long before the story ever takes place.

Or maybe I should say that just a bit differently; the story that we know, the story we see performed in Christmas programs gives us the main action…we see the main event; but there’s more…it’s not the rest of the story.

Micah 5:1–5a (NIV)

Micah 5:1–5 (NIV)

1 Marshal your troops now, city of troops,

for a siege is laid against us.

They will strike Israel’s ruler

on the cheek with a rod.

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.”

3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned

until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,

and the rest of his brothers return

to join the Israelites.

4 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.

5 And he will be our peace

Long before there was ever a census in the Roman Empire—in fact, long before there was even a Roman Empire at all—there was a plan.

God knew that there would be a savior—he himself would be the savior.

But this plan is no Disney fairytale.

This plan of God we see in scripture and watch acted out at Christmastime—this is no picnic.

In real life, God’s plan is earthy, it’s human, it comes to an ordinary world going about life in ordinary ways.

Mary and Joseph faced everyday life filled with all the hassles and anxieties that a busy life in a messed up world can bring

You see, the Jewish people living during the time of the Roman Empire carried the everyday inconveniences of being an occupied land.

They were ruled by a foreign power, and their everyday activities had to adjust to what that meant—to how they functioned—to rules they had to follow.

There may not have been anything extraordinary about the Roman census that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

It was everyday life filled with all the hassles and anxieties that a busy life in a messed up world can bring.

But we know there’s something else going on.

And we dramatize it, we glorify it, we idealize it.

But underneath it all is a world full of people going about their business.

most of the world went on functioning as normal that first Christmas day

Sure, there were the select few that we know about who saw something special.

There were those shepherds who heard the announcement from the angels.

There were those kings—magi—who came from a far away land.

But really—most of the world went on functioning as normal that day.

A normal world for us is a world that has its ups and downs.

We have our highs and lows.

We watch the news or read the paper and are reminded of horrible tragedies and extraordinary accomplishments.

We mourn losses and deal with setbacks.

But we also cherish close relationships and take joy in reaching our own accomplishments.

Its normal, its everyday life.

This is the world into which God comes.

It’s earthy, it’s real, it’s human.

It’s no Disney fairytale.

The grand announcements are for a very select few.

But for most of us, life has its normal rhythms and patterns.

We go on about our business.

And this is the world God comes to.

This is the world God inhabits.

Micah points to Bethlehem — a very ordinary place with very ordinary people

Look at how Micah reminds us of this today in chapter five.

“Bethlehem, though you are small…”  Bethlehem, the normal town with normal people doing normal things.

Coming out from the ordinary, there is something greater.

From the places where we would least expect to find it, comes exactly what we all need.

Micah says, “He will be their peace.”

Micah’s world needed a heavy dose of peace.

The northern kingdom of Israel has already fallen to the Assyrians and things were not looking too good for the remnant of Judah that was left in the land.

So where is the answer going to come from?

Everybody is looking to the capital city—they are looking to Jerusalem.

They are leaning all their hopes on their “Washington DC.”

But the answer does not come from the capitol.

It does not come from headquarters.

It does not come from Jerusalem.

It does not come from Washington.

The answer comes from Pella Iowa; Ogalalla Nebraska.

It comes from normal-town USA.

It comes from Bethlehem.

God comes where we least expect to see him.

He comes to our world.

He comes to you and to me.

John was baptizing ordinary people in an ordinary river

Jesus insists on being included

This has always been the pattern.

This has always been God’s plan.

In the story of Jesus we read today from Matthew we see Jesus insisting that he be baptized.

John refuses because he thinks Jesus is too great for him to baptize.

But Jesus maintains at that moment, he must enter into the ordinary everyday existence that we all experience.

It’s earthy, it’s human, it’s real.

But at the same time, there’s a glimpse of something much greater going on, isn’t there?

Because we also see that moment when God is revealed.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit come together in a perfect moment reminding us that in the plain everyday ordinary rhythms of life, God comes and does extraordinary things.

contrast in Micah 5 highlights application for us today too

Maybe we miss this pattern as it unfolds in Micah’s writing.

Chapter 5 sets up a contrast which highlights a particular application of this into the world in which the people of Judah were living back in that day.

And I think the same application fits with our world today as well.

So then, spend a little time with me unfolding what this would have looked like in the world of the prophet Micah; and then let’s see how this also shows us a message from God that fits into our world right now as well.

vs 1 points to a crisis mode — automatic response is to look for our own response with our own resources