Bethlehem: A Place of Humility

Luke 2:1-14, NRSVUE

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Intro

This week, we continue our worship series based on the book On the Way to Bethlehem. We began by framing the story of Jesus’ birth under the realities of Roman rule. We explored our call to hope actively as we work to show the world that things can be different by actively ushering in the Kingdom of God. Next, we named our call to sit in silence and to listen for God's still, small voice to direct us and give us peace as we expect God to show up. Last week, we explored the simple faith that embraces the call to walk through humiliating spaces and make a difference as we birth new possibilities of God’s kingdom into the world. This week, we continue our journey, stopping in Bethlehem, a place of humility.

As we enter the text this morning, we find it to be very familiar. This is the first part of the text we hear each Christmas Eve. Yet despite the familiarity, like many generations before us, we may ask, “Why Bethlehem?” Even our framing song in this worship series begins with “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The short answer goes back to our first stop on this journey, Rome. Caesar Augustus ordered that all the world should be registered. This powerful man ordered people to their ancestral homeland to be counted so taxes could be raised and the empire could continue and grow. At the same time, there is a deeper “why” behind the reason Joseph is journeying to Bethlehem.

To fully understand the why, we must return to the story of Ruth and Naomi in the book of Ruth. Ruth marries a Jewish man who lives in her country. Naomi is her mother-in-law. Naomi’s husband and sons die. After their deaths, Naomi announces to Ruth and Orpah that she will return to her home country and family. Naomi encourages her daughters-in-law to return to their families as they are young enough to remarry. After some initial protests, Orpah decides to return to her family. Yet Ruth commits to staying with Naomi.

In perhaps the most famous verse from the Book of Ruth, Ruth proclaims, “Do not press me to leave you, to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God my God.” Ruth journeys with Naomi to her hometown of Bethlehem. Ruth is welcomed and respected. She is treated with dignity as the owner of the fields uses the farming practices found in Leviticus 23. He does not reap the harvest to the edge of his fields or glean his fields for all he can but leaves some of the harvests for the poor and foreigners. This was the law as instructed by God around how to treat and care for foreigners. These laws found in the scriptures are radical and inclusive even by today’s standards!

Ruth is welcomed as she gleans from the fields of Naomi’s relative. Then, following the law of closest relatives, Ruth is eventually married to Naomi’s relative, Boaz. Ruth was not only treated with dignity but she was welcomed and treated like a part of the family even though she was a foreigner. Ruth gives birth to Obed, who becomes Jesse's father. According to the scriptures, Jesse is the root from which a righteous branch will spring forth. King David comes from the line of Jesse, and two of the Gospels trace Jesus’ ancestry to Jesse. So, because of Ruth’s story of radical welcome and inclusion, Joseph journeys to Bethlehem to be registered.

I believe this radical inclusive love found in the first stories of Bethlehem from the Old Testament continues to prevail in our scripture lessons for this morning. It is unusual, and frankly, it does not make sense for Mary to travel with Joseph. At this point in the story, the couple is not married. Mary, because she is not married to Joseph, does not need to come to be registered in Bethlehem. It certainly doesn’t make sense for her to travel the distance since she is so pregnant. Yet, she does so anyway. Likely, Joseph asked her to travel alongside him as a means of protecting her, knowing what trouble may arise from others if he is not around. Joseph acts with the same love found in the stories of his ancestors. It is here, against the backdrop of power and arrogance reigning from on high, that Mary and Joseph travel quietly in obscurity to Bethlehem to be registered.

Yet, this is not the only obscure part of the story. After Jesus is born, angels appear to shepherds in the fields to announce the savior’s birth. Against the backdrop of imperial power and domination, it was not a powerful group that was chosen to hear that Christ was born but a group of lowly shepherds. Shepherds were so irrelevant, so low in status, that they were not required to gather for the census. They were roaming in the fields. They were considered dishonest and unclean. They are not only outside the city's boundaries but also outside the zone of social acceptability. These are the ones who are told about the birth of the savior of the whole world.

This stop on our journey this week is all about humility. A small, humble town of Bethlehem. A couple who, in their humility, obey God and bring the savior of the world into the world. Shepherds, obscure, irrelevant people who hear the angels proclaim God’s glory and rush to kneel down before God and humbly worship Jesus. Amid humility, God raises up shepherds to positions of honor and respect.

The shepherds' story reminds us that when others think we are worthless, our value comes not from others but from the very God who made us. As Rob Fuquay writes, “The Christmas story reminds us that we’re all shepherds at heart. Our adoration is meant to be reserved for the only One who can restore in us the value we desperately desire.” Rob reminds us that God comes to the lowly, those with humility. So often, when we think of the lowly, we think of social class. God is drawn to the least, the last, and the lost. Yet to be “lowly” is not about one’s social status, it is about the positioning of one’s heart. This idea of being lowly is about humility. Humility is about a spiritual posture. This idea of humility is centered around the idea that God blesses those who realize they need to be blessed. Put another way, God blesses those who recognize their reliance or dependence on God is more important than wealth, material possessions, or anything else. The shepherds dropped everything; they left their responsibilities behind and ran to the manager. They realized kneeling before the living Lord was more important than anything else.

On this Advent journey, we have discussed our call to make a difference in the world. We’ve talked about speaking out and doing something about significant societal harms. We have talked about listening in the quiet for God’s voice to lead and guide us. We have talked about caring for those around us as we enter spaces of humiliation with someone and see the world differently. As we talk about our call to love and humility this week, we realize that this sums up our call to discipleship. In humility, we recognize our utter dependence on God.

We realize that without God, we are nothing. We acknowledge that God first loved us, empowering us to love others. And then, we understand that our call is to toil in humility and obscurity as we live a life of love and faithful discipleship together in faith communities. Humility leads us to a space of radical love that has been found all throughout the scriptures, from Ruth to Mary and Joseph to the Shepherds. Jesus’ birth speaks into the political landscape of his day and ours to speak a word of love, community, and radical inclusion. It’s a call to see God in those we would deem to be the most unlikely to be “bearers of Christ”…this looks different for each one of us. Yet, we are called to reach out, to welcome them in, to invite them to be a part of this community where they are loved, included, and welcomed!

If we are honest with ourselves, this community is something the world is looking for and wants to belong to. One theologian writes about it this way. “There may be a time, and there may be a hunger in the world, for a community of disciples who quietly go about being faithful. These are the communities who show up with casseroles when a loved one dies. These are the communities where children are raised to know the stories of Jesus, lead God’s people in worship, and go into the world to look for God’s mission. These are communities who show acts of mercy each day without recognition on the nightly news or in the local paper. These are communities where people call each other brother and sister, not because it is a religious title, but because they have become a family of faith who struggle and study and worship and grieve and rejoice together. There is a place for these ordinary communities that quietly birth God’s will into the world each day, communities made up of Marys and Josephs who obediently and without fanfare enact the worldchanging will of God.”

An article titled “The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust” was published on April 3rd, 2024. The author writes, “America didn’t simply lose its religion without finding a communal replacement. Just as America’s churches were depopulated, Americans developed a new relationship with a technology that, in many ways, is the diabolical opposite of a religious ritual: the smartphone.” The world is losing its way of being together, and in many ways, so is the church.

To me it's less about technology and more about the fact that we have forgotten how to live life together, how to invite one another in, how to celebrate. The use of technology is beautiful, can be connective, and is a tool, but it also makes it easier to devalue someone. However, we can just as easily discredit and devalue persons who hold a different view than us; that is until we get to know them, worship, study, and rejoice together.

When I took my first appointment, someone from each church took me around and showed me their church building. As we toured the buildings, I remember that each time I saw the fellowship hall, I heard the same thing: Here is the fellowship hall. It's not used as much as it should; I wish we used it more. It’s almost like they forgot how to celebrate. In my year of pastoral ministry, I set a goal that each church had to use its fellowship hall once a quarter and it had to invite its fellow sister churches to their event. At first, each church sat with its own group. However, the more we had bonfires, dinners, tea parties, stews, mission events, and even a baseball game, the more they branched out and began to get to know one another. This openness spilled out into the community; slowly, their circles widened, and others were invited into their celebrations.

Sometimes, I think the church forgets or does not fully understand the value of “togetherness” that we have to offer. The world is longing for community! Just as Christ comes into the world offering radical love, so we must offer that love to the world! It comes in humility as we recognize we have reasons to celebrate. That reason is that God has called us together to share one another burdens, God has blessed us, and God wants us to widen the circle, to seek out the shepherds and those who are longing for hope. God sends us out to invite others to receive the blessing of “togetherness.” It also means our humility must lead us to see even the most unlikely persons as bearers of Christ. When we welcome and accept them, we will receive the blessings they have to offer us.

Might we walk in humility? That in our humility, God will open new doors and send us out to wrap others into the loving embrace of Christ.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.