'But you, O
Bethlehem Ephrathah, 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."
Mic 5:2-3
Bethlehem isn't a
very impressive town. It is dusty,
dirty, and poor. It's only four miles from Jerusalem. It is in Palestinian
territory, so driving there means going through checkpoints of Israeli and
Palestinian soldiers. Children beg in
Manger Square, merchants on the street sell olive wood nativity scenes and
cheap plastic replicas of Santa Claus and Christmas trees to the tourists. The fields where shepherds once greeted
angels are now covered with multistoried apartment buildings. Seeing Bethlehem
as it exists today, it is hard to imagine
the king of the World was born here.
All around the city,
though, there is a sense of history. Rachel's Tomb can be seen on the road into
town. The Church of the Nativity and Manger square are in the center. Inside
the church, people stare at the paintings and tapestries of wise men and shepherd,
which date back hundreds of years. In
the basement of the church lies the grotto of the Nativity--the most probably
site of the manger. To be there sends a
chill down the spine.
Many years ago, I
had the privilege of reading the Christmas story in that ancient place. As I read I spotted a cross that had been
crudely scratched on the wall of the cave. It was a Byzantine cross--a kind
shape that had been used in the church in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries. It reminded me of all the stories I had read
of the tomb; how St. Jerome had translated the Bible into Latin in that very
cave, and how St. Francis of Assisi
spent the night there and had a vision of Christ's birth. When he returned home to Italy, he reenacted
it in the first Christmas pageant ever conducted. The saints of all the year who had made the
pilgrimage to that holy place seemed to stand by me in that moment, joining me
in worship.
I cried.
When you go to such
a place, you realize how ancient our faith actually is. We are not alone. God
has been working with His people for
literally thousands of years. For two thousand years, God sent prophets and
teachers to prepare the way for His coming.
For another two thousand years, God has been working out on the earth
the great plan of redemption that was begun in that little cave in Bethlehem. Our generation is only a small chapter in a
very ancient book of redemption.
We tend to think of
our generations' problems as huge, and
our sufferings as long, but we have no idea.
God's time is very different from ours.
God's Son did not come to earth yesterday, nor is He necessarily
returning tomorrow. "His origin is
old, from ancient days." He has
been working with us as long as our species has been on the earth.
God has preserved
His people from ancient times. He has helped them survive many conquerors and
many trials. Through successive invasions--Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims,
and Germans, God has rescued His
people.
Do not judge life by
how things look today. God is in it for
the long haul. Don't think that because
what we do looks small today, that this is all there is. An acorn is small, but an oak tree is in
it. Bethlehem was small, too, but out of
it came The Redeemer of the World. Our
church may be small, but who knows what its influence may be? Your life may seem unimportant, but your
importance may be cosmic. The influence of the ages is what God seeks. He cares
about the ages, not the moment. He is truly the Ancient of Days.
"God, help me
to live my life for the long haul, not worrying about how things look today,
but focusing on bearing fruit for eternity. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
