the hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight

A sermon on Micah's sermon on God's modest theophanies:

The lectionary, like the rest of the world, like the weather, has seemingly turned toward Christmas. Today’s prophecy from Micah tells of that great ruler God will raise up from the ‘little town of Bethlehem.’ And with those words, that old Christmas hymn begins to ring in our ears. Doesn’t it?

Now I’ll talk about Bethlehem in a moment. But first, I want to discuss what Bethlehem means. Capital-M means. And to do that, I need to tell you that you’ve been to Bethlehem. Yes, you. 

However, I have to add you probably didn’t realize you were in that little town at the time. And what’s more, you most certainly didn't want to stay there for very long, either.

Honestly, that old Christmas hymn really does get it right, ‘O little town of Bethlehem.’ O LITTLE town. But NOT little as in quaint. No, little as in insignificant.

Bethlehem wasn’t like that little AFFLUENT town of Winterset just south of Des Moines. Amanda and I visited some folks there a while back, and they kept carrying on about how much they loved their little old town. So finally, Amanda just asked what they meant. And our family friend said, ‘it’s like living in a Hallmark movie.”

Now, nothing against Winterset, but Bethlehem wasn’t little as in a curated little life where you could ignore all the rough edges of life. No, quite the contrary. Bethlehem was little in that all it had were rough edges!

Bethlehem was located some six miles south of Jerusalem. Less than a day’s journey. Bethlehem was that little town you passed through on your way to somewhere better.

The only people for whom Bethlehem meant anything were its residents. And if you lived in Bethlehem, that just meant you came from humble stock. No one who was anyone came from Bethlehem—with one notable exception. 

The book of Ruth takes place in Bethlehem. And it tells of a hard-up couple who leave Bethlehem for greener pastures. Their venture, though, just leaves them worse off than when they started. 

Before the first chapter of the book is even over, everyone has died. Everyone, that is, except the matriarch, Naomi. Naomi AND her two recently widowed daughters-in-law.

Laid low, Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem a defeated woman. Only she can’t return alone. One of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, in an act of reckless loyalty, refuses to leave Naomi’s side. 

The book of Ruth is the story of GOD quietly watching over these two women as they make their way in a mostly indifferent world. However, these two, with a little pluck, carve out a life for themselves! And when Naomi sees an opportunity for Ruth to “insinuate” herself to the honest old bachelor, Boaz, their story even begins to tilt toward happily ever after, after all. 

In another equally reckless act, Naomi tells Ruth to get, shall we say, friendly with Boaz after he’s had a long day of putting up hay. And, wouldn’t you know it, it works! Ruth’s nighttime visit leads to the birth of, yes, you guessed it, David. Yes, that David, King David!

And so, as it turns out, there was one person of significance from Bethlehem, King David. But, like John Wayne from Winterset, that was just a historical anomaly. NO one expected anything great from Bethlehem by the time Micah came around. 

And yet, declares Micah, and yet, God is going to do something big in THAT little ol’ town.

…I understand there was a bit of a snafu when I first came here. Apparently, Pastor Paul Ostrem told some of you they had a candidate. The only thing, though, was this potential pastor was coming from Washington, D.C.

This piece of information, I am told, sparked off a bit of a debate about whether you wanted a pastor from a big city. Furthermore, I hear there was also discussion about whether Trinity had, quote, “city problems.”

*I caught all this, by the way, by way of insinuation. This all happened before I arrived. It was saint Ginny Fry who helped me make sense of those, let’s call them, strange comments and questions I would occasionally receive. 

Remember Ginny? As she told it, she was one who favored leaning into Trinity’s location. And knowing her, I suspect she was telling me the truth. 

Well, anyway, now that I’ve been here a while, and seeing as it’s hard to fire a pastor—but don’t any of you go getting ideas! Anyhow, seeing as all that’s true, I think it’s safe to finally tell you, the feeling was mutual!

I had come from a little town—little like Bethlehem. There was nothing but the dead and dying back in that little town, as Paul Simon would sing. And it didn’t take long for us to figure that out, either. 

Before all my classmates and I were even upperclassmen, we all realized the goal of all our education was to get us out of that measly little town. And I set myself to doing just that. 

I started college in the larger town to the east, Cedar Rapids. But before I even graduated, I had managed to make my way to Des Moines. And after college, I went to seminary out east. And I went there because of its significance. 

What’s more, I chose Gettysburg precisely because I could take classes in Washington, D.C. In fact, by the time I graduated, I was taking all my classes out there. And living there, to boot. 

Plus, when it came time for internship, I did everything in my power to go to another city. And I considered it a feather in my cap that I landed a spot at a church in Seattle.

So, you understand, I was trying to make my way to larger locals myself! I didn’t want to end up in any place where there was uncertainty about whether the church was in a city or not. 

And nothing against Burlington, either! I had been here before. To my mind, Burlington was just a sleepy little town on the river. Nothing wrong with it. It just wasn’t a nexus of power or influence. 

However, I decided I wouldn’t let that get me down. I figured I could put in my time and then MOVE on. In fact, I remember thinking how three years—that’s how long they want you to stay in your first call—I remember thinking how three years seemed like it would take forever to pass!

Since then, of course, I’ve come to learn how short of a span of time that is. But it wasn’t just how quickly time passes that kept me here past my original plan. What happened instead is that something KEPT happening. And it kept happening with alarming frequency.

I’m talking about, of course, “Bethlehem moments.” “Bethlehem moments like MICAH predicts. “Bethlehem moments,” like Noami and Ruth experienced. 

…This is the hard part. Because so many of these moments took place under the confines of pastoral discretion. These stories are not mine to tell. Of course, I could change the names to protect the guilty. But I know you all well enough; you’d suss out who I’m talking about. You stinkers.

And so that means I am restricted to stories about members who have transferred their membership. Transferred them to heaven. Members like Ginny Fry. 

Ginny Fry, whose pastor offered to adopt her so she wouldn’t be lost to bureaucracy during her parent’s separation. Ginny Fry, who spent so much time at Trinity as a little girl that her single father said she should have a cot there. Ginny Fry, who, although she loved Trinity dearly and had never worshipped here, INSISTED that her funeral be held here because this is where her congregation moved. 

And you all, too. You all, who decided to actually try and welcome a band of refugees. You, who decided to let go of that precious way ‘you’ve always done it’ and let your new brothers and sisters move their belongings here, so they could feel more at home. 

And you all. You all, who, instead of scattering to the four winds, held hands. Held hands and moved to a new congregation together. And you all who opened your hands to grasp NEW ones, too. 

And you all. You, who stumbled through these doors during a pandemic. You all, who’ve figured out how to become members when proximity itself was taboo. Thank you. And thank you for bearing with us as we all get used to being together again. 

And there are so many other stories, too! Moments when something as dull as a council meeting became filled with the Holy Spirit just as powerfully as that first Pentecost. Moments of reconciliation that made for a truly holy Lent. And moments of grace that filled that season of Advent with genuine anticipation.

And there were the tough times, too. The arguments and misunderstandings. The dashed hopes. The funerals. And yet, even amidst all that, that quiet work of God KEPT right on happening! 

I witnessed so many of you walk your loved ones through that valley of the shadow of death. And you didn’t lose your faith in that crucible, either! On the contrary, you seemed to have found the fullness thereof in that vale of tears! 

And after you witness enough of that, you start to think, this is where I want to be! This is where God’s at work! 

At least I know I did. 

Since then, though, I’ve come to learn that, if you have eyes to see, this is a fairly regular occurrence within Christ’s church. Why it’s nothing less than Christ KEEPING his promise not to leave us orphaned. And because Christ is good to his word, this happens more often than not!

What I know now that I didn’t know then is that the more overlooked your circumstances are, the more room God has to maneuver! God is far-sighted that way. The further you feel from those centers of power, the nearer you are to God!

And that’s what Bethlehem means, sisters and brothers! It’s why I can safely say we’ve all been there! Because WE all have places in our lives where we’ve been passed over, overlooked, and cast aside. Haven’t we?

However, while we were doing everything in our power to get out of those places, God was moving heaven and earth to get into them! Bethlehem is that little ground in our lives that God MAKES large by filling with Christ’s HOLY presence! Hear this: the small places in your life are the ones that are big enough for God!

You know what? Hear this: there is no place in your life that’s too insignificant for God! And while we’re at it, here this, too: there’s not even any place in your life that’s unimportant in God’s eyes! There’s no corner of your past, present, or future that God’s ashamed to show up in the middle of and fill with  all the glory of Christ’s HOLY Spirit!

…In the days to come, says the pastor, we will all want to get to that little town of Bethlehem. Won’t we? The thing to know, though, is that you’ve ALREADY been there. And you know the way back there, too! It just isn’t all that pleasant.

What the prophet Micah declares, though, is that we will come upon this holy ground unexpectedly and suddenly. And what the witness of Ruth insists is that God will get to work there quietly. Subtly, even. Obliquely!

Nevertheless, recognize it or not, welcome it or not; the Holy Spirit will bring you to that little place where God has big plans! For it’s precisely those little places in our lives that have an outsized impact. Don’t they?

And that’s right where God plans to work in your life! It’s right there that God will send The One who will NOURISH you in the strength of the Lord. And it’s right there that God will tilt your life toward what Julian of Norwich called that great “all shall be WELL, and ALL shall be WELL, and ALL manner of things shall be well.”

Yes, this is hard to say. And it’s even harder to see. But from God’s perspective, it’s the only thing worth saying. And what’s more, it’s the only thing God sees. 

So, for now, we just put our heads down, our ears up, and walk humbly. Walk humbly, trusting that God is leading us all along. 

And so, seeing as pilgrims always sing, let us take up a traveling hymn as we make our way to that little town of Bethlehem!

No, not “O Little Town.” Not yet. Soon enough. For now, why don’t we sing “Build a Longer Table,” ACS 1062