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“O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

Every year of your life you have heard and sung this sweet carol..

1. O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

The accent of the carol is on “little”. The little town of Bethlehem.

The carol is reminder that God is at work everywhere. That in fact God is at work in the last and least of places.

We are fooled into thinking big places matter. New York City. Moscow. Shanghai. Mumbai. Washington, DC. Mexico City.

But God did not send his savior to such prominent places. He sent him to a humble place of little or no account.

The message of Christmas in Bethlehem was and will always be God is at work in the humble places. The world might attribute significance to the big, powerful, sophisticated places, but that means nothing to God. Jesus was born to a humble faithful, religious girl like any of our young women in church, and a carpenter. The message of Christmas will always be, God has come to your living room, your kitchen, your office, your classroom, your factory, your church. The Bethlehems of the world are not way down on the list of importance. They are at the top. I like to think of Millstone like that. Common. Out of the way. “Unimportant.” Except to God. “For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The common was exalted at Christmas and forever will be.

Let’s pray. “Dear Lord we miss it time and again. We think we are insignificant. But we matter to you so much that your Son came and lived and died for us. We think the powerful places matter, but home matters. Help us never to forget where we live – in your heart of love, where we shall forever be. Thank you. Amen.”