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Sermons In Time
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"...And Thou Bethlehem.
.."Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11
Gospel: Mark 1:1-8
In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah there is a sadness for Israel. Jeremiah, the prophet, weeps as the people travel to Babylon as Exiles. They are going "far from the home they love." As this happened, Jeremiah made aan interesting decision. He chose to purchase land in the country which was no longer to be home. The act was to bear witness. Jeremiah was saying, "I shall return."
There is something about home which captures our hearts. The place of our birth, the early childhood memories, all are symbolic of belonging. One may not be able to go home again. When James Whitcomb Riley went back to the "old swimming hole" it was just not the same as it had been as a child. Yet one also never leaves the place where the memories linger in the soul.
Having a place to call home is an important part of our identity. At one time, such a place was geographical. Home was the place of one's birth and development. Today, for many who have lived in a mobile society, the experience of "home" is quite different. Home is in the heart. Home is often a development of skills which makes it possible to be comfortable in any place. Instead of having roots in a particular location or even position, such a one is at ease in the world as long as the developed skill finds useful service.
The absence of home can make the soul a wanderer. When one is a wanderer identity related to family and friends is harder to develop. However one experiences who they are, the importance of home is an important part of that experience.
In the New Testament, as the story of Jesus unfolds, there is a strong identity with place. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was not a large community, but it was rich in history. Born in Bethlehem was a reminder of his relationship to Ruth and David. They represent a family of importance in Jewish history. His family of birth were of the house and linage of David. His was a devout mother. His father was a skilled carpenter.
He grew up in Nazareth. Again, not a place of importance, but clearly important to understand who Jesus was. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" The question itself tells you that Nazareth was "One of those places." It's a bit like, "Can anything good come out of a place like Rosebud?" Rosebud being a small lost town on an Indian reservation where the chief occupation is alcoholism.
One almost has the impression that the historical significance of the birth of Jesus was derisive. Although that is not true, it is significant that the place of birth and the place of early life symbolized the lowliness of birth. It is not a history of the high and mighty. Those of us who "want so much" for our children so they can do well in the world need the reminder that more than one person of greatness comes from very lowly birth. That lowly birth includes our Lord Jesus Christ! Nor should one ever despair having not had much of this world's goods. Quality of life has little relationship to being "rich and famous." Those who live on the edge of poverty live as deprived persons. The struggle for human wholeness does not come easily.
Another important identity issue with the birth of Jesus relates to the place of birth. Not only is there reference to the Old Testament confirming his role as redeemer. There is also the realization that his birth is truly historical, and related to such a place as Bethlehem. Those who would question the validity of the Christian story need reminding that the story itself is replete with historical credibility. Those who first told the story were eager for the world to know this one who had lived very concretely in their world.
Some years ago, I went to the town of my birth. It had been some time since I had been there. As a small child, this little town had many of our relatives. I could walk all over town and visit aunts, uncles, grandmother, and cousins. The community was home because of all those who lived there who were close.
On this particular day, however, the streets were strangely bare. No one was "out and about." Only a small pack of dogs were my companions as I waked the deserted streets. Places where I had been welcome in years gone by were now the homes of total strangers. There was an emptiness in my heart as I looked at the only houses where family had once lived. Now, after 90 years, the house where I was born is for the first time no longer in the family. There is nothing there to call me back. No one living where so many once lived.
Yet, this is the town of my birth. This is the place where memories formed which bring pleasure to the child which still lives within me. I do not want anyone to discount the value of that lonely place. I will never live there. Nor is it ever likely that any of my relatives will live there again. Within my soul, however, that place has an important quality of "home." It iss where I was born, my parents married, grandmother lived. It is the place where I was always free to be completely myself. It is the place where I preached my first sermon.
Today, we look forward to having a home of our own. That time and place is still in the future. Like Jeremiah, I desire to "buy a plot of land" to call my own. Someday it will happen. It will never take the place of the land of birth, however.
It was in Bethlehem Jesus was born. It was a lowly birth. It is not in Jerusalem. As one writer puts it, the point of Bethlehem is not that it was David's home. It is rather, that not far from the splendid capital, Jerusalem, from the simple village or country town the Savior King did come. It is another aspect of the familiar Biblical truth proclaimed by Paul that God chooses the weak and despise to confound the mighty.
All of this reminds us of two thoughts about God:
First, God is territorial. In the Old Testament, there is clearly an identity of the people of God with a place. Throughout the Old Testament, God is the one who dwells in a place. First, God lives in the Ark of the Covenant. Wherever the people go, God is with them in this mobile chest which contains the Ten Commandments. As the people settle down, the temple is built as the house of God. For several centuries, the temple was the place where the people found God. When the exile came, there was a sense of abandonment felt among those who were the exiles. There was no way to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land. The song in their heart was gone. They were a lonely, lost people far from home.
Then, something happened to change the future of religion. In a strange land, the people understood that God was still with them. The Lord God did not live only in Jerusalem, nor in Bethlehem, nor in any other place. The people of Israel knew God to be universal.
Never again have the people of God felt they must worship only in one place. It is this reality that makes it possible for some to believe they don't need to worship at al with te Community of Faith. What the People of God really came to understand was that whenever two or three gathered in the Name and Spirit of the Lord, the Lord was thee in the midst of them.
Discovering God unlimited by time or to one place did much more. It also make it possible for the Faith to be universal as well. All people everywhere are under the love and care of our God. The one true and living God is the God who is for all people.
Most of us need to hear this good news. We all have a deep love for the land of our birth. The place we call home is a place we love, whether circumscribed by square feet or unlimited because it is within the soul. Each of us have our Bethlehem. Each of us have our childhood memories to claim. Each of us have traditions and memories that time us to the past.
We must realize that every person on God's good Earth has such a story to tell. We all defend our home. We all want to protect those we love. Bethlehem invites us to be at home in our world. Bethlehem also reminds us that every person in the world has a place of memory , a place they call home. Every person protects that which they love.
The soul who has lived in exile, who has left home, knows themselves to be at ease with in the world. They know no limits of time or place. Yet, most of us can tell of home. It is the "root of Jesse" out of which we have come. Today, let us claim our home. Let us also respect the home of every soul. Let us remember Bethlehem. It is the place where the young child lay. Amen
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