O Little Town of Bethlehem

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

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel


Bethlehem, this little town, is the setting for this history changing moment. While the Old Testament said Bethlehem would play a role in the coming Messiah, no one seemed to be keeping an eye on this tiny village. We might expect the zealots to set up a stake out, watching round the clock for something to happen, anything that might signify a coming King. But like so many other prophecies, we did not understand the clues God was giving us ahead of time. It was only after the fact that we could see that Jesus would fulfill over 300 prophecies given in the Old Testament. The world was watching for all of the wrong things; I wonder, are we? Are we watching for all of the wrong things? Are we missing Jesus in the small because we are on the lookout for the spectacular? God doesn't often work in the showy. Just look at Bethlehem. For it was in Bethlehem, on a silent night, in a tiny town that a Savior was given to the world in a lowly manger.

Silently. Silently. So many songs repeat this word about the night Jesus was born. Without trumpet or fanfare, proclaimed only to a field full of shepherds, the Christ Child came. He didn't demand attention; He didn't declare His royal rights. He slipped into the world unnoticed by most human eyes. Just as He would live His life to serve and not to be served, when God arrived in Bethlehem, He didn't make it about Him. A few wise men understood who this Child was and traveled from afar to offer adoration and praise, but a few valuable gifts laid at the feet of the King of the universe hardly seem to be enough.

And yet, Jesus never asks to be treated as the King of the universe. Not once in His life did He claim His rights as a King. He never sought to be served, but always served. He never forced anyone to follow Him, but He lovingly invited. He left a kingdom above to wander the earth as a homeless man. He healed people right and left, never asking for payment or praise. He sought the Father's glory, not His own, every single moment of His life. He was a shepherd to His people, gentle, yet strong. His life was not about Him; it was always about the Father, and it was always about us.

Us--the lowly and the meek. For those who are willing to own their brokenness and sinfulness, to kneel humbly at the manger, they will find their servant King Jesus. For it is in our humility that we are able to see the humble King. We can see that God is not a King to the proud, the showy, the powerful, the righteous. He came as a vulnerable Child King so that we might know that He is our King, a King to the broken, the lowly, the trampled, and the weak. We know He came to save us because He truly came as one of us.

Thus as we see Him arrive in humility to serve and to save us, we find the courage to ask Him to come, to descend to specifically to us. When we kneel our hearts in brokenness, He comes. He descends from His throne and He comes to our level. He is not towering above us any longer. He lifts our heads to look into His forgiving eyes. And He says, "My child, I have come so that your sins will be no more." There and then He is born again in us; the gift comes over and over again to each heart that bows low. Just as He was born in a lowly stable, in the unremarkable town of Bethlehem, so He is born again in a lowly sinner, in the unremarkable hearts of you and me.

This is the good news the angels herald; this is the good news each Christmas song heralds. The angels proclaimed the beautiful birth of a servant Child on that Christmas night so long ago, and we who know this Savior proclaim the birth of Him in our hearts every day. Each day we ask God to descend to us, to cast out our sin, to once again enter into our broken mess of a life. And each day He comes anew, bringing Emmanuel to dwell with us. And each day we praise God that He has come, for we know His birth on that day so long ago, and in our hearts this day, changes everything.

So little town of Bethlehem, you may be small, you may not have much to offer by way of entertainment or even lodging, but God has chosen to arrive in your quaint little hamlet. He has chosen you as the scene of His great power. Thank you Bethlehem for reminding us that God chooses us in the same way. We may be small, and not have much to offer, but God chose us to be the place where He dwells, the place where He manifests His great power. Praise God for His mercies, big and small.