It was
probably rusty, maybe lacking a screw or two, and almost certainly attached to
third-grade, splintered wood. But it was, in the words of American preacher
Ralph Sockman, “the hinge of history” on the door of a Bethlehem stable.
In contrast
to the pomp and pageantry of kings and presidents and the sleek, purring
cavalcades of limousines conveying world leaders to their summits—and, sadly,
to the ostentation of many of the Lord's 21st century “servants”—the entrance
of the Son of God into the world was markedly low-key.
As Phillips
Brooks sang, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!” But a
host of angels poured from Bethlehem's skies in a cascade of song—a private
"Christmas card'' for a few lonely shepherds. The world heard nothing—the Messiah
slipped unobtrusively from eternity into time. The words of another poem sum up
the paradox of the incarnation of Jesus,:
They
were all looking for a king
To lead them forth and lift them high.
He came a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
To lead them forth and lift them high.
He came a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
But, so
often, that is God's way of doing things. Bethlehem had no particular claim to
fame: it was “little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5:2). But from it
came a ruler whose roots were in eternity. Nathanael asked, “Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Others said, ''You won't find a prophet
coming from a place like that!'' (John 7:52). Yet out of that run-down town,
came the Saviour of the world.
The world
imagines that it can shape history and create security by erecting impressive
and loudly trumpeted political and economic structures (super-states and
globalisation). It should study the story of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11)!
Sometimes
the Church tries to bring in the kingdom through loudly acclaimed structures
and methods. But “the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1
Corinthians 4:20). It is not about brand image, high-flown rhetoric about
dynamic leadership, cutting-edge ministry, and prophetic this and that. It is
about humility and empowerment by the Spirit
History turns
on that rough-edged stable door in Bethlehem. More precisely, it revolves
around the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—his virgin birth, his sinless life, his
atoning death, his glorious resurrection, and his ascension to the throne of
the universe—in which he triumphed over the powers of darkness and wrested the
keys of human destiny from the grip of the devil. God has made him both Lord
and Christ.
The great
Scottish preacher James S Stewart has summed it up superbly, “A child is born to
a peasant woman; a young man toils at a bench; half a dozen fishermen suddenly
leave their boats . . . . In the obscurity of a wooded glade, a bowed figure
wrestles in prayer; on an insignificant hill a cross is raised; in a garden a
tomb stands empty.”
It all sounds
so local . . . far removed from the rushing years and the surge and thunder of
the deeds of men. Yet in this, God leapt the barriers of the centuries and the
frontiers of every nation under heaven. In this, from its hidden beginnings, it
has stormed the mind and conscience of the world.
It's true—that
creaking old door in Bethlehem opens up a whole new world!
Excerpted from Reflections: Looking at Timeless Truths in a
Changing World, with permission, copyright © John Lancaster 2010
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