________________________________________________

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2007

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Matthew 3:1-12 (The journey to Bethlehem)

________________________________________________

TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

As it was 2,000 years ago, so it is today. The little town of Bethlehem is not very inviting. It is not very attractive. It is not very appealing. But it is the precise place that God chose to change the history of the world. And it is the one place in the world that beckons to our hearts today. Are you ready to make the spiritual journey to Bethlehem?

________________________________________________

1. There is not much for a traveler to see in Bethlehem these days. Dirty streets. Dirty buildings. A decaying infrastructure. Merchants desperately trying to make a living. Thousands of people living in poverty. Hundreds of young children and teens aggressively trying to sell bottles of water, postcards, and other cheap trinkets. And almost no tourists. Since 1995, the little town of Bethlehem has been under the control of the Palestinian National Authority (following the terms of the Oslo Accord of 1993). It is located in the West Bank territory and is exactly six miles south of the Old City of Jerusalem. Its population stands at 40,000. It has about 60 churches -- 25 of them Roman Catholic, 25 from the various Orthodox denominations, and 10 Protestant. And there are at least two dozen or more Muslim mosques. Since at least the Fall of 2000, Bethlehem has not been a safe place for travelers to visit. The level of political unrest there is very high. The second tour that Dixie and I led to Israel (in the summer of 2001) did not make it to Bethlehem. Our tour guide, a former Jewish special forces officer, did not think it would be safe for him -- or for us -- to go there. So we skipped Bethlehem in 2001. But on our first tour to Israel in the summer of 2000, we did get to spend the better part of two days in and around Bethlehem. But even then, before the travel restrictions were ordered by the Israeli Defense Forces, THERE WAS NOT MUCH FOR A TRAVELER TO SEE IN BETHLEHEM. Let me say that again: When Dixie and I led a tour group to Bethlehem seven years ago, there was not much for us to see. Even the Church of the Holy Nativity -- built on top of the cave where the Lord Jesus was born -- is a sad and depressing place to see. Because of the competing jurisdictions of the various Christian denominations (as well as the crumbling economy and the political unrest), NOT MUCH IS BEING DONE to keep the church maintained. Even old graffiti from 200 years ago still remains. And here is the strangest thing of all: When you look around the Little Town of Bethlehem today, you get an overwhelming sense of sadness. And THAT was my first impression of the city of our Lord’s birth: SADNESS.

2. But, thank God, it was not my last impression. For if you close your eyes, take a few deep breaths of the high desert air, and sit still for a few minutes, you get a much clearer, a much different perspective of the village where the Lord Jesus was born. The little town of Bethlehem, after all, is nearly 5,000 years ago. Long before the Jewish people and their distant brothers the Arabs began jostling for control of its government in the last 50 years, Bethlehem was an ancient city. It was home to the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Peruzzites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and even (for a short time) the Philistines. From the Old Testament, we know it became home to Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth . . . And for Ruth’s great-grandson, King David -- more than 1,000 years BEFORE the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is an ancient city. A city that has retained its original flavor, its original perspective. From the beginning, it was always a shepherd’s village -- built in a semi-circle atop a hilltop overlooking a deep valley known today as “shepherd’s valley.” It was -- and still is -- a place where transients come to visit, to shop, to relax, to unwind. It was -- and still is -- a place dependent upon VISITORS, on travelers, on transients, for its livelihood. Seven years ago, when I closed my eyes and breathed the high desert air, I realized that Bethlehem’s people, its focus, its existence, have changed very little over the course of 5,000 years. I realized that the very ETHOS, the very CHARACTER, of Bethlehem had not changed. In other words, what I experienced in the year 2000 was very similar to what Mary and Joseph must have experienced 20 centuries earlier. When I closed my eyes and offered my heart to God, I realized the eternal significance of the little town of Bethlehem.

Bethlehem stands today as it did 20 centuries ago: As an enigma. It is a sad and depressing place, a place of transients. But it is also the focal point of the entire world. For God, in his unlimited mercy and goodness, chose to come into the world in, of all places, the little town of Bethlehem. A village of sheep and shepherds. A village of poor and simple people. A village that is always a transition place and never a destination. A village that has always been in the shadowy corner of society, on the margins of civilization.

3. And that is where our Gospel picks up this morning. In the little town of Bethlehem. By orders of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar some 20 centuries ago, all Jews whose families came from Bethlehem were required to return to that city. To be historically accurate, we must remember that the Romans were incredibly proficient in collecting taxes. As a matter of fact, they REQUIRED heavy taxation to support their imperial armies. And they used a periodic CENSUS to count the number of their conquered people (including the Jews) and to extract money from them. In Israel, according to the Emperor’s orders, all men were to return to their ancestral hometowns to be counted . . . And to be taxed. Holy Scripture tells us that Joseph was descended from King David, and tradition tells us that Mary was, too. And the “city of David” was Bethlehem. So Joseph and Mary were required to journey from their residence in Nazareth in Galilee (some five or six days NORTH of Bethlehem, by horseback) to Bethlehem. And the most remarkable thing of all was this: Mary was nine months’ pregnant at the time of their historic journey. Pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our Gospel lesson today tells us that Joseph was greatly concerned about this pregnancy:

(1) Joseph knew he was not the father. So, by rights of the Hebrew law, he had been greatly offended. Tremendously offended.

(2) And so he determined, according to the law of his day, to divorce his betrothed.

(3) By law, he could have had her stoned to death on the grounds of adultery. But Joseph determined to set her aside quietly, without invoking the death penalty. Such was the love that Joseph had for Mary.

(4) But . . . One night when Joseph was sleeping, an angel of the Lord appeared and told him about the miraculous nature of Mary’s conception -- that the child in her womb was the savior of the world, conceived NOT by man but by the Holy Spirit of God. The angel announced that the name of the child was YESHUA -- Joshua, or Jesus -- who would be the messiah (HA MESHIACH). YESHUA HA MESHIACH . . . Jesus the Christ.

(5) And, just as Mary had agreed (without understanding completely the directives of God) to become the bearer of the Lord, so, too, did Joseph agree (without understanding completely the directives of God) to become the foster father of the Christ.

(6) In God’s infinite wisdom, He picked two people -- Mary and Joseph -- who would say YES to Him without reservation, without argument, without negotiation.

(7) And in fulfillment of prophecy, Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem, where she would bear the Holy Child.

4. We have arrived today at the Fourth Sunday in the Season of Advent -- one day before the Eve of Christmas. And this day sets before us a proposition, and a question: We have the opportunity TODAY to journey to Bethlehem in our hearts. We have an opportunity to join Mary and Joseph, in our hearts, as they arrive in the dusty little village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. But ARE WE WILLING to set aside our fears, our trepidations, our anxieties? Are we WILLING to say “YES” to God in the same way that Mary and Joseph did (without reservation, without argument, without negotiation)? Are we willing to look BEYOND outward perceptions, and look into our hearts? Are we ready to say “YES” to YESHUA HA MESHIACH, Jesus the Christ?

5. As it was 2,000 years ago, so it is today. The little town of Bethlehem is not very inviting. It is not very attractive. It is not very appealing. But it is the precise place that God chose to change the history of the world. And it is the one place in the world that beckons to our hearts today.

Are you ready to make the spiritual journey to Bethlehem?