[0:00] Take your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1, we'll get there in a minute, like a couple weeks ago when I went to take you to Luke chapter 1.
[0:35] We'll get there eventually, but be there and ready to go in just a minute. A little town of Bethlehem. You notice the word humility. A couple weeks ago we talked about, come now long expected Jesus, and we used the word hope.
[0:50] And we talked about the fact that Jesus was going to come that first time. Over a hundred prophecies in the Bible about his coming that first time. More than that, in the Bible about his second coming.
[1:00] And we can trust his second coming because he fulfilled every one of those promises in the first coming. And so we have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. As we face this Christmas season, it's about hope.
[1:14] Today we want to talk about the fact that it's humility. A little town of Bethlehem. If you were to visit Bethlehem today, you would find it a thriving, large, bustling city.
[1:26] Made up of Jewish, Muslim, Christians, all faiths there in that city. And so not surprisingly, it's economy is thriving based on tourism.
[1:40] People want to come and see the place where Jesus was born. Phillips Brooks, I mentioned there, he's the author of the song, A Little Town of Bethlehem.
[1:51] He visited there in 1865, long time ago, into the Civil War. And he got to experience the city more like Mary and Joseph would have experienced it.
[2:06] Small, quiet. And he went there to visit. He was a well-known pastor who lived in the Boston area.
[2:16] His sermons were printed in the newspapers back at that time. So everybody who couldn't make it to church could read his sermons. He was outspoken against slavery and was so glad to see it end at the end of the Civil War.
[2:30] But the war had taken its toll on everyone, including Phillips Brooks. And then the assassination of President Lincoln, he decided he needed some time.
[2:42] He was just kind of worn out. And so he took a two-month visit to the Holy Land. And he was there in December of 1865.
[2:54] On Christmas Eve, he left Jerusalem on horseback and went up to six miles to Bethlehem. He arrived just in time toward evening. The Christians in the town were getting ready to have a Christmas Eve service.
[3:09] And he joined in with them. And he was so moved by that that it affected him for the rest of his life. He was moved by the simplicity, the humility, the smallness of the town, and what they were doing there that night.
[3:30] But he said, you know, here is this little insignificant town. And yet, the Lord of Lords chose to be born there.
[3:42] He thought about it and he said, you know, here's a contrast between the grandeur of God. Look around. The stars, the heavens, the creation.
[3:53] Look at the grandeur of God and the simplicity of this little town that God chose to enter the world through. And think about the family.
[4:04] And it left a deep impression on him. So three years later, he's back in America. And he wanted to tell his children of his church about what it was like. And so he wrote his words to, oh, little town of Bethlehem.
[4:16] And he gave those words to Louis Redner to write music, to go with them. Louis Redner was the church organist. And he was having problems getting a tune to fit these words.
[4:31] He kept working on it, working on it, working on it. He just didn't like anything he was seeing. The night before the service, he woke up in the middle of the night. A tune in his head.
[4:42] Wrote it all down. And they sang it the next morning during the Christmas service. That's the story behind the song that we sing. But the thing I want us to see today is that he was impressed, like I said, with the smallness, the simplicity of everything.
[4:59] And so we want us, first of all, to see this morning the unlikely people in unlikely places that God will use. Unlikely people in unlikely places.
[5:11] Everything about Christmas was different than you would expect. Here's the king of kings. He's going to come into the earth. He's going to make his presence known. He could have chosen any city.
[5:22] He could have chosen any home to be a part of. And he chooses Bethlehem. And some hardworking, godly parents.
[5:36] Bethlehem wasn't a place of renown. It was mentioned in the Old Testament. Remember in Micah 5 to 700 years before Jesus came. The prediction was that he would come in Bethlehem.
[5:51] But you think about it. The most significant event in history is about to take place. And it's in a little town. You know how significant Jesus' coming was?
[6:04] I love this. Remember those of us who are older, we grew up, you know, and there was the B's, C's, and the A's, right? Before Christ and the end of the dominion after Christ.
[6:15] Now they're trying to change it. You read history books and things now. And now it's B.E. And C.B.E. No, C.E.
[6:27] B.C.E. B.C.E. And C.E. The common era and before the common era. Don't want anything that has a smacking of Jesus in there. So we're going to be the common era and before the common era.
[6:41] But when's the date they use to still separate that time period? The date Jesus came? They can't get away from it. And here's Jesus. He comes and he's going to be born in Bethlehem.
[6:55] But you really want to see the simplicity of all this? Go 90 miles north of Bethlehem. You'll find the town of Nazareth. 90 miles north is Nazareth.
[7:06] And Nazareth is where Jesus actually first came into the earth because as a pre-born. He was born in Bethlehem. But as a pre-born he came in to marry in Nazareth.
[7:19] And Nazareth is an obscure little town. And it's so small. They estimate there was about 100 people lived there. And the Jewish Talmud, their Old Testament, doesn't even mention Nazareth.
[7:34] Their historian, Josephus, from back then, he doesn't mention Nazareth. Nobody cares about Nazareth. It was so small that basically it was a stopping point for the Roman soldiers as they were going from one place to another because there was one well in Nazareth.
[7:49] One. And people would stop there to fill up with water. And here's where Jesus chose to come to Mary in Nazareth. Nazareth is so insignificant.
[8:00] Remember when Philip is trying to convince Nathanael to come and meet Jesus because he's the Messiah? And Nathanael's response was in John 1, 46. Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
[8:15] Philip, Philip saith unto him, Come and see. I like that. Come and see. Don't just trust me. Come and find out for yourself.
[8:27] And so Nazareth doesn't have much to offer. Nobody expected a lot out of the place. But you can't judge a place sometimes just by the amenities that it has or the culture that it has or anything.
[8:39] You judge places by the people that they have. What are the people like? Who are they? And so here's Nazareth. And within the border of Nazareth, there is a woman who loved God with all of her heart.
[8:55] Matter of fact, the Bible talks about her being highly favored of God. She was so spiritually grounded in the things of God. You know, as I've been reading through things and preparing for these sermons on these different hymns, one guy said, Great works of God rarely start in big places with flashy announcements.
[9:21] Rather, they start in small places, in the heart of a person with a big commitment. I like that. They start in the heart of a person with a big commitment.
[9:35] How about your heart? Does your heart have a big commitment to the things of God? Are you willing to listen to God and do whatever he says? Mary was. Mary was so committed to God that she had a humility about her.
[9:51] And one of the first things we learned about her and her humility is she had the humility to trust. The humility to trust should be up there on the screen. You know, think about Mary.
[10:03] Here she is. She's probably in her teens still. She's going along. She's having her day, doing whatever she is. Maybe she's gone to the well to get water. Maybe she's doing house cleaning.
[10:15] Maybe she's helping out in some way here or there or something or other. And all of a sudden, she's just going through her day, and there's someone there talking to her. The angel Gabriel shows up and starts talking with her.
[10:28] Can you imagine what that was like? Luke chapter 1, beginning of verse 26. Luke chapter 1, beginning of verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into the city of Galilee named Nazareth.
[10:43] Stop right there for a second. What does he mean in the sixth month? Well, remember a couple weeks ago, we were talking about Zachariah and Elizabeth, and they were going to have a baby named John the Baptist.
[10:56] In the first part of chapter 1, it talks about that meaning. Gabriel goes to them, goes to Zachariah, and lets them know that they're going to have a baby. He's going to be the forerunner.
[11:08] He's going to be the messenger about the coming Messiah. Elizabeth finds out she's going to have a baby. She's going to become pregnant. And in the sixth month, Gabriel comes back to talk to Mary.
[11:22] Look at verse 27. Verse 28.
[11:53] Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. Wow. Understandably, Mary's surprised to be having this conversation.
[12:07] She said she was troubled in her heart. What in the world is going on? Who is this guy, and what is he talking about? She wasn't prepared for this, and she's going through her mind trying to figure out what's going on.
[12:22] But he reassures her. She says, don't be afraid. Listen to what I have to say. This is what's going to happen. See, Gabriel's announcement was actually one that Jewish girls all throughout Israel's history, for 4,000 years, they longed to hear this, that they were going to give birth to the Messiah.
[12:43] They knew the Messiah was coming. Where was he coming from? And now here's Mary being told that that's going to happen. Remember a couple weeks ago, we used to talk way back in Genesis 3.15.
[12:57] Look at what the verse says. So, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
[13:10] Who's the woman? Mary. Mary's about to give birth to the Messiah. Later on in Isaiah 7.14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
[13:23] Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. What did it say about Mary? She was a virgin. Who is that verse talking about?
[13:36] Mary. So Mary, great things are about to happen. Great things are about to take place in your life. Mary obviously has questions.
[13:47] Notice our very first question. Look at verse 34. Verse 34 says, Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? Seems I know not a man.
[13:58] Catch the question. How shall this thing be? Not how can it be, but how shall it be? She didn't question that God could do anything he wants to do.
[14:12] She didn't question that God could perform a miracle. But how is it going to happen? That's what she wanted to know. She didn't question God. She had a humility about her that said God can do anything he wants to do.
[14:24] Look at verse 35 and 36. He says, And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore, also the holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
[14:39] And behold, my cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with her who is called barren. Verse 37. For with God, nothing shall be impossible.
[14:53] With God, nothing shall be impossible. Mary, don't you worry about it. God's got it covered. God knows exactly what he's going to do and how he's going to do it.
[15:05] You know, sometimes we come up against impossible situations. Sometimes we come up against things and we wonder, how in the world is God going to take care of this? What is God going to do here?
[15:16] How am I going to go through this? You know, you wonder how some things could possibly be taking place in your life and how they're going to come out right.
[15:30] That's where humility comes in. God can do whatever he wants. We may not understand it. We may not understand how he will do it, but we know that God can do it.
[15:45] It takes humility to recognize that God knows more about the situation than we do. God already has it planned out. It takes humility to trust God.
[15:57] What he is doing is good. You know, when we place our trust in God, we've actually placed it in the best place possible.
[16:09] We've placed it in the one who controls and can take care of us. Jeremiah 32, 17. Listen to what it says. Ah, Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm.
[16:26] And there is nothing too hard for thee. There's nothing too hard for thee. Matthew chapter 19, verse 26.
[16:37] Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Ephesians, excuse me, Ephesians 3, 20.
[16:50] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Mary had the humility to believe that God could do the impossible.
[17:06] And she trusted him. And she was going to allow him to do whatever he wanted in and through her because she trusted him. She had the humility to trust.
[17:17] Second, she had the humility to surrender. You know, my parents got saved when I was three. And since that time, every year, we have read through Luke 1 and 2 at Christmastime.
[17:35] When we, before we could open Christmas presents, we had to read through Luke 2 at least to remind us it wasn't about the presents, it wasn't about us, it wasn't about all the celebrations and all the other, it was about Jesus.
[17:52] And so reading through this for all those years, 65 years I've been reading through these things, there's a verse there in Luke 1, look at verse 38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.
[18:12] And the angel departed from her. Did you notice her response? Here am I. Be it unto me according to thy word.
[18:23] Her immediate, full submission to him to do whatever he wanted to do. It's a remarkable humility that she had. I mean, you think about what's going to happen here.
[18:34] Mary's going to have the Messiah. But also think about the times that she lived in. See, when he came, when Gabriel came to Mary and gave her this announcement, she was betrothed to Joseph.
[18:48] Now, in Jewish culture, a betrothal was more than an engagement we have today. There was an actual written contract of marriage that they would have had.
[19:02] And the only way that contract could be broken was by a divorce. They hadn't been married yet. They hadn't come together yet. But the contract could only be broken by a divorce.
[19:15] And so here she is with a legally binding contract. They're supposed to be married. The only thing they're waiting for is the ceremony itself to take place.
[19:25] That's it. And so this angel comes, Gabriel, gives her the announcement that she's going to have this child. And she says, be it unto me according to thy word.
[19:39] But I'm sure she had a lot of questions. Like, what's this mean for our wedding? We haven't actually had the wedding yet, but what's this mean for that?
[19:49] Are we still going to get married? What's Joseph going to think? Is he going to believe me when I tell him this story of how I came to have a child? Are my friends and family going to believe when I tell them about how this happened?
[20:06] How's this going to affect Joseph's reputation as a businessman in the community? How's this going to affect my reputation? There's all kinds of questions.
[20:19] They will eventually get answered, but the quickness, the completeness of Mary's surrender, she didn't wrestle with the decision. Did you notice the one thing she didn't say to Gabriel?
[20:32] Huh. Interesting. Let me pray about that. No. Be unto me according to thy word. I'm the handmaid of the Lord.
[20:44] Whatever God wants, that's what I want. That's the type of surrender God wants from us. The surrender where we give ourselves to him, trust him completely, and allow him to work in our life.
[20:56] Do we struggle with the will of God in our life? Why do we do that? Pride. Pride. When things start interfering with our plans, with our desires, ours will always win out over what God wants, won't they?
[21:14] He says, nope. She said, whatever you want. Surrendering to God's will is actually a two-part process. It's two different decisions that have to be made.
[21:28] One, I make the decision, that one-time decision, I am going to surrender myself to God. I am going to do whatever God wants me to do. Second, as I live day to day to day to day, am I doing decision number one?
[21:50] Am I following God's will for today? Am I following God's will for today? Am I following God's will for today? See, we need to surrender everything, our plans, our hobbies, our relationships, everything.
[22:01] Those of you with me on Wednesday nights, Romans chapter 12, verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[22:15] Has there been a time when you've done that? You've made decision number one, that one time, I am going to surrender myself to God, and I'm going to allow God to work in my life, and I'm going to do whatever God wants me to do. I'm presenting myself a living sacrifice to him.
[22:29] We were talking about that verse, and Dana said, problem with a living sacrifice, they can take themselves off the altar. And sometimes we do that. Yes, I want to serve God, and then somewhere down the road things get tough, and we're like, you know what?
[22:43] I might have been a little hasty there. Things are getting a little tough. We're going to think about this some more. He says, no, you make that decision to present yourself.
[22:54] Have you ever done that, to present yourself, a living sacrifice? And then, the daily routine. I've made a decision to do this that God has called me to do.
[23:09] Today, I'm doing that. Tomorrow, I'm doing that. The next day, I'm doing that. I'm keeping my focus on what God has for me. You know, how do we know what God's will is?
[23:23] Did you notice what Mary said there in verse 38 again? She says, be it unto me according to thy word. We have God's word.
[23:34] We have God's word in our hand. He has given it to us. We have the complete thing now. And he says, follow my word. Do what it says.
[23:44] There's commandments there. There's examples there. There's all kinds of things there. Follow. Do what it says. Keep your focus there. Mary's humility to surrender was great.
[24:01] It was a small example, though, of what Jesus is going to do. Because Jesus is going to come and he's going to be born by Mary and he's going to grow and he's going to live in this world and he is going to submit himself to the will of the Father.
[24:20] Passage you know well. I didn't write it down. If you want to turn to it, you can. Philippians 2, verses 5 through 8. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.
[24:40] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Christ obeyed what he and the Father had planned from the very beginning before the foundations of the world.
[24:56] And even in those final moments before he went to the cross, he could have called 10,000 angels. Luke chapter 22, verse 42.
[25:12] He's in the garden just before he's about to go to the trial. And he says, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.
[25:24] Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. This is what I would prefer, but nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.
[25:38] Mary uses different words. I'll look there again at verse 38. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. Mary had the humility to trust.
[25:56] She had the humility to surrender. She had the humility to praise, to praise God for what he was doing. After Gabriel left, Mary goes to see her cousin Elizabeth, like I said, who is pregnant with John the Baptist.
[26:11] And the Bible tells us in verse 41, says, And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb.
[26:23] And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. When she heard Mary's voice, says, John the Baptist leapt in her womb. She knew exactly what was going on because look at what she says in verse 43 of chapter 1.
[26:41] She says, And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? She knew exactly what was going on. She knew exactly who Mary was carrying that day.
[26:55] She knew that Jesus, the Messiah, was about to be born. And think about what was Mary's response to all this? What was Mary's response? Because Elizabeth is now showering her with praise saying, The mother of my Lord, you're the one who's going to give birth to the Messiah.
[27:11] You're, you're, wow. What was Mary's response? Look at verse 46. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaid.
[27:30] For behold, from his force all generations shall call me blessed. And he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his mercy is upon them that fear him from generation to generation.
[27:45] He hath showed strength with his arm. He hath scattered the proud with the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty with their seats and exalted them of low degree.
[27:56] He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich hath he sent empty away. He hath opened his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy.
[28:07] And he hath spoke to his fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. That passage is usually referred to as the Magnificent.
[28:20] In the original languages, it would have been written as a lyrical type thing. So if you want to think of it this way, you can call it the very first Christmas carol. Mary just sang it.
[28:33] And you notice Mary's response there? She's pointing everything to God. She's pointing everything to him. Elizabeth says, whoa, mother of the Lord is here.
[28:47] And Mary's response is, you know, Mary didn't come in and go, yep, you're right, Mary Elizabeth, I'm special. Look at me.
[28:58] I'm going to give birth to the Messiah. I'm, whoo, God thinks I'm the best out of the entire world. I am the best. That wasn't her reaction. Everything was pointed to God, given to him.
[29:11] The humility of praising God for who he is. Where'd she learn that? You remember, Mary's Jewish. She'd grown up in a Jewish family.
[29:24] She had heard the stories and things. Remember in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 2, actually verses 1 through 10. I'm just going to read verse 1. Hannah has been asking for a child and she's about to have Samuel.
[29:37] And she says, and Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoiceth in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies because I rejoice in thy salvation.
[29:51] Look again at Luke 1, 46 and 47. Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. She's praising God for what's about to happen.
[30:05] The humility of praising God for what he has done and how he has taken care of things. You know, a lot of our modern Christmas carols and things and songs that are nice, I love Christmas music.
[30:15] I love hearing it. I love, especially, I should love the words and stuff, but I love instrumental versions of it just to hear it. It's so beautiful. But if we want to praise God, look at Scripture.
[30:30] Look at what Mary says there. Look at Scripture. Let me read some verses for you. Psalm 145, verse 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable.
[30:43] Psalm 100, verse 5. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations. 147, 5. Great is our Lord and of great power his understanding is infinite.
[30:57] And then later in the future, Revelation 4, 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
[31:09] You want to learn how to praise God? Get in his word. Look at what it says. So here we are. God can use unlikely people in unlikely places.
[31:20] He's using Mary. Mary has learned to trust. She has learned to surrender. She has learned to praise. What are we going to do?
[31:34] Well, let me give you a last thing. Don't miss the moment. Don't miss the moment. Think about what happens here. Gabriel comes.
[31:44] He's given her the message. She's going to have the Messiah. Nine months later, Mary and Joseph are entering Bethlehem. They're going there to pay taxes.
[31:58] But it seems they're arriving around nighttime because the inn is already full. They have no place. It may not quite have been the sleepy town that Phillips Brooks saw. because people were going there to pay their taxes.
[32:11] There was a lot of people showing up to pay taxes. They were not happy about having to pay taxes. And so they're there, not necessarily for the reason of seeing Jesus. As a matter of fact, they arrive there and they're kind of oblivious to what's going on.
[32:27] The creator of the universe is about to be born in their midst. And they had no time or space to welcome him.
[32:42] Actually, like I said, you think about it. Here's his godly parents coming there because it was prophesied 700 years before and they get pushed to the side to a stable.
[32:57] We don't have room for you guys. Go over there. You know, we usually don't think of busyness and stress and frustrations and things as being pride. But a lot of times it is.
[33:10] Anything that pushes Jesus to the side has something to do with pride. Things in our life are more important than him. We need to be so very careful.
[33:22] On the night Jesus was born, the city that he was going to come into, the city that had been prophesied was too wrapped up in themselves to recognize his presence. You know, we too get wrapped up in ourselves.
[33:38] We too get busy. We many times fail to recognize the presence of Jesus in the individual moments of our life.
[33:52] We fail to recognize that God is there all the time and he is at work all the time. So, what's the cure for pride? How do we get rid of that pride and get our focus back where it belongs on Jesus?
[34:05] How do we make room for him in our lives? We worship. We take the time to worship him for who he is and what he has done.
[34:18] In our worship, we choose to trust God. In our worship, we acknowledge that we need to surrender to him. In our worship, we need to praise him with all of our heart.
[34:33] See, when we do those things, that's humility. We're recognizing it's not all about us. It's not about what I do. It's not about what I think. It's not what I'm capable of. It is God.
[34:45] It is him that we keep our focus on. That's how we should celebrate Christmas. I don't know about you, but we're still a week and a half away from Christmas. I am so tired of parties and meetings.
[35:04] I'm getting close to being tired of the sweets. Getting close. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting close. Can we celebrate Christmas without all those things? Can we just fall and worship God?
[35:19] For who he is and what he has done. If you're here this morning and you've never asked Jesus to be your savior, come talk to me. I'd love to take the word of God and show you how. But I'm assuming most of you here this morning, all of you, are saved and know God.
[35:35] How do we remove everything so that we focus on God? We worship. So I'm going to have a stand this morning and I'm going to end with bow the knee.
[35:50] You know, what a privilege to come into God's presence just to linger with the one who set me free. That's the way the song starts.
[36:01] To spend time with him. To worship him. That's what Christmas is all about. Oh, little town of Bethlehem, the humility of it. We should understand the humility by bowing our knee and saying, God, be it according to your word.
[36:17] I will do whatever you have. Let's stand.