Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Shine Mountain Presbyterian
Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today. Special welcome if you are new or
visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because you're
filling a seat, but because we are following after Jesus together as one community, and as we follow
Jesus together, we're convinced that there's no one so good that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it, which means that God has something to say to everyone
in his word. He has something to say to people who've been Christians their entire lives,
and he also has something to say to people who might have doubts and questions and objections
to Christianity, and so it's with that that we turn to God's word as we do every week. We are in
the season of Advent, and as I've been telling you, Advent is an English word that comes from a Latin
word, which means to arrive or to come, and Advent's the time of year when we celebrate that
Jesus came to earth. We celebrate his first coming, and then we also look forward to his second coming.
Of course, that's what we always do as Christians, but it's something that we focus on in a special way
at Christmas, and we focus on the fact that Jesus became a man and was born in a manger in a stable.
As we're going through Advent, we're in the book of Micah. Remember that Micah is a book filled with
prophecies by a man named Micah, who is a prophet in the 8th century BC, and he prophesied to Judah,
which was the kingdom of Israel that was in the south. He was coming after the time of the great
king, so this is after David and Solomon, but it's also before the exile. It's before God's people
went in exile to Babylon. It's that in-between phase, and we've seen that Micah is a book about both
judgment and salvation. We looked at judgment with chapter one, and then last week we were in
salvation with chapter four, looking at the coming kingdom that Jesus is going to bring about.
Now, some of you have asked me, and even folks outside of our church have asked me, why in the
world are we looking at Micah for Advent? Maybe you've been wondering that question. The answer is
going to come out a little bit today. The reason that we're looking at Micah for Advent is that Micah
is the only Old Testament book where it's predicted that Jesus is going to be born in Bethlehem.
This is the book of the Bethlehem prophecy, and that's what we're going to look at today. We have
been working our way up to this point. This is part of the reason we've been singing all these songs
about Bethlehem this morning, and we're going to ask just a simple question. Why does it matter
that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? You might ask it a different way. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Who cares? Why do we make such a big deal out of it? Why do we have songs about it?
What is it? Why is there such a huge emphasis at Christmas on the birthplace of Jesus? You notice,
by the way, when I introduced myself to you, I didn't say, I'm Matthew Capone, and I was born in
Waco, Texas. My birthplace is insignificant, but the Bible seems to make a big deal out of Jesus'
birthplace. It's with that we're going to turn. We're in Micah chapter 5, starting at verse 1.
As we come to this, remember that this is God's word. God tells us that his word is more precious
than gold, even the finest gold. It is sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the
honeycomb. That's why we're going to read together now, starting at verse 1.
Verse 3.
Verse 5.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you speak to us, and even more than that, we thank you that
you sent your Son to be not just a king and a ruler, but also to be a shepherd.
We ask that you would shepherd us this morning by your word, that you would help us to understand more
and more what it is about Jesus Christ that is glorious and wonderful, that should bring us both fear and joy.
And we ask that you would do that by your spirit now.
We ask these things boldly, not because we have earned them, but because Jesus has earned them for us.
And so we ask them in his name. Amen.
As you may remember from chapters 1 through 3, there was predictions of great judgment that was coming to Israel because of their sin.
And that continues here in chapter 5, even though we're hearing about the salvation that God's going to bring.
It's salvation that's going to come in the future because judgment's coming in the present.
And that's what's here in verse 1.
Muster your troops, O daughter of troops, is talking about the city of Jerusalem, which is going to be sieged.
And most likely what's being talked about here is the siege that's going to happen in 701 B.C.
by Sennacherib, who's an Assyrian.
And this is going to be part of the beginning of the downfall of Judah.
This attack is going to be, we find out, embarrassing for Israel.
Their ruler, who Micah can't even call a king, bring himself to call a king,
and said he calls him simply a judge, is going to be struck on the cheek.
The enemies are going to get so close that they're going to be able to shame God's king.
Most likely this king here is Hezekiah.
And you can read more about this in the historical books and also in portions of Isaiah.
But it's not going to be well for Israel as this judgment is coming.
And so as they're living in the present, looking at what's coming down the pike,
which is going to be incredibly painful and destructive,
it's with that that this word of hope comes in about Bethlehem.
They, like us, we may not be experiencing judgment in the same way,
but they, like us, live in a world that's filled with sin and brokenness.
And they, like us, need a word of hope in the midst of that.
And so as Micah likes to do, putting judgment and hope together,
he starts with judgment and gives them that hope.
Why is it that they should have hope in the midst of a coming judgment?
Why should they have hope as destruction is on its way?
What is it about this king that's going to give them hope?
Why and how should they have confidence?
Last week we saw in Micah chapter 4 they could have hope in the kingdom that's coming.
And this week in Micah chapter 5 it's going to be hope not in the kingdom, but in the king.
The first thing we find out about this king, verse 2, is that he's born in Bethlehem.
In early 2008, Katie Couric, the news anchor, host, asked all the political candidates at the time,
and the primaries hadn't completed, so it was many candidates on both sides, Democrats and Republicans.
She asked them, if you end up in the Oval Office, which book are you going to take with you?
If you could take any one book besides the Bible, what would it be?
There was a variety of responses, most of them seeming pretty calculated.
There was one that was a little bit surprising, and it came from Barack Obama.
Obama said, I would bring one book, and it would be Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin,
which was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Abraham Lincoln.
And then he went on to talk about the ways in which he liked Lincoln's leadership style
and the ways that he wanted to follow after it.
Now, this wasn't a coincidence.
A year earlier, when he had announced his candidacy in 2007,
he had decided he was going to announce it at the old state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.
And he was doing this very intentionally.
He had chosen this location to make a point,
because it was the old state capitol where Abraham Lincoln had worked as a legislator,
and then Obama had worked as a legislator.
It was the old state capitol where Abraham Lincoln had given his house-divided speech.
It was the old state capitol where Barack Obama was going to announce that he was running for president.
And so he was trying to draw this parallel between himself and a previous ruler based on location.
Now, whether you like President Obama, whether you don't like him,
whether you agree with him, whether you disagree with him, that's not the point.
The point is this.
Place matters.
Geography matters when it comes to rulers.
It mattered back then, and it matters now.
Obama was trying to make a point about the kind of president that he wanted to be.
God, in Micah, is making a point about the kind of ruler that his king not wants to be, but will be.
God understands location and the power of political symbolism even more than we do,
and so he wants to make a powerful statement about his political leader.
His leader is going to be a Bethlehem kind of leader.
The original readers would have known instantly,
just like news articles immediately picked up on the parallelism that was being drawn by Springfield, Illinois,
between Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama,
so the readers of this would have understood this king that's coming,
he is going to be born in the exact same birthplace as the great king of Israel, King David.
This king is going to be a David-like king.
He's going to follow in the lineage of David.
He's coming from the hometown and the birthplace of David.
Imagine for a second, remember, these folks are living in a time after the great kings.
They're living when the kingdom has been divided.
Rehoboam oversaw the division of the kingdom because of Solomon's sin,
and so they're living in a time when the glory days are over.
God gives them hope by telling them this new king that's coming,
he is coming from the same place as the king of the glory days.
He is going to be that kind of king.
David was the king that Israel looked back to over and over as the model of the best king.
He was the king that God had called a man after his own heart.
And so their hope is that God is going to bring the glory days back again
because it is going to be another Bethlehem king.
This is going to be another king just like David.
We find out, though, that it's going to be not just like David.
This king is going to be greater than David.
Verse 2, at the very end, we're told,
this king's coming forth is from old, from ancient days.
We could take this several ways.
Some people take this phrase to mean that this is an eternal king.
This is a king who had existed, had preexisted the time of this prophecy.
It could mean that.
We don't know for sure.
There's other ways this phrase is used in the Old Testament.
We know this at least.
There has been a prophecy of a king from Judah
all the way back from the book of Genesis.
In Genesis chapter 49, there's a prophecy that says that Judah
is going to have a king and the nations are going to be under him.
And so even David had not fulfilled the prophecies
about the great king coming from Judah.
From of old, from the time before Israel was even a nation,
it was just the patriarchs,
there was an expectation that they were going to have a king
who would be a ruler over him,
and he would be so great and so powerful
that he would rule over what we saw last week in Micah chapter 4,
a reign that would include all peoples coming to him.
What kind of king is going to give them hope?
It is going to be a David kind of king, but even better.
We see that also in verse 4.
He is going to be great to the ends of the earth.
The great king that Israel has been waiting for,
the king that is even better and more glorious than King David,
is on his way.
And we know that he's going to be greater and more glorious.
We know that he's on his way in part because he is a king from Bethlehem.
David's origins and his origins are the same.
The point is this.
Jesus is a political figure.
He is a real king coming with real power
to set real world peace on this earth.
He is not just some sentimental figure at Christmas
that reminds us of a nice story,
but he is a powerful political ruler
who is going to bring full and final peace to this earth.
Remember that the folks reading this, receiving this,
are people facing a real political threat.
They have a ruler who's coming up against them,
who's going to destroy them.
And so, of course, they're looking for someone just as,
in fact, not just as, but even more powerful
to be able to defend them
from the threats that are coming up against them.
This king is going to be that kind of king.
And we see that in the story of Jesus' birth.
Jesus comes as a political threat.
He shows up in Luke 2.
And those of you who are in Sunday school
have been warmed up for this.
He showed up in Luke 2, and the angels show up.
What do the shepherds do in response to the angels?
Do they say, oh, bless their hearts?
No, they're very afraid.
Why?
Because it's a host of angels.
And the word host is a word for an army.
There is a military force that shows up
when Jesus is born,
because the king, of course,
would not show up without his army.
I grew up in a church where there was,
just like here, some military folks.
And there was a man who was in the military,
and he was present at one time
when President Bush was on a ship out in the sea.
I don't remember the exact incidents.
I think there were multiple times
when President Bush was on a ship.
But he said, as soon as the president disappeared
and was off the ship,
all these divers just started popping up in the water.
They'd been underwater the whole time,
just waiting, just in case something went wrong.
They could come in.
They weren't just gonna have protection from the air.
They weren't just gonna have protection on the ship.
They were gonna have protection in the water,
all around them.
From an earthly perspective, we might say,
man, that's so powerful.
Only a great man and a great leader
would have people not just on the boat,
but surrounding and in the water,
ready to take action in case a threat appeared.
From a heavenly perspective,
oh, isn't that cute?
I bet he felt really safe.
God's king shows up,
not with men in the water,
but with angels in the air,
because he is a king coming to his people.
Herod is a real king who is threatened.
He's so threatened that Jesus has to go
into political exile in Egypt.
Herod wants to kill him,
and because he can't,
he goes on to kill every child who's a man
who's under the age of two in Bethlehem.
That's how threatened he is by Jesus.
When we started this worship service this morning,
we sang a political anthem.
We sang Jesus shall reign.
We were declaring that he is the king who is coming,
the king that is greater than David
to bring peace and justice to this world.
Bethlehem reminds us
that Jesus is a real king
who comes to shake the powers of evil to their core.
And not only does he come to do that,
he's powerful enough to accomplish it.
Jesus is the true and real and greatest king.
He is a Bethlehem kind of king.
Jesus is just as real
and infinitely more powerful
than John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter
and Barack Obama and Donald Trump
and Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
and George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.
He is no less of a leader.
In fact, he is so much more.
Yes, he comes to bring peace in our hearts.
He also comes to bring peace to this world.
These are people who feel a real threat,
a physical threat.
And the promise is that Jesus is coming.
We proclaim when we sing about our Bethlehem king
that God's power is in this world
to destroy evil and to rule us.
That's what we confess this morning
in our confession of faith.
And so why does Bethlehem matter?
Christmas is a political holiday
because we celebrate the birth
and coming and reign of our king.
And he is a greater and more powerful king
than any other on this earth.
He is a Bethlehem king.
For the folks receiving this word
in the eighth century,
they don't just have to look back
to the glory days of David,
but they also have to wait.
Something more powerful and greater
than David is coming.
And verse three,
they're going to have to wait
seven centuries to get it.
Something more powerful and greater
than David is coming.
And they're going to have to wait
seven centuries for it to actually happen.
Verse three,
he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth.
Now this could be metaphorical here.
It could be referring to the pains of Israel
as they work through exile.
It could be referring to Mary.
Either way,
there's going to be a long wait.
And this long wait
is going to be like childbirth.
It's going to be incredibly painful.
And once the wait is over,
who cares how painful it was?
Because something so glorious
and wonderful is there,
that it eclipses everything
that came before.
Just like the people receiving this word,
we also wait.
Remember I said earlier
that prophecy is often
not an on and off switch,
but a dimmer switch.
The king has come.
And we still wait.
The people receiving this word
waited seven centuries.
We have been waiting 2,000 years
for Jesus to come again.
And we, like them,
continue to wait in hope.
Because we trust and know
and believe
that the Bethlehem king is coming.
And he is coming
to be an even greater king.
And so Jesus
is a king worth waiting for.
This current age will pass.
This too shall pass.
And until it does,
we continue every Sunday
together as a church
to pray the Lord's prayer
and say,
your kingdom come
and your will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
Because we are waiting with hope
for our great
and mighty king.
Now it makes sense
that they were looking
for a political liberator.
It makes sense
that people were confused
by Jesus when he did come.
He's presented here
as a solution
to a war that's happening.
But he's not just
a great and mighty king.
That's not the only thing
that Bethlehem tells us.
Go back to verse 2.
But you, O Bethlehem,
Ethraphah,
who are too little
to be among
the clans of Judah.
Bethlehem is a nothing city
that no one cares about.
Micah chapter 1,
if you remember
two weeks ago,
we read a list of cities
that were going to be destroyed
by God's judgment.
Guess which city
wasn't on the list?
Bethlehem.
Because no one cares
about Bethlehem.
In Joshua chapter 15,
and this is probably
what's being referenced here,
there's a list
of all the cities
that belong
to the tribe of Judah.
Guess which city
doesn't make the cut?
Bethlehem.
Bethlehem is not
where we would expect
a ruler to come from.
It is silly
to think of Bethlehem
as a place of power
and strength.
We would expect
that this would be
a ruler who maybe
came from Jerusalem.
Maybe he's a ruler
from Dan
up in the north.
But no,
it's a ruler
from a city
that no one's heard of
outside of the fact
that David
happened to be born here.
This king
will be strong
and he will shame
the strong things
of this world
because he will also
be a king of weakness.
He is the great
and mighty king.
He's also the weak
and humble king.
Bethlehem tells us
both things.
This is going to be
a great leader
but he's not going
to come from Harvard.
He's going to have
a two-year degree
from a community college.
He's not going to come
from Colorado Springs.
He's going to come
from Lyman.
He's not going to come
from the east coast
or the west coast.
He's going to come
from some little town
in the Midwest
that you've never heard of.
Jesus is not just
a great king.
He's not just great
and strong
but he's humble
and weak.
He is a powerful leader
coming with a heavenly army
and he's also
a little baby
born in a manger.
If he was only
great and strong
Jesus would not
save us.
And if he were only
unexpected and weak
he could not save us.
If Jesus were only
great and strong
he would not save us.
And if he were only
humble and weak
he could not save us.
And yet the Bethlehem king
is both.
The Bethlehem king
is both great
and strong
and humble
and weak.
He is both
a king showing up
with his army
and a baby
born in a manger.
That's the kind
of king that Micah
is promising
for these people.
And so what we need
is a great
and strong
and humble
and weak king
savior shepherd.
One man says this
he is the lion
of Judah
but he's also
the lamb of God.
He is a lion
hearted lamb
but a lamb
like lion.
He's the lion
of Judah
but he's also
the lamb of God.
He's a lion
hearted lamb
but a lamb
like lion.
And so it's not
just good news
that Jesus
is a great king.
It is good news
that he is
our king.
It's not just
good news
that Jesus
is a great king.
It's good news
that he is
our king.
And he's only
able to be
our king
because he
is both.
He's king
of the world
and he also
chose to make
himself a small
child.
The reason he
chose to make
himself a small
child is because
that's the only
way that he
could save us.
He needed
not just to come
and rule
and reign.
That would be
only bad news.
We saw what that
was like in chapter
one.
But also to
suffer and save.
Bethlehem says
both.
Excuse me.
And so he's
great because
he's God.
He's unexpected
because he's
human.
He's great
because he's
the most powerful
king.
And he's
unexpected because
he came for
something much
greater than
political liberation.
The reason
they are experiencing
oppression is
because of
their sin.
Remember
chapters one
through three.
And so this
great king is
going to come
for both.
He is going
to free
them from
the national
and political
forces that
are up against
them.
And he's also
going to free
them from
their own sin.
We find out
verse four,
he is going
to stand and
shepherd his
flock in the
strength of
the Lord.
And of course
we see this
fulfilled in
Jesus.
We don't just
see this
fulfilled in
Jesus in the
sense that Jesus
is born in
Bethlehem.
We also see it
fulfilled in
Jesus because
Jesus tells us
in John chapter
10 that he
is the good
shepherd.
Shepherds are
like kings.
David, by the
way, was a
shepherd.
He protected
his flock.
He also
nurtured them.
We're told
that it's the
good shepherd
that lays down
his life for
the sheep.
That is the
kind of shepherd
that Jesus is
as our Bethlehem
king.
He is great
and powerful.
And he also
dies for us.
He uses that
to shame the
smart things of
this world.
Dying on a
cross as God
for the sins of
your people is a
Bethlehem move.
That's a
Bethlehem kind of
thing to do.
That's not the
way the Assyrians
would have done
it.
And so it's the
weak things of
this world that
God uses to shame
the strong.
There's a whole
section of the
New Testament
about this.
I'm going to
read a little
bit for you from
1 Corinthians
chapter 1.
Because God
talks about this
dynamic that he
is going to use
weak things to
shame strong
things.
He's going to
use Bethlehem
kind of things to
shame great
rulers.
1 Corinthians
chapter 1
verse 18.
For the word of
the cross is
folly to those
who are perishing,
but to us who
are being saved
it is the power
of God.
In other words,
as one man has
put it, God
takes an
instrument of
torture, the
cross, and he
uses it as an
instrument of
salvation.
He uses
something foolish
and weak, a
cross, to bring
about something
great and
powerful.
Then in verse
20, where is the
one who is wise?
Where is the
scribe?
Where is the
debater of this
age?
Has not God
made foolish?
For since in
the wisdom of
God the world
did not know
God through
wisdom, it
pleased God
through the
folly of what
we preach to
save those who
believe.
For Jews demand
signs and Greeks
seek wisdom, but
we preach Christ
crucified, a
stumbling block to
Jews and folly to
Gentiles.
But to those who
are called both
Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power
of God and the
wisdom of God.
For verse 25,
the foolishness
of God is
wiser than men
and the weakness
of God is
stronger than
men.
We might say
the foolishness
of God becoming
man in a manger
is wiser than
men and the
weakness of that
little baby is
stronger than
men.
The gospel, the
news that Jesus
has come and
died for us as
God made man,
strength is
Bethlehem logic.
It is the
weakness of this
world used for
strength.
Finally, we find
out what happens
when we have a
Bethlehem king, a
king who is both
great and mighty
and powerful, the
David-like king, and
also unexpected and
humble and weak.
What does that king
lead to?
Verse 5, he shall
be their peace.
The people in
this passage who
have Assyria coming
up against them are
not secure, but
they will be one
day.
We who live in
this world now at
the end of 2019
are not fully and
finally secure, but
we will be one
day.
We see it in part
with Jesus at his
birth in Bethlehem,
and we will see
it in full at his
second coming when
he comes to bring
in his kingdom and
answer our prayers
that he will make
his kingdom on
earth as it is in
heaven.
And so he shall be
our peace.
He will be our
peace with God,
saving us from
sin.
And he will be our
peace from God,
the political peace
that the folks in
this passage long for
and wait for in
hope.
And so he's
going to bring us
true and full and
final peace.
Sometimes it's hard
to wrap our minds
around what peace
looks like.
There's a phrase that
people will throw
around at Christmas
saying, you know,
Jesus brings peace
in our hearts, and
he certainly does.
But he also brings
peace in this world.
And as I think about
peace, and I'll close
with this, I'm
reminded of a
Peanuts cartoon.
I was still alive,
by the way, when
Charles Schultz died.
I'm probably the last
of a generation
that remembers him.
I remember one of
the things my
brothers and I love
to do is grab the
cartoons from the
weekend, the
weekend Washington
Post.
When we subscribed,
that was what we
tried to secure and
compete over.
And there's one where
Charlie Brown talks
about security.
He's talking with
Peppermint Patty.
And she says this,
Lately, everything
seems to bother me.
Charlie Brown, how
do you mean?
Peppermint Patty, what
do you think security
is, Chuck?
This is what Charlie
Brown says.
Security.
Security is sleeping
in the back seat of
the car.
When you're a little
kid, and you've been
somewhere with your
mom and dad, and it's
night, and you're
riding home in the
car, you can sleep in
the back seat.
You don't have to worry
about anything.
Your mom and dad are in
the front seat, and
they do all the
worrying.
They take care of
everything.
Peppermint Patty says
this, that's real
neat.
Charlie Brown replies,
but it doesn't last.
Suddenly, you're grown
up, and it can never be
that way again.
Suddenly, it's over,
and you'll never get to
sleep in the back seat
again.
Never.
Peppermint Patty,
Never?
Charlie Brown,
absolutely never.
Peppermint Patty,
hold my hand, Chuck.
Why does it matter that
Jesus was born in
Bethlehem?
It matters because he
is the king that brings
us true peace and
security.
We know that when it's
dark, he's the one who
has everything under
control.
We know that we don't
have to worry about
anything because he is
in the front seat, and
he will take care of the
worrying.
He will take care of
everything.
He will be our peace,
and it will last forever.
Why does it matter that
Jesus was born in
Bethlehem?
It matters because he is
a great and mighty king,
and it matters because he's
a humble and a weak king,
and because he's both and
not just one.
He will be our peace.
Please pray with me.
I will be our peace.
I run for you.
You see you soon.
From yours...