Hopeful Waiting (Part 3) | Bethlehem and the God Who Works in Small Places
Advent can feel quiet. Slower. Darker. And yet it is anything but empty. Advent is the season where the Church learns again how to wait. Not with crossed arms, but with open hands. Not with cynicism, but with hope. This is Part 3 of our Advent series, Hopeful Waiting, and it takes us to a place that most of the world would walk straight past: Bethlehem.
Our reading was Micah 5:2–5. It is one of those passages that feels almost too familiar, because we know where it ends up. We know the nativity story. We know the carols. We know the cards. But Micah pulls us back behind all of that and reminds us what Bethlehem actually was: small, overlooked, unimpressive, “little among the clans of Judah” [oai_citation:0‡Micah 5.txt](sediment://file_000000002810724396bcfa84cc92c7f1).
And that is exactly the point.
1) The world says significance comes from size
We live in a culture that measures everything. Followers. Views. Reach. Influence. Even if we pretend we do not care, we feel it. We compare. We worry. We wonder if we matter. And that way of thinking can sneak into our faith, and into our church life too. We start to believe that what is “big” is what is blessed, and what is “small” is what is failing.
Micah confronts that instinct head on. God does not begin His great work of redemption in the obvious place. Not the centre. Not the capital. Not the impressive city. He chooses Bethlehem. A nowhere place. And from that nowhere place comes the One the world must look to [oai_citation:1‡Micah 5.txt](sediment://file_000000002810724396bcfa84cc92c7f1).
2) Bethlehem tells the truth about how God works
Bethlehem is not just a detail in the Christmas story. It is a message. It is God saying, “This is how I do things.” God brings significance out of insignificance. God works in the ordinary. God does not wait until people, places, or churches become impressive before He acts. He works through faithfulness, not flash. Through willingness, not perfection.
Scripture is full of this pattern. God starts His redemptive plan with an ageing couple and a promise. He meets a forgotten woman in the wilderness. He forms a leader in a prison cell. He places salvation in the womb of an unknown girl from an overlooked town. He births the Church in an upper room filled with fearful people. Again and again, God works in the small places, and through the small people, so that His glory is unmistakable.
3) The promised King is also a Shepherd
Micah does not only promise a ruler. He promises a Shepherd King. One who will “stand and shepherd his flock” [oai_citation:2‡Micah 5.txt](sediment://file_000000002810724396bcfa84cc92c7f1). That is not the language of distance. It is the language of presence. Watchfulness. Care. Nearness. God is not far off from His people. He is with His people.
That matters when life is hard. When waiting is weary. When the days feel heavy. Advent does not deny the reality of darkness, but it refuses to let darkness have the final word. The Shepherd stands with His flock. Not always removing hardship immediately, but walking with us through it.
4) Peace is not an idea. Peace is a person.
Micah ends with a line that is almost startling in its simplicity: “He shall be their peace” [oai_citation:3‡Micah 5.txt](sediment://file_000000002810724396bcfa84cc92c7f1). Not “He will bring peace” as if peace is merely circumstances improving. Not “He will negotiate peace” as if it is a fragile agreement. He Himself is peace.
That is the deeper Advent question. Not, “Are things calm?” but, “Do I know Him?” Not, “Is my life settled?” but, “Am I settled in Christ?” Because the peace we need most is not the absence of trouble. It is the presence of Jesus.
A challenge for Christmas
So here is the challenge as we move through Advent towards Christmas: do not despise the small places. Do not write yourself off. Do not assume God is finished with you, or with His Church, or with this community. Bethlehem is God’s reminder that He does His best work where the world least expects it.
Take time to listen to the full talk below. And then, over the Christmas period, do not simply let Christmas happen around you. Come and join us. Come and worship. Come and hear the Scriptures. Come and sing. Come and see again that God stepped into the darkness, not once upon a time, but for you, and for this world, and for this city.
Christ has come.
Christ will come again.
And in the waiting, He is with us.
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