Oh little town of Bethlehem

In 1865, the year the Civil War ended and President Lincoln was assassinated, themes of peace and quiet would probably have been welcome to Americans. In that year, the Rev. Phillips Brooks took a trip to Israel and saw Bethlehem and its surrounding fields on Christmas Eve, which eventually inspired him to write this Christmas hymn.

Thus this hymn invites us to feel a longing that begins deep within. A hope for peace.. But it also invites us to take stock of our days and our years. to recognize what has been lost and to feel again the wounds that that ache still in within our broken hearts.

Rev. Philips Brooks wrote this song after looking out at the peace of Bethlehem. On that still and quite night he could imagine the great beauty and the great joy of Christs arrival.

But Bethlehem wasn’t always’ so peaceful or so quiet. The story of Bethlehem in scripture is one marked with sadness, loss and mourning.

The New International Version (1984) The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

Jacob mourns Rachel his beloved for whom he worked for 14 years as a slave in his uncle’s house.

Though she was first in her husbands eye’s her life was also difficult for she was nearly barren giving birth to only two son’s in her time with Jacob.. And she died as she gave birth to Benjamin.

So from the very beginning Rachel’s death and tomb was part of Bethlehem's story. As was Rachel was remembered with this city as well.

It was in the town of Bethlehem that Ruth and Naomi returned in poverty from Moab and it was here that Boaz paid the price of kinsman redeemer and So Ruth gave birth to Obed who begot Jesse.

Jesse had a pile of boys. But his youngest one was quite talented with the harp and wasn’t half bad with the sword. most of all he loved the Lord and the Lord loved him. What was his name?

David! And he became possibly the greatest King Israel would have.. And so Bethlehem got another name..

It became known as the city of David. And as the prophet Micah said.

Micah 5:2 NIV

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

And so this city of David would be looked to in future times as the place where the line of David would begin again..

Where out of the stump of Jesse would come a king rule with a peace that never ends.

But yet this great city was not to be marked by greatness but by humility.

it was known through the ages not for it’s warriors, but for it’s bread. As the same fields of barley that Boaz and Ruth harvested centuries before continued to produce the barley that would feed Jerusalem.

It’s very name Bethʹle-hem house of bread, and its older more poetic name. Ephrath simply meant fruitful.

In that respect like to think that Bethlehem was a lot like Miramichi. A small quiet town with pleasant people. A good place to raise a family. not too big, but not too far from Jerusalem. Simple and beautiful.

But simple and beautiful did not mean that the city was spared it share of tragedy and war. The city was positioned in such a way that occupying nations, be they philistine or Roman stationed troops there. To hold Bethlehem was to hold Judah. And the presence of occupying enemy troops in your neighborhood doesn’t make for a peaceful place.

And the the city was destroyed and rebuilt several times.

Jeremiah the prophet warns of Bethlehem's loss as the Babylonians conquered Judah.

Jer 31:15

The New International Version (1984) Chapter 31

15 This is what the LORD says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because her children are no more.”

But these words were meant for more just that moment as they also spoke of one of the most tragic events in the new testament. Herod’s Bethlehem massacre as he sought to kill the new born king.

We can read about this in Matthew chapter 2

The New International Version (1984) The Escape to Egypt

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

And so we see the story of Bethlehem is woven with threads of of humility and sadness. As the story of Rachel and her death is woven back into the story of Christ’s birth we are reminded that God knows our sorrows and our wounds. And that he hears our cries.

The story of Bethlehem is beautiful but it is truthfully not all that unique.

It's suffering is common to us all.

Here in Miramichi we have many such moments of sadness in our history as well.

From the Acadian Expulsion, where many Acadians hid at our own at Beubear Island, and many died in exile from the land they loved. To the stories of the Middle Island Quarantine and those that died of smallpox there beneath the open sky. To the Miramichi fire that burned through this very ground. And I have been told there are graves of those that died in the fire just beyond our property here back in the woods.

These are the stories that we all know. They are our history. But they are not the only sad stories that we share. There are many others. remembered and regretted that have shaped our community and our relationships. The times that relationships between Migma, Acadian, Irish and Scottish communities in Miramichi have struggled and faltered are beyond count. And so Miramichi like Bethlehem is a city longing for peace.

And so the good news of the song that we sing.

the good news that the angel of the Lord declared to the shepherds is good news to us as well.

Luke 2:11–12 NIV84

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The good news is our tears and our weeping has been heard. God has prepared a way forward a way to peace.

A way to still the cries of the foes and the avengers.

But there is a hook in this part of the story..

just as there is a hook in this part of the song.

Jesus Came.. God in flesh.. But he came humbly.. Quietly. And his coming was not with angel hosts to bring justice and judgment.

The angels came and sang.. and left waiting and watching God’s plan unfold.

And the babe was born and he and his own became refugees in Egypt and then Nazarenes years later.

The boy grew to be a man, and then when the time was right he began to teach and to show us all who God was.. And when the time had come and the powers of this world knew who he was and what his coming meant Jesus laid down his life. And was crucified. he did that quietly too like a lamb to the slaughter he went.

He could have called those hosts of angels. but he didn’t. They must have watched in heaven waiting, and hoping to hear his summons. instead they watched him die and be buried. Like any old man will die. and they watched as on the third day he rose from the grave..

And I wonder then if they wondered at that moment if they would be called. But they were not.. How they must have celebrated and worshiped as they saw the fulfilled glory of the Son.

But on earth it was quiet. Because God was doing a work that was quiet and slow.. growing from within the hearts of those who believed. It was a work that would change the world and is changing the world still. A work of peace.. a work of healing! But like bethlehem it was a work that was quiet.. humble.. and still it is full of life, Epherath!

This is the Gospel God’s plan of salvation for us and for all who would believe.

I love the way Rev. Brooks captures the plan of salvation in these last two verses.

3 How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv’n! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of the heav’ns. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still the dear Christ enters in.

4 O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray, cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today! We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.

Just as Bethlehem was a small … least of among the tribes of Judah. Humble and meek so to must we who turn to Christ must me..

Recognizing our wounds and our sins.. our need for a savior we come to him. Not as warriors, not as scholars but as children to receive his grace unearned.

And so as Christ entered Bethlehem So to he will enter our hearts and lives, and families and workplaces and histories and he will call each one of those his own. Casting our sins and filling us with his spirit we become born again.

But this too is a humble and mild process. It is an invitation to find peace and to find rest to find In Christ an answer for our woes and weariness.

Because the answer is not knowledge, or perfection, it is not success, happiness or power. It is not a balance sheet of rights and wrongs done to us and others. The answer that brings healing and peace to our hearts is the knowledge that God is with us.

And that is why this song ends with this invitation..

“O come to us, Abide with us,

our Lord Emmanuel.”

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Oh little town of Bethlehem

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