Buried in the Backwaters of Bethlehem

Nothing’s happening here. Not much has happened in a long time, and not much is likely to happen in the near future. Aspirations are more geared to survival, getting by, rather than expectations of glory or visions of grandeur.

After all, this is Bethlehem, little Bethlehem, overlooked Bethlehem. We are not Jerusalem. We are down-the-road from Jerusalem. The important people go there. Those left over come here, if they can find us. We don’t have their organization or expertise. We don’t have their experts, nor their gifts. We certainly don’t have their money. And, we’re fine with that.

Oh, there were days when Bethlehem was on the map. There was that time, long ago under the Judges, when Elimelech’s family moved back from cursed Moab to blessed Bethlehem - minus Elimelech or any other male - to try and eke out an existence without help. And God blessed them through Boaz, great-grandfather of King David.

And then, of course, there was the “house of David,” though it hardly David’s house, since he was only the eighth son, the runt, kind of like most of us. But God instructed Samuel to anoint him, and he did, and David became great, unlike us. We can identify with David in his runt-ness; not so much in his great-ness.

Otherwise, our Bethlehem gets mentioned by the Prophet Micah. Now remember, it is not always a good thing to get mentioned in the Bible. Think, “Jezebel.” Remember “Pharoah.” How about “Nabal?” It might be one’s goal not to be mentioned in the Bible. And as for Micah’s mention, what does he say about Bethlehem? “Too little.” If you are too little, maybe you would prefer that some big, bad prophet doesn’t go and call attention to you.

No, we tend to think that Bethlehem’s best days are behind us. It’s good to have history. But we dare not dream about the future.

Oh, wait, what was that? Something about a choir of angels singing to shepherds. Well, shepherds is about all we have around here. Hardly the ladder-climbing crowd. But what? They went to see a baby about whom the angels were singing, something about the appearance of the glory of God and bringing peace to men. This sounds like the kind of Christmas program they might put on in Jerusalem, not here in Bethlehem.