I keep coming back to this idea ... that God is with us. The birth of Jesus is a bold and breathtaking mark in history, declaring God's love through presence. Emmanuel, God with us.
Micah describes a shepherd God, standing and shepherding his flock. But this passage is also a reminder of the roots of the Jesse tree family of Jesus. He is born to the smallest clan, the least of tribes. Bethlehem was small and unimportant, but as with David it became the birthplace of a King.
Today in the news a number of nations are seeking to exert their importance. Whether with economic power, sheer weight of population or with military ambition - so many tribes want to say "here, look at me." At it's roots nationalism can harbour a dangerous disease of being the biggest clan. Even Israel succumbed and still succumbs to this disease.
But Jesus comes to be presence in the least, the smallest. Going back to Abraham we remember God's words in Deuteronomy, that that is why He choose Israel - smallest, insignifcant. Surely the first will indeed be last and the last with be first. If only we lived life that way round ....
God of humility
Humble us again.
May we live to give first place to the last.
May we prepared to give up our status, and join the back of the queue.
Amen
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