Monday, December 15th

How many of you like small things? Little things? Barely noticeable things? ….. I get it, in some ways we do like or can appreciate small things. Especially as we get older. But for many of us or at least for much of life, at least society says, “super-size me” or “Go Big or Go Home.” Or we look for the next upgrade, more bells and whistles, the bigger the better.
We are in our Christmas series called, The Coming of Christmas in Unexpected Ways. This week we are going to look at how Jesus comes in small, unnoticeable ways and what does that mean for your life?

Think about it for a moment. Have you ever noticed the smallness of the birth story? Or maybe let me ask it this way. Has the smallness of the birth story gone unnoticed within your life or each passing year?

I get it, the coming of our King, Messiah, he was small, a baby. Yet how quick are we to move on and forget that this small baby couldn’t take care of himself, cried, pooped, slept, had tiny feet and tiny hands.

Or the fact that Mary and Joseph traveled from afar and they went unnoticed. Because of the census that had to be taken, they had no place to stay, ended up in the back lot where the animals grazed and slept.

Or who noticed that the long-awaited King was coming, born to us this day? It wasn’t the greats, it wasn’t the city leaders, it was the “unclean” yet unnoticed shepherds who came because an army of angels announced it.

Or what about the city? We sing a song about the city … O Little Town of Bethlehem. That comes from the prophet Micah. What’s amazing is that this passage is quoted in Matthew 2, and the religious leaders point to it because it was a promise written 700 years before Jesus was born. This is what they were supposed to pay attention to, what they were supposed to notice.

Micah 5:2, 4- “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.” He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

What do you notice in the small? Out of the smallest of clans, it was an unnoticeable city, it wasn’t Jerusalem where the great temple was. Despite being small, what do you notice? Out of the smallness, a ruler will come who will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord (pay attention to that) and the majesty of his name. And because of this
ruler we can live securely and his greatness will reach the ends of the earth. Out of small things, greatness comes.

But here in lies a few problems with that statement, out of small things, greatness comes. First, we want big things now, we want great things now, we want change now. We want to go big or go home. We don’t want to start with small beginnings or small steps, we want change now, we want success now, we want impact now.

It can be anything. It can be in monetary things, the next bigger house, more money in the account. It can be in our career, up and to the left. It can be for our children or grandchildren, we want them to experience more, better than what we have. It can be in our relationship with God, it’s why you don’t pray for patience, because it takes forever. We want it now, we want change now, we want to be “great” at …

But the opposite is true as well. As some of you are sitting there going, “No, Aaron, I think that is just you. You are a driver, you are pushing for more, inviting people into more. In your mind’s eye, out of small things comes greatness.” Some of you are like, “no, I’m good with staying small. I’m good at being unnoticed. I don’t need to live in greatness. I just want to mind my “p’s and q’s”, keep my head down, and live a small, unnoticeable life.”

Yet, remember how I closed my message last week with 2 Corinthians 6:11-13- Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

We can’t settle for doing small things, yet small things is where we start. How do you open your life to doing “small things”? Because I would argue, part of God, using the small things in your life is to give you the opportunity to grow into the big things he has for you.

Take a moment and reflect on some of the questions throughout the faith challenge; your appreciation or lack of appreciation of small things? Desire to be great or bigger the better? The fact that Jesus came in small unnoticeable ways? How do those question connect with you and your faith journey?