Humble Beginnings, Special Ends

Read Micah 5.2-5

“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.”  (Micah 5.2)

The prophet Micah foretold the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, many people were blind to this. How could the Christ be born in such an insignificant place?

As Joseph and Mary set out for Bethlehem, they didn’t know what to expect. Their child would be born any moment. They had no place to stay. They had both been told Jesus would be special in God’s eyes, but how could this be with such a rough start?

Jesus would later be dismissed as insignificant because he grew up in Nazareth. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” the leaders mocked. They assumed God’s prophets would come from great religious centers. They failed to see the way God comes to us in humble ways — in a manger stable, a carpenter’s apprentice, a wandering teacher, entering Jerusalem on a donkey.

Rosa Parks, was born in a fiercely divided Alabama where an African-American woman would be treated by many worse than animals. Her parents separated when she was young. She dropped out of school to care for an ailing grandparent. Though born in such humble circumstances, Parks would be led to spark a movement that would transform racial relationships and give African-Americans civil rights.

Great movements begin in small places. God often chooses what the world deems insignificant. God works through people overlooked by society to accomplish great things, to bring glory to God.