12/25 Sermon - Our Hometown Hero

Our Hometown Hero

Our king, shepherd, peace

Micah 5:2-5a

Every town has a hometown hero. What’s yours? Mine is (kind of) Venus and Serena Wiliams. Burlington: James Kelly, astronaut.

- Isn’t it weird that the one, true, almighty, omnipotent God has a hometown? It’s so ordinary. “God? I think he was born in Bethlehem.”

- Micah 5:2-5 is a prophecy we all love, but today we’ll take a closer look at this prophecy, hope around the verses a little, and we’ll see what  exactly Micah tells us about our hometown hero, Jesus.

Our King’s miraculous birth, 2-3

Therefore, Israel will be abandoned.

- What a terrible prophecy! God tries to give his people hope, but says, “You will be abandoned.” When we look at Israel’s history, that’s what happens after Micah lives: Babylon, Alexander, Egypt, Rome. Nation after nation would oppress and rule over them.

- Why were they abandoned? They sinned, just like us. They had hope!

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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.

- Bethlehem was actually a pretty famous village, although it was small. King David was born and raised there! God promises a future king, a ruler, who would give his people hope. If I’m a Jew listening to this, so far it makes sense. But then Micah writes something strange.

- “Whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” The Hebrew word for “ancient times” actually means everlasting. In the OT, it’s usually meant to describe God being everlasting. This coming king would come from Bethlehem… but Bethlehem isn’t his true origin. His true origin is everlasting. Micah adds to this riddle and writes this.

- “Until the time when she who is in labor bears a son.” Micah 5:2-3 prophecy for us the incarnation of Jesus Christ. You can imagine the confusion if you read this 700 years before Jesus came. How will God do this? A king, born of a woman in Bethlehem, but whose origins are everlasting.

- Here in 2023 AD, we see this with a clearer vision, right? We have John 1. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  Micah prophesies that the almighty God, who has existed from everlasting, from eternity, would be born of a woman in the town of Bethlehem. Our hometown hero. His work doesn’t stop there.

Our eternal peace

v. 5a, and he will be our peace.

- Great times of peace are usually known by their leaders. Caesar Augustus and Marcus Aurelius’ bookend the peace Rome experienced.  Queen Victoria ruled Britain when they were at their strongest. Abraham Lincoln helped keep the peace in America and helped end slavery.

- These rulers gave peace, but that peace didn’t last. The king that Micah talks about here, our hometown hero, he IS our peace. How?

- Let’s look at Galatians 4. When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

- The cross and empty tomb of Jesus summarize the good news of Jesus: Forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

- The manger of Jesus is another object the beautifully summarizes and pictures the good news of Jesus so well.

- There in the manger, we see a baby, a man, a human being. He was tempted in every way, just as we are. He kept every single detail of God’s law. He slept, cried, hurt, was hungry, and died. 

- There in the manger, we see true God, the Son of God, who was perfect, who shed his blood to cover our sins, to buy us back from Satan, sin, and death, who gave his life to give us life.

You and I are not by nature at peace with God. We sin against his law. We rebel against him will. God is angry with us. There is no peace between us and God.

- But There in the manger lies baby Jesus, God made flesh, who is our peace, because by his blood he ended the rebellion between us and God, he has made us right before God, he has given everything to us: eternal life in paradise.

- There is a picture in Galatians 4 thought so beautifully summarizes what Micah says: Jesus is our peace.

- God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”

- Because of the manger at Christmas, you are adopted into the family.

- And this is what that ‘adoption’ means: You have eternal life, salvation, freedom from sin, death, and the devil. Forgiveness for every sin.

- God is your father, and the hometown hero, the one who is true God and true man, who is our peace, well, he’s your brother.

Our almighty shepherd

- In ancient times, the best possible king was always compared to a shepherd. It’s not hard to see, right? What if our government leaders always tried to channel their inner shepherd when governing. 

- Here’s what Micah says about our hometown hero, “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.

 - Our king, our hometown hero, will be our shepherd, but Micah again gives a surprising twist to his prophecy.

- Jesus our shepherd won’t rule with human wisdom or strength. He will rule and shepherd his people with the strength of God himself, the majesty of the name of the LORD our God will cover him. And his kingdom won’t cover just a territory or a region, but the whole earth.

- Therefore, Micah says, “We will live securely.”

1. That’s true right now. We have the gospel. We read God’s Word. Jesus spreads his kingdom to hearts across the world. But we can’t see Jesus’ kingdom with our eyes, it’s hidden.

2. A time will soon come when Jesus will return and establish his kingdom. He will bring us to the golden city, and we will live forever in joy and peace, and his rule will never. Then our eyes will see in full what our hearts believe in part.

- Micah gives us this blessed assurance: Jesus, our hometown hero, rules right now as our shepherd, and he will always be our shepherd.

The manger is one of the most offensive things in Christianity to us, to humans, aside from the cross. God became man? What a weak god. He had to, because we’re so sinful? What an offensive message. We want a hometown hero who is strong, powerful, and glorious.

- Instead, our hometown hero seems to weak and pointless. He’s a testimony to our sinful we are.   

- It’s also a testimony to how much God loves you. God would step into his painting, his creation, he would take frail flesh, and die, for one single purpose, to save us from our sins and give us life.

I hope you walk away looking at Micah’s prophecy with not a new perspective, but a fresh perspective. Micah tells us that God himself would be our hometown hero, true God and true man. Our hometown hero is our peace. Our hometown hero shepherds us, now and for eternity. Amen.