Little Things in the Christmas Story
Chuck Sligh
Christmas 2012
TEXT: Luke 2:4-7 – “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
INTRODUCTION
Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, as has black Friday, so now we can concentrate on Christmas, my favorite time of the year. As I was thinking about the Christmas story this week, I was reminded about how often in life, little things are important. Michelangelo, known in his art for his attention to the minutest of details, said, “Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle.”
You’d better pay attention to the little things in life. If you don’t, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble…
Illus. – I remember changing my own oil one time several years back. I unscrewed the oil plug and let the oil drain out into an oil collection pan. Then emptied the old oil into an old container to take to the recycling center. Then I took off the oil filter and then replaced it.
It was then that I forgot one tiny little detail…I’ll see if you can figure it out as I proceed with my story. I then got 5 quarts of oil and poured it into the oil spout. I put my tools up and cleaned up, and when I came back to the car, I noticed there was oil all over the garage floor, and it looked like about…5 quarts or so. It was then I suddenly realized…I had forgotten to screw the oil plug back into the oil pan.
An oil plug is about one-half to three-quarters of an in wide and long…extremely small in comparison to a huge car…but very important.
Little things can in fact play very significant roles in many things in life.
You know, God is an awesome, BIG, powerful, astounding God, but He seems to delight in getting glory by using the littlest, most mundane, seemingly insignificant things and people. It’s interesting to look at some of the little things in the Christmas story.
I believe we can understand God better by looking at God’s choice of “little things” in the Christmas story Let’s consider some of them:
I. NOTICE FIRST OF ALL THAT GOD USES “LITTLE POSSESSIONS” – verse 7a – “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes…”
Jesus, the King of the Universe, was not wrapped in silken, colorful garments befitting His glory that would clothe a prince of royalty; but in swaddling clothes—the common, cheap, plain, white fabric used by the peasants, the poor, the common people.
But God using a little possession for His glory is nothing new. All through the Bible we see that God used little possessions for His service and glory:
• It was just A LITTLE SLING that killed mighty Goliath.
• Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines with just A LITTLE OX GOAD, which was a rod used to guide oxen.
• Moses parted the Red sea with A SIMPLE ROD, which was probably a shepherd’s crook.
• The widow could give only TWO MITES, but its value was far greater than the much larger gift of the rich man, for she gave her all.
• Jesus had need of A LITTLE COLT to ride triumphantly through Jerusalem.
• The little boy had only 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISHES to feed the 5,000:
I have not much to offer,
To Christ my Lord and King.
No wealth, no might, no wisdom,
No noble gift to bring.
Five loaves and two small fishes?
But what alas are they—
Among the throngs of hungry,
Who crowd life’s troubled way?
Five loaves and two small fishes?
Not much, my friend, ’tis true;
But yield them to the Master,
And see what He can do!
Placed in His hands of mercy,
Thy little will be much.
’Tis not the gift that matters,
But His almighty touch.
God uses little possessions.
II. SECOND, GOD USES “LITTLE PLACES” – verse 7b – “…and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
It may come a surprise to know that many homes of the rich in that day had many conveniences that we would call modern: hot and cold running water; spigots for pouring wine; even sauna baths.
But God didn’t use an opulent palace for the place of the birth of the King of Kings. Instead, God chose a little cave for Jesus, or perhaps it was a small barn, because our text tells us that Mary “laid him in a manger.” A “manger” was a feeding trough for livestock.
We see that throughout the Scriptures God used humble, little places for His glory.
• It was in a little, obscure town called BETHLEHEM that Jesus was born
• The Last Supper took place in AN OBSCURE, BORROWED ROOM.
• Jesus was buried in A BORROWED TOMB.
God uses little possessions and little places for His glory.
III. MOST IMPORTANTLY, GOD USES “LITTLE PEOPLE.”
Think about this for a moment: It was not the wealthy, the educated, the religious, or the influential to whom the angels brought tidings of great joy in the Christmas story. – It was to a group of “little people”—lowly shepherds. It was not a fashionable, beautiful, wealthy, elite lady of nobility who was chosen to bear the baby Jesus. – It was an ordinary peasant woman—Mary. God did not choose a rich, leisurely nobleman to be the head of the family into which Jesus was born. – Rather, he was a simple, hard-working carpenter who made a living working with his hands and the sweat of his brow.
In 1 Corinthians 1:27-28, we read, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”
This is illustrated many other times in the Bible:
• DAVID was a simple shepherd boy.
• MOSES was the son of a common slave woman.
• PAUL was a short, homely man with poor eyesight.
Many of the great men in church history were “little people.”
• Martin Luther was the grandson of a peasant, and the son of a copper-smelter.
• The great 19th century evangelist, D. L. Mood,y was a farmer’s son who later moved to the big city and became a shoe salesman.
• William Carey, the founder of modern missions, was a simple shoe cobbler.
• One of the most beloved evangelists of the Nazarene denomination was known as Uncle Bud Robinson, a preacher with no more than an elementary education and who spoke with a lisp, but who had God’s evident power upon his life.
• One of the most colorful evangelists used by God among the Methodists in 19th century England was Gypsy Smith, who, as you may have guessed, was a gypsy, who had no formal education.
These and many other men and women were just simple, everyday people—“little” people who were chosen by a BIG God. And the truth of the matter is that the business of the Lord’s work has always mostly been carried out by just average, ordinary “little” people, most of whom were never famous or recognized for their contributions.
But that’s okay, because it’s just a joy to be a “little” person used by A BIG GOD!
Illus. – Ever since I was a little child, I struggled with a tic disorder, or maybe a mild case of Tourette syndrome (back then, we wouldn’t go to a psychologist, so I’d never been formally diagnosed). I’ve had a variety of these tics through the years, including overwhelming urges to wink my eyes hard, or cracking my neck and various other tics I’ve had. I’ve always had them, and I’ve come up with various mechanism to hide them, and they tend to wax and wane in how strong or frequent they are, but I’m never complete free of them.
And as a young child, I was often very self-conscious about them. I remember when I was in the third grade going to Vacation Bible School and at the end of the week, a photographer came and took a picture of us all. I had this terribly embarrassing tic of scrunching my face up (DEMONSTRATE). I was embarrassed by it, but when I felt the urge to do it, I could hold it in only so long, and then I would just have to do it. So here we are posing for this photo and the photographer says, “Okay, everyone, be VERY STILL; don’t anybody even move a muscle.” Just about that time, I felt my scrunch-face tic coming on. I really tried to keep from doing it, but the photographer just kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and the urge just got stronger and stronger and stronger…until finally, I could hold it in no longer, and I did my scrunchy face tic JUST AS THE CAMARA LIGHT FLASHED for the photo. Somewhere in the Sligh archives of photos, there’s a photo of a group of lovely VBS children, all with sweet smiles…except for one little boy making the most awful scrunchy face at the camera. You have NO idea how embarrassed I was by that picture.
When I was in high school, I was the highest scorer for our basketball team and one of the highest scorers on the island of Okinawa. My dad was the coach of our Christian school made up of Americans, Japanese, Okinawans, Filipinos, Indians and Chinese kids. Well, I had this strange tick of kicking my legs behind me whenever I shot foul shots. (DEMONSTRATE) The Chinese guys on the team were a little superstitious and believed that the secret to my high scoring must be my little back-kicking routine. So whenever they took a fouls shot, they started kicking their legs back. I was embarrassed because I thought they were making fun of me, but in fact, they were just trying to improve their basketball stats.
You have no idea how embarrassing it is to have such an affliction. There was a time when I thought that God couldn’t use somebody as messed up as I thought I was.
But, you know what?—Despite some of my strange quirks, God has used me. Don’t get me wrong—I wouldn’t dare compare myself to any of the great people I have just mentioned in this message. But I’m not saying that every regular person will become a well-known, famous man or woman of God.
Quite the contrary. What I’m saying is that there is a place for every single one of us in the service of God no matter what our quirks or incapacities are—if we’ll give ourselves wholly and completely to God…if we’ll love Him with all our HEART and with all your SOUL and with all your MIND, and if just get busy in the work of God.
I consider it a great honor to be one of the “little people” used by A BIG GOD through my life.
I love that song “Little Is Much.” – Listen to the words:
In the harvest field now ripened,
There’s a work for all to do.
Hark! the voice of God is calling,
To the harvest calling you.
Little is much when God is in it;
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown, and you can win it,
If you’ll go in Jesus’ name.
God help us to remember that God uses little POSSESSIONS…and little PLACES…and little PEOPLE—yes, even regular people like you and me.
CONCLUSION
So let’s draw in the net and see how this little thought can be applied to our lives personally:
1) First what little POSSESSIONS do you have to use for God’s service and glory?
• A CAR to bring visitors to church?
• A PHONE to invite people to church or to encourage a Christian brother or sister whose going through some struggle?
• A COMPUTER to do many things?
• A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT to be a blessing to others.
• A PEN and PAPER to write words gratefulness for someone’s ministry in your life?
• All of us have our tithes and our offerings we can bring to God, which are little in and of themselves, but multiplied by all those here today, they can be used to do BIG things for God.
Use your little possessions for our BIG God and watch him multiply their value.
2) When we think of little PLACES, the thing that will most likely come to mind is your home.
How can you use your home for God’s service and glory?
• Maybe it could become a place of hospitality to single GIs.
• Maybe you could use it to host a weekly homegroup.
• It could become a place for “friendship evangelism”—where you can reach out to friends and neighbors and co-workers.
• It could become a place for hospitality to fellow church members—where you can encourage one another and meet one another’s needs.
• It could be a place to open your home for ladies small groups, men’s prayer breakfasts, teen activities, and things like that.
• Your little home could become a BIG PLACE in God’s scheme of things.
3) Finally, how can WE as ordinary people be used in big ways by our big God?
By being available. There are no “BIG” jobs in the local church. But all the “little” jobs we as ordinary people do cumulatively add up to some big things for God—a church that ministers to others and reaches out to a lost world.
That’s why it’s so vital to get plugged into some area of service in the local church. The strong Christian is always a serving Christian. The happy, fulfilled Christian is always a SERVING Christian.
You see, happiness and joy are not found through GETTING, but through GIVING—giving of ourselves, our bodies to work for God, our talents, our acts of love and concern and kindness.
At Christmastime, more than any other time of the year, we give gifts.
What will you give Jesus today?
Illus. – In England, in addition to some of the Christmas carols we Americans sing, the British have a number of others ones not so well known in America. One of them is “In the Bleak Mid-Winter.” It begins rather oddly, with a picture of a cold world of snow in Bethlehem, something nowhere found in the Scriptures:
In the bleak mid-winter,
Frosty wind made moan.
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter,
Long ago.
The second verse is more scriptural, introducing the angels and Mary.
But the third verse is what touches my heart so. – It goes like this:
What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what can I give him?
Give my heart.
Oh, that’s the greatest thing you can give to the Lord, no matter if you are mighty or blue-collar; a general or a private; a rich man or a poor man.
Have you given God your heart? The heart in the Bible is the seat of your affections. It’s what animates you spiritually; it’s the real you. To give God your heart is to give everything to Him, to make Him your master.
It all begins by being what the Bible calls being “saved.” One is saved by turning from sin to Jesus to save you from your sin. If you’re here today, and you’ve never been “saved”—don’t put it off another day. Give God your heart, your affections, your very life.
But giving God our heart is an ongoing thing because all too often our affections turn to the beggarly things of this earth instead of God and things above. So we have to constantly evaluate our priorities; make sure God is at the center of our lives; determine if we’ve allowed sin to creep into our lives that needs to be confessed and forsaken; reorient our lives to obedience and discipleship. For the believer, that’s how we can give God our heart.
May God work in each of our hearts and help us surrender our possessions, our homes, even our very lives to God to be used for His glory.
