O Little Town of Bethlehem

 

Born in 1831 and a Harvard graduate, Rector Phillips Brooks would serve congregations in Philadelphia and then later in Boston as a pastor.

He preached against slavery in the south and pressed for rights for freedmen.  He also was deeply impacted by the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  It was in this same year that his congregants sent him on a year international study through Europe and the Holy Land.

As a part of this journey, he rode by horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, stopping along the way in the fields where it is said the shepherds were tending flocks when angels appeared declaring the glad tidings of truly great joy.  He then journeyed into Bethlehem and attended an all night Christmas Eve service fully appreciating that he was walking where the Savior of the world had walked.

And yet this gentle giant, who reached 6’8”, even at that moment thought of the voices on the other side of the world, those of his congregants.  Having a special love for children, he wrote these words to them, “I remember especially on Christmas Eve, when I was standing in the old church in Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with the splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices I knew well, telling each other of the “wonderful night” of the Savior’s birth.”

Three years later, he would reflect deeply on that experience and that night,  as he penned the lyrics to O Little Town of Bethlehem specifically for the children.  

He then asked Lewis Redner to compose an accompanying tune for the children’s choir to sing at the Christmas Eve service.

Redner wrote, rewrote and finally gave up in frustration.  The night before the service he says the angels whispered the melody into his mind, and he quickly got up and captured the notes on paper.  He called it a blessing from Heaven.

What a blessing he left for future generations.

What a profoundly simple and yet powerful message.

He wanted his people to, like him,  ponder the gift of Bethlehem and the even more magnificent gift of the mortal life of Jesus Christ.  

In Micah 5:2 we read of this prophecy:

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.

“Though thou be little.”

Great things, even world and eternity changing things came out of Bethlehem.

And great things can come out of our lives too.

Even though we be little.

I am sitting in a chair with an IV pumping the hopeful substance from the clear bag into my arm.  

The room is  packed and the nurse has been hustling to get to everyone.  

I know she likes to get off on time. 

I also know that because mine started late, she will have to stay with me.

I also know that she won’t complain, and will continue to help make me as comfortable as possible.  She knows I like salty snacks, and that a shot of Benadryl significantly reduces my nausea.  She also will bring me some juice and a heated blanket.  

None of those extras are necessary, but she is a great example of not downplaying her “littleness” and instead making her job a part of her ministry.  

In what ways can I also ensure that I don’t downplay my own littleness? 

And that I, like all people can echo the words,

“Where meek souls will receive him still,

The dear Christ enters in.”

His ability to enter in has nothing to do with the size of our mission.