Marshal your troops now, city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod. “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.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 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. And he will be our peace (Micah 5:1-5a)

The remnant of Israel is in distress and under siege. Babylon is quite literally on the doorstep. The king is humiliated. So much for the greatness of the people who bear God’s name.

In our own world, we received news that one of our fellow CRC churches in the area—New Street in Burlington, has voted to close in the new year. They are not the only church in our region who have been asking those questions about the future as of late. The pandemic has only accelerated the decline that brings churches to just this point.

It may feel then, and perhaps more and more so in the next few years as we hear word of more church closures, that the remnant of the Church of Jesus Christ is under siege and that the greatness of the people who bear God’s name has diminished.

But then, it is important to hear once again and remember that it is to just those people that the prophecies of a Messiah come. It is to the last and the least, the ones who are counted out or not counted at all—like the “small” little town of Bethlehem, or the youngest son of Jesse who was assumed not to be worthy of inviting to the meeting with the prophet. These small and insignificant places and people are the ones that God continually seems to be doing some of his most significant work in and with.

And in Micah, he promises to do it again. Out some small, insignificant place among the clans of Judah, a significant ruler will come for the whole land. Out of the present weakness of Judah, this ruler will stand and shepherd in the strength of the Lord. Out of their insecurity, security will come. Out of their abandonment, diminishment, and humiliation, the Messiah will gather the people up once again and establish them securely under the greatness of his reign that will reach to the ends of the earth. From a place of siege and the threat of exile ring out the words: “he will be our peace.”

So why is it that these words come to a people abandoned and much diminished? Why is it that the Lord uses such small and insignificant places and people to accomplish his work? Perhaps because they are the ones who know they need to be saved—that they can’t do it themselves even though they’ve tried. Perhaps because they are the ones humble enough to see and believe that is the Lord and none other—not even themselves—that establishes the greatness, the security, and the peace of the people.

Whatever the reason, the fact that the church in our day is much diminished tells me in my heart that we can’t be far from a revival. If things look like Good Friday, it most certainly means that Easter isn’t far behind. These are precisely the conditions into which our God speaks his advent hope.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus, come.