The greatest from the least

After Micah 5:2-5 

A backwater, a place

so small as to be

melded into another,

a place no one would

expect a king to be born.

 

Yet.

 

It is the birthplace

of David, and it is

from the line of David

that the king will come,

the one to rule,

the one to be great

to the ends of the earth.

 

The flock will return, and

he will shepherd them,

his flock, and they

shall dwell secure

as he rules in the name

of the Lord, as he rules

in the strength of the Lord,

as he rules in the majesty

of the Lord.

 

He is the greatest,

raised up from the least.

 

Photograph by Carlos N. Cuatzo Meza via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Fear That Sings and Dances: Basking in the Majesty of God – David Mathis at Desiring God.

 

The Porn Buster – Barry York at Gentle Reformation.

 

Love God with All Your Imagination: A Call for Christian Storytelling – Kahryn Butler at Desiring God.

 

Bells & Pomegranates: An Early Warning System – Andrew Kerr at Gentle Reformation.

How things are done

After Luke 2:1-20 

With a man’s ego it begins,

a king wanting to know

the extent of his power,

his reach, his grasp,

how many he rules,

how many can be taxed,

a dual vision and

a dual purpose,

but not the reason,

the fundamental reason.

The wheels of the machinery

of heaven begin to turn,

as census counters take

their positions in towns

across an empire, 

to accomplish a king’s will,

not knowing that they

begin the telling of the story,

the story orchestrated 

in tens of thousands

of towns, like tens 

of billions of stars and 

galaxies in a universe

where only one planet

matters, in an empire

where only one tiny town

matters, that this counting

of millions serves only

as backdrop to the drama

unfolding, unseen and

unremarked, in a stable

in the city of David.

 

Photograph by Jan Kronies via Unsplash. Used with permission.