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O Little Town
of Bethlehem
Psalm 27:1
Shohoiya Yokowai spent 28 years of his life in prison. It was not a
prison of bars & locks & wardens, but a self-imposed prison of fear. He
was a Japanese soldier on the island of Guam during WW2. And when the
American forces landed, he fled into the jungle & found a cave in which
he hid for 28 years because he was afraid of being captured by the
Americans.
He learned that the war was over by reading one of the thousands of
pamphlets dropped into the jungle. But he was afraid. So for 28 years he
lived in the cave, coming out only at night to look for roaches & rats &
frogs & mangoes on which he survived.
Finally some natives found him & convinced him that it would be all
right for him to come out of his jungle prison.
We think, "What a waste! Imagine, spending 28 years living as a prisoner
of fear." Yet, there are a lot of people who are prisoners of fear.
Fear imprisons, faith liberates;
fear paralyzes, faith empowers;
fear disheartens, faith encourages;
fear sickens, faith heals;
fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable-
and, most of all, fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while
faith rejoices in its God.
Everyone knows what its like to be afraid. Fear is very much a part of
our lives. Maybe you’re afraid of losing your job, or your health, or
losing your finances. Maybe you’re afraid of not being accepted by
others. Or maybe you’re just afraid of growing old. The list could go on
& on, for all of us have things that cause us to experience the emotion
we call "fear."
Now there is good fear which I believe God has instilled in us to keep
us safe. It helps us avoid dangerous situations like walking across a
yard full of pit bulls with a pork chop tied around our neck.
Then there is harmful fear which paralyzes us and keeps us from doing
things we could or should do. And Satan is a master at using our fears.
Our fear of failure can cause us to put things off. We do everything we
can to avoid facing the possibility of messing up.
Fear of rejection makes us afraid to do anything that could draw
criticism or give someone a chance to laugh at us. What will they think
of me? What if I turn them off? What if I mess up? They probably won’t
listen to me anyway!
The last Hymn we will look at tonight is, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
where all of our hopes and fears meet.
There will be times when anxiety and fear will come into our lives it is
then that we have a choice to make - we can choose to focus on the
problem and be overcome with fear or we can choose to focus on God and
are fear will disappear. Turn with me to Psalm 27 and let’s read the
first verse.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
As David focus is on God he sees that he really has no reason to fear.
When we consider and think about who God is and what He can do in our
lives there is no real reason to fear. This is why David asked the
rhetorical question: "Whom should I fear?" or as we would put it, "Why
should I be afraid?"
David’s focus on God reminded him of three things concerning God that
are very reassuring.
First he says, "The Lord is my light..."
Very often troubling and fearful times are compared to darkness because
we feel lost and in need of direction or light during those times.
When I was younger my cousins and I would prove our manhood by walking
around my Maw and Paw’s house. Leaving the porch was easy enough, and
rounding the first corner of the house was the tricky part because we
left the glow of the porch and walked into darkness. Pitch black. But
you longed for that second corner because you would immediately see the
light from the Kitchen window. It was after the first corner that your
mind began to play tricks on you. What was that noise? Is that a shadow
or something with bad breath and big teeth?
David’s fear disappears because he has recognized that the Lord is in
his light in dark and fearful times. The Lord does not necessarily give
David or us light but rather he personally becomes our light - our
personal guide through the darkness safely.
Secondly, David notes that the Lord is his Salvation, which means that
the Lord is his rescuer or deliverer.
David is not looking to weak people or his own self to rescue him or
deliver him but rather he is looking at the Lord who is Jehovah. This is
what David is saying that relieved his fears. He is reassured because it
is the Mighty God, the Lord who is the I AM who is his Rescuer and
Deliverer.
We can be at ease because the Lord is our salvation. He is the mighty
one whose stills the seas with a word and He is the one from who Earth
and sky flee.
At this point David asked himself a question that we should ask
ourselves also: "Whom should I fear?" If the Lord is my light and my
rescuer why should I be afraid? Who or what is greater than God?
The Lord is the "stronghold of our life..." A stronghold is a refuge, a
place of safety from danger. This is a metaphor we should be able to
relate to very well here in tornado alley.
All of us with commonsense seek refuge-a stronghold during these storms.
The greater the intensity of the storm the stronger the refuge we
desire. The stronger the refuge the less fearful we will be!
If you were to go through a tornado in a mobile home you would be
fearful because your refuge is week and your stronghold is uncertain but
if you were to go through a tornado in the concrete and steel reinforced
basement which is our refuge of strength you would be able to have
confidence and peace.
David is saying that we should have peace not because there are no
serious storms in our life but because we have a secure place, a sure
stronghold, for the Lord is our refuge.
In that little town of Bethlehem a Savior was born that is our Light to
guide us, Savior to rescue us, and as a Stronghold to protect us. We
have the ultimate in security and therefore we can have peace and
competence in our lives.
One tribe of Native Americans had a unique practice for training young
braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a
dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never
been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night
he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold,
he was in the middle of thick woods. By himself, all night long.
Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to
pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of
the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister
sound it masked. No doubt it was a terrifying night for many.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered
the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees,
and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld
the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and
arrow. It was the boy’s father. He had been there all night long.
We can have assurance during the storms because Our Heavenly Father is
standing right beside us in the center of our storm.
Tonight as we close our time together I hope the last stanza of O Little
Town of Bethlehem is your prayer today:
"O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and
enter in; be born in us today. We hear the Heavenly angles, the great,
glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel."
AMEN!
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