too small?
How are we feeling about ourselves these days- individually and as a fellowship? Insignificant or Beloved? Barely getting by or Blessed? I started my day listening to a meditation encouraging us to know who we are in God, to look for the Truth not only in ourselves but also in others, seeing ourselves as God created us.
Richard Rohr’s translation of Matthew 2:6 is unusual, highlighting how Bethlehem thought of themselves- as least among the towns of Judah, as unimportant, insignificant- which the prophet contradicts, or sees beyond to another identity:
You, Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth one who is to rule my people Israel. Micah 5:2
When we look around the sanctuary, what do we see? How does God see us? King David’s words resonate:
But me? I’m weak and needy. Let my Lord think of me. You are my help and my rescuer. My God, don’t wait any longer! Psalm 40:17 (CEB)
The world’s tendency, and thus often our own, is to despise the small, and so Rohr’s reflection surprised me:
We, like Bethlehem itself, are too tiny to imagine greatness within us, but God always hides inside of littleness and seeming insignificance…. God appears at the edges, it seems. We do not have to see God if we do not want to. God trusts our desiring and lets us do all the discovering. (Yes, And… p. 182)
This is upside down from what we expect, from what we have been taught. Seeing God at work- in ourselves, in our fellowship, in the world- is entrusted to our wanting and desiring. This seems risky and vulnerable of God, to leave it to us to discover. Though if we see with the eyes of the poets, perhaps we observe God everywhere, even in ourselves.
Those who can recognize God within their own puny and ordinary souls will be the same who will freely and daringly affirm the Divine Presence in other unexpected places. It is all one and the same pattern. See it once, here and now, and soon you can see it everywhere! (Yes, And… p. 182)
Perhaps being small is a good thing- keeping us humble and honest, as Rohr says. So we remember “that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Cor 4:7) The pattern is there in the Bible- God using small things of seeming insignificance. Along with King David, we also acknowledge:
You, Lord my God! You’ve done so many things— your wonderful deeds and your plans for us— no one can compare with you! If I were to proclaim and talk about all of them, they would be too numerous to count! Psalm 40:5 (CEB)
May we today embrace the mystery of our smallness and our greatness in God’s eyes. May we glimpse who we truly are- as individuals and as a church- as God has created us, and is creating us, to be. May we know that from the seeming insignificant, God brings forth beautiful things. –Renée