Little Things of Christmas Luke 2:12
“I can’t do much…I don’t have much to give” These are statements often made by Christians who would really love to serve God in some way, yet they often feel too small for God to use.
I read about an elderly widow who had a hard time getting around but was eager to serve Christ. After praying about the matter, she decided that although she might not be capable of walking from house to house to invite others to Church, she was still able to play the piano.
The next day she placed this small ad in the "Oakland Tribune": "Pianist will play hymns by phone daily for those who are sick and downhearted - the service is free." The notice included the telephone number to dial.
When people called, she would immediately inquire, "What hymn would you like to hear?" Within a few months she had played for several hundred depressed and lonely individuals. Many of them freely poured out their hearts to her, and she was able to help and encourage them. Later she testified, "That service became the most rewarding thing I ever did in my life."
God uses little things to share His love, His grace and His mercy.
When God was ready to tell the world of Christ coming to earth, He chose the small and insignificant, the unimportant to bring the good news of His great love to mankind.
1. God Uses Little People
There were many big men in Palestine at this time. There were scholars of great intellect, Rulers of great power of command, but God did not choose these to bring the good news of His Son coming to earth. The angels came to little people.
Those shepherds were certainly not important people. They were not only unimportant; they were downright hated by most honest and upright citizen. Why no self-righteous person would be seen in the presence of a mere shepherd.
Mary was a little teenage girl, not a queen. She had no status, no power no voice among the people. She was, for the most part, unheard of. That is until the angel came.
It was not a king or Ruler or even a mighty soldier that was his adoptive father, but rather a lowly carpenter.
[1Co 1:27-28 NIV] “27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are,”
I absolutely love the fact that God uses little people to do big things.
It’s a fact because the Bible gives a number of examples to prove it.
-Goliath was killed by little David.
-The Midianites were defeated by only 300 men.
-Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
-Naaman, was sent to Elisha to be healed of leprosy by a little maid.
-A little boy when his lunch was given to Jesus, fed a multitude of people.
God can use you too if you will simply put your life in His hands.
2. God Uses Little Places
Bethlehem was the place where Jesus was born.
Bethlehem was the original home of David’s family and was a little town, yet it is the place where our Lord first appeared on earth.
3. God Uses the Little Places to do His great work.
The Evangelist Gary Huckaby says; “Little David was found in the field, and Gideon was behind the wine press. The great Evangelist Dwight L. Moody was won to Christ by a little shoe salesman. If you are a Sunday school teacher, you may only have a little part in God’s work, but you may there have a D.L.Moody or a Billy Sunday in your little class. God uses little places in which to work His will. God loves little places and little people. You may be located on a dead end street, or in some little Church in the hills, but God knows where you are, and He knows your name. Let Him work through you.”
Luke 2:7
Luke 2:7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
It was a stable, not a room. A manger, not a bed…God Uses Little Things
The manger was not a crib, or a baby bed, it was a feed trough used to feed the animals that were kept there. It was a little simple thing. The swaddling clothes were nothing but rags, maybe even old ragged cloth that had been used to wash the animals which fed from the manger.
This is where the Savior was born. He, who is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, stooped to lowliness that we might someday have riches untold. He could have been born in a palace, or a modern hospital, or any other place, but God chose the little things to greet His Son’s birth.
Jesus used the illustration of little sparrows to show His love and care for those who believe.
It was a small still voice that spoke to Elijah and not the earthquake, or the wind, nor was it in the fire that passed, it was the small still voice. 1 Kings 19.
It was a little crow of a rooster that caused Peter to realize His sin.
It was Jesus who went a little father and prayed in the Garden. Matthew 26:39
God uses little things to do His will.
Luke 2:15 "And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven; the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us,"
Finally;
4. God Uses Little Tasks
Jesus could have preached a Sermon on the Mount each and every day if He wanted. Jesus used the little tasks to reach others with the message of eternal life. He asked the woman at the well for a little drink of water and then showed her that He was the living water. (John 4).
David used the little task of playing the harp to quiet the king. It is the little tasks that God uses to work in Local Churches. Singing with the worship team, helping with the nursery, caring for the lawn and the buildings, being an usher are all little things but things that God will use in a mighty way.
Little Tasks Bring Great Results and huge Blessings
The shepherds little task of leaving the flock to go and see the Christ child has been told for thousands of years.
It was the little things in the Christmas story that God chose to use when He was ready to send His Son to this world!
Invitation
Thanks to Gary Huckaby
