The Perfect Place

Have you ever heard of Casey, Illinois? No? That is hard to believe since it is home to 7 of the world’s largest items as recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s right, this little town with a population of 2700 people that is midway between Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri, along Interstate 70, has made a name for itself. Take a look at these 7 world’s largest distinctions that they have in their town.

World’s largest wind chime that is 56 feet high with a 42-foot-long chime, a rocking chair that is over 56 feet high and weighs 46,200 pounds, a golf tee that is 30 feet high and weighs over 6600 pounds, a pitchfork that is 60 feet long, wooden shoes that are over 11 feet long and 4 feet high, a mailbox that is over 32 feet tall, a crochet hook and knitting needles that are 9 pounds and 25 pounds respectively.

They also have 4 additional “big” items in their town: big coin, big pencil, big birdcage, and a big yardstick—that is 36 feet long rather than 36 inches long. They also are the location for the Illinois Softball Hall of Fame.

I am sure that many people wonder why such items would be built in such a small place. Why wouldn’t they display these items at the Smithsonian or at least in a major city’s museum somewhere so that millions of people can see them. Well, this little town has made a name for itself because of these really big things. Casey probably would no longer exist without the tens of thousands of people that flock to it each year to see these Guinness World Record items.

This is the second Sunday of Advent. Today we lit the Bethlehem candle. Bethlehem, like Casey, Illinois, was a small, seemingly insignificant town among the great cities of the nation of Israel. Since the bulk of any nations population can be found in cities, the attitude is often that nothing good can be found in small towns. People flock to the cities because they believe that is where all the good stuff is. The same was true during bible times.

The people of Israel knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Micah had prophesied this 700 years before the time of Christ.

² Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2)

Not only was Bethlehem the future birthplace of the Messiah, but it was also the birthplace of their greatest king, David. He was the one that God made a promise to about the Messiah. God said that David was a man who desired to have the heart of God and therefore God promised David that He would preserve his throne for all of eternity. The Messiah would come from David’s family. And if you trace the lineage of Jesus, it is amazing to discover that Jesus is a direct descendent of King David through both of his earthly parents.

This is an important fact because Jesus did not actually have an earthly father. Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, because Jesus was the Son of God. Mary had been miraculously impregnated while she was still a virgin. But if we look at the genealogical lists for Jesus in both Matthew and Luke, we see a vast difference in the names from King David down to Joseph.

Many people have wondered why these two gospels differed in their list of the ancestry of Jesus. It is very simple. First we need to understand that the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written for different audiences. Matthew was written for the Jews, Mark was written for the Romans, Luke was written for the Greeks, and John was written for those who were believers already.

When Matthew wrote his book about Jesus he traced Joseph’s ancestry back to King David. Since Matthew was writing for the Jews, he knew that culturally Jews did not consider women as important when it came to such things as ancestry or inheritance.

When Luke wrote his books about Jesus he traced Mary’s ancestry back to King David. Luke was writing this book specifically for a Greek man named Theophilus. Luke 3:23 says, “Jesus was 30 years old and was thought to be the son of Joseph.” Because Joseph was not the natural father of Jesus, Luke knew that he needed to show that Mary was also a descendent of King David. And since Luke did all this research while writing his book, he went ahead and included the ancestry all the way back to Adam and Eve.

So both Mary and David were descendants of King David. Both Mary and Joseph’s families came from Bethlehem. So, when Caesar Augustus declared that everyone must return to their home town to be counted for the census and to be taxed, Mary and Joseph both had to travel to Bethlehem; that small, insignificant town. A town that did not have the capacity to house all the people that were coming home to pay their taxes. A town that will forever be known as the birthplace of God’s Son.

¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. ² This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

⁴ And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, ⁵ to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the lodging place. (Luke 2:1-7)

Why would God choose Bethlehem as a place for His Only Son to be born? Why did He not allow Jesus to be born in the greatest city of that time? Rome ruled the known world at the time that Jesus was born. If God had allowed Jesus to be born in Rome, it would have been very easy for Jesus to have risen to become the ruler of the world. He could then demand that everyone worship God, just as many of the Caesars had done with various gods and goddesses or even claiming themselves to be a god. The Jews were looking for a Messiah that would enter in such grandeur, but God knew what He was doing when He picked the humble village of Bethlehem.

The Jews were looking for a Messiah that would come as a conquering king to free them from Rome, but God wanted a Messiah that would free them from sin. The Jews wanted a savior that would kick the Romans out of Israel, but God sent a Savior that would show them how to kick sin out of their lives. The Jews wanted a king that would lead them into glorious battle, but God wanted a King that would lead them to the glory of Heaven.

Bethlehem may not seem like the right place for God’s Son to be born, but it was already the birthplace of Israel’s greatest king. So why not choose it as the birthplace for the King of kings? If God could raise a man from Bethlehem to lead all of Israel to conquer almost the entire region of the Promised Land, then He certainly could use it as the birthplace for His Only Son who would conquer sin and death for all of eternity.

Yes, Bethlehem was the perfect place for the birth of Jesus. In spite of the fact that the town was too small. In spite of the fact that they did not even have any space for Mary and Joseph to stay in a lodging place. In spite of the fact that Jesus had to be placed in an animal’s feeding trough. Bethlehem was the perfect place for the birth of Jesus.

What can we learn from this story about a small town? I believe that God wants you to think of Bethlehem when you consider these three things about yourself.

Your life may seem small and insignificant, but God can use you for big things. God always seemed to choose leaders that the world would overlook. King David was a simple shepherd in Bethlehem when God chose him to become the king of Israel. God uses ordinary people so that the world can see the extraordinary things that He does through them. Don’t focus on your size or abilities. Focus on the fact that God can do big things through you.

You may not understand now why God is doing something in your life, but everything that God does is for a purpose far greater than what we can imagine. Mary wasn’t even married when she entered Bethlehem pregnant with Jesus. Think about the embarrassment that she and Joseph had to endure: the looks of condemnation by people all around them. But God had a plan for Mary. The people that looked down their noses at her, accusing her of living in sin, were the same people that Her son would one day save from their sins. Trust God to lead you through the difficult times into the greater times that He has planned for you.

Maybe it has been a long time since anything great happened in your life, but God has made promises about great things that He wants to do in you and through you. Bethlehem had very few things to brag about. Yes, they were the birthplace of King David, but that had been over a thousand years ago. Nothing great had happened in Bethlehem since then, but God had made a promise that Bethlehem would be the place where the Messiah would be born. Study God’s Word to see the many promises that God has made to you. You are God’s perfect person for His plan for you.