Significant Plans in an Insignificant Place
Luke 2:1-7
As a child growing up in Winnsboro, South Carolina, we would have the Christmas cantata every year at the St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church on 183 St. Luke Church Road. Now I wasn’t much of a singer (and I’m still not), but as the daughter of the church musician, I did have the opportunity to have a solo because if my daddy told me I was leading a song, there was no more discussion about it. I remember it like yesterday, my parents purchased me a brand-new sequin dress, and my mother relaxed my hair and adorned it in bows and ribbons just so I could sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” in front of our church family and our small, close-knit community. This place, where Joseph and Mary journeyed because Joseph was of the lineage of David would become the place that a little black girl from another little town would sing about thousands of years later. Lately, as I reflect on not only who I come from but where I come from, I have thought a lot about this little town called Bethlehem.
Of all the places that God could have chosen to be the birthplace of the Messiah, why Bethlehem? God, why not Jerusalem? It’s a major city with major influence. It’s the capital of the region. Or maybe Hebron, it’s a major business hub with a lot of economic opportunities. But no, God says Bethlehem, and God knows that in the eyes of many Bethlehem is insignificant. There are a few reasons for Bethlehem’s insignificance. In Old Testament Scripture, we see it often be the home of sometimes insignificant and unexpected characters such as Ruth and, later, a young shepherd named David. Bethlehem was a fort for Jerusalem. It was the town you stopped through on your way to the city. It was not the destination city but the place you journeyed through on your way to wherever you were going. Bethlehem had limited resources and inhabitants, yet God says you will be the place where the world will be changed. We know it’s always unexpected when big talent comes from unknown places. None of us knew Nutbush Tennessee until it gave us a private dancer named Tina Turner. None of us knew Gary Indiana until it gave us the moonwalking genius Michael Jackson. Nobody knew about Anderson, SC, until it gave us a black panther named Chadwick Boseman. None of us had ever heard of Kosciusko, Mississippi, until it gave us the genius of this little black girl named Oprah Winfrey. Sometimes, big dreams, talents, and futures can come from seemingly obscure and insignificant places. We know that God can use the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and sometimes God has to use a little old place to show us what God can do through the things that the world calls insignificant.
It's weird to compare ourselves to a place, but have you ever felt like Bethlehem? Have you ever felt too small to be noticed? Have you ever felt too insignificant to be put to good use? Have you ever had a supervisor that didn't recognize your hard work? Have you ever had a teacher that didn’t acknowledge you when you were trying your best? Have you ever had a family member that rejected you even after you did all you could to earn their approval? Have you ever felt too young, too old, too different, too big, not smart enough, not good-looking enough, not credentialed enough, not wealthy enough, or just plain NOT ENOUGH for a certain task, a certain position, or a certain role that you were asked to step into. If you have never felt that way, beloved, you are the definition of lucky. You are the definition of privileged because there are people in our world, people in our society, and people right here in our own community who are constantly made to feel this way every day. Society will make you feel insignificant because you are poor or working class in a world consumed with capitalism. You are insignificant because you are black or brown in a society dominated by white supremacy. You are insignificant because of your gender or sexual identity in a patriarchal society. You are insignificant because of the neighborhood that you come from. You are not significant because you are 40 and still not married. You are not significant because you weren’t able to have any children. You are at the bottom because you have a criminal history. You are not significant because you struggle to find secure housing. You are not significant because you struggle with addiction. People have been told constantly how insignificant and unimportant they really are by educators, employers, pastors, and congregations, and even by their own family members on holidays like this one. Our world finds a way to remind SOME people every day that you are the runt of the litter, you ultimately do not matter, and nothing good can come from your life.
But what if we could see God's plans for Bethlehem as plans for those who are made to feel insignificant? What if we could hear God plainly saying to us at the lowest moments of our lives, even though at times you feel insignificant, I have big plans for you? Even though you feel that you are not enough, I can do great things through you. Even though you feel that you don’t have enough resources, I can accomplish a divine mission with you. The reality is that even when we feel too small to fit into the plans of others, we are reminded that we are never too insignificant in the eyes of God. We are reminded that God always has a plan with us in mind. We can always be used on God’s behalf. That’s my favorite part of the scriptures. It’s how God shows us that God has significant plans for seemingly insignificant people. God can use a young couple who are housing insecure to give birth to the Messiah. God can use shepherds who likely cannot read or write to spread a divine message. God can use a young man who stutters and can barely speak to free his people from oppression. God can use a sex worker in the red-light district of her day to help save a nation. Bethlehem is a small reminder that when the world overlooks you, God still chooses you. God still chooses you to lead. God still chooses you to make a difference. God still chooses you to accomplish great things in the world.
And to be used by God, we don’t have to do anything. As a matter of fact, there is nothing we can do. There is no degree we can earn. There is no course we can take. There is no tax bracket we can reach. There is no list of books we can read. There is no amount of money that we can donate. But in the words of the writer and theologian Paul Tillich, all we can do is “SIMPLY ACCEPT THE FACT THAT WE ARE ACCEPTED.” Accept the fact that God called you. Accept the fact that God chooses you. Accept the fact that God loves you. Accept the fact that God made you significant just as you are! This holiday season, may you find your significance in the God who created you, the Savior who came to liberate you, and the communities that seek to affirm you.
REVEREND RACQUEL C.N. GILL is a native of Winnsboro, SC. She was ordained for ministry at the age of 17 at St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Winnsboro under the leadership of the late Rev. Roy C. Jeffcoat. Racquel is a 2012 graduate of Columbia College for women in Columbia, SC, with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. Racquel received her Master of Divinity in May 2015 from Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC.
Upon completion of graduate school, Racquel joined the pastoral staff of the St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York, under the leadership of Pastor David K. Brawley. After pastoral residency, Racquel transitioned back home to South Carolina and served as the Jack & Jane Presseau Associate Chaplain at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. Currently, she serves as the Minister for Intercultural Engagement at Duke University Chapel in Durham, NC.