Micah 6:6-8
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Matthew 5:1-12
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
As I sat in silence, the image and the song of the Little Drummer Boy came vividly to mind. I have always loved this song and I can't ever sing through it without crying. I was reminded of the TV special that was on when I was a kid. It was TERRIFYING! It begins with the "little drummer boy" playing with his animal friends in the desert. The narrator tells us several times through the 30-minute special that he hates people, all people. Within minutes, the boy is kidnapped by two men who want to use him and his performing animals to make money. We are told in a flashback that his farm was burned down and he escaped while his parents perished - which is the reason he hates people.
I think it was the wording in Micah that made the connection for me. The asking how to come before the Lord and what to bring made me think of that one with "no gift to bring that's fit to give our king."
Then as we moved on to the 1 Corinthians passage, I already had this picture and so it was reinforced with the weak, low and despised being chosen. Also, the "not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth" phrase resonated with this little drummer boy image - especially the one in the TV special.
As I listened to the Beatitudes, those beautiful familiar blessings, they also had new meaning in the context of this simple children's song. I hadn't seen the TV special in years, but I had a vague memory of the boy being poor, orphaned and kidnapped. He was poor in spirit and mourning and meek and hungering for things to be made right.
Since I hadn't seen it in decades, I decided to watch it when I got home. It was definitely just as scary as I remembered it and also didn't really stand the test of time in respect to how some of the Middle Eastern characters are portrayed, but there were a few pleasant surprises. The transformation of the main character who learns to give up his hate in the presence of his Savior for one. But the most surprising was the last sentence in the show as the music swells and the "camera" pulls back from the manger scene to the star overhead: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
