The incarnation is God shepherding his flock - Micah 5:1-4

This is a sermon by Peter Birnie from the Riverside Church service on 28th December 2025.

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Micah 5 v 1-4 “The Incarnation is God shepherding his flock”

Intro:

(Slide 1) As we start a new year together as a church family I want to plead with you and exhort you to live 2026 well. To be the blessed person of Psalm chapter 1 who runs away from wickedness and puts deep roots down into God, and, nourished by his word, bears godly fruit as the Spirit works.  

  • Part of starting the year well will be to deal with anything still hanging over you from 2025 – if there is a sin you are giving into, then share this struggle with a Christian friend and let them support you and pray for you as you seek to put it to death.

 

  • If there is unforgiveness in your life – any relationships within or outside the church family that are soured a bit by the goings on of the past then deal with that today, seek the person out, pour forgiveness and grace into the situation and move on in love and friendship.

 

  • If 2025 has been a year where you haven’t really made gospel sacrifices, where you haven’t really put Jesus at the top of the list and the centre of the story, then with God’s help today take some steps in that direction for 2026, steps that will be to do with your home life, your diary, your bank account.

 

(Slide 2) Read Psalm 1 v 1-3. That is the blessed life – the Christlike life.

(Slide 3) But a major barrier to this type of start to 2026, and this type of life throughout 2026, is the barrier of fear – it feels like a real risk to admit a personal struggle with sin to another member of the church family. It feels very daunting to approach someone who you have hurt or who has hurt you and seek to repair, reconcile and rebuild. It feels extremely uncomfortable to decide to give more of yourself, more of your time, more of your money away to others rather than storing them up for yourself in case trouble comes. How can we get over this barrier of fear so that we live truly courageous and blessed lives of love and dependence on God and love and fellowship with one another?

 

(Slide 4) The answer to that question has been painted beautifully for us over Advent and the Christmas period. As we have looked at the prophesies pointing to Jesus Christ in the manger, what have we seen already? We saw that Light was promised and came to those in darkness (Wonderful counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace). That a King was promised and came to those in deep need (righteousness and justice and a dealing with the enemies of God). That a Servant was promised and came who brought freedom to captives (Spirit-filled work that is God himself accomplishing his ends). And in Micah 5 today, from a very unlikely place, we have a Shepherd promised who came and has brought God’s security to God’s flock.

 

 

  • The Shepherd’s story (v2-4a)

(Slide 5) The prophet Micah was at work in a dark time with much trouble and sadness ahead for the people of God. The current leaders of Judah were failing to shepherd the flock well and instead taking the people with them in sin and rebellion towards judgment, defeat and exile. The Northern Kingdom of Israel would soon be defeated and destroyed by the Assyrians and Jerusalem itself was under pretty constant threat of siege and attack, and yet, in this pretty rough context, Micah chapter 5 is full of hope and victory, full of security for the people of God because of the Shepherd’s story.

(Slide 6) There is an amazing scene in the second Lord of the Rings movie where the forces of good are besieged by an evil and seemingly overwhelming force at a place called Helm’s Deep. And just at the point of utter despair, on the brink of total defeat, from over a hill comes a shout and a sound of horses and one of the heroes of the story (Gandalf), shining in white, rides down that hill leading a whole army of reinforcements behind him. The siege is broken, the people are saved. This is a little taste of what is happening in Micah 5 with the story of God’s Shepherd.

(Slide 7) The Shepherd’s story is one of Victory and not defeat. Yes there is a siege, yes the enemy strikes and yet the story of the Shepherd is that amidst all of this opposition and threat, “he will stand and shepherd the flock.” We know who this good Shepherd is don’t we? And Jesus Christ did stand no matter what the opposition was. WW1 and the slow walk over the top – Jesus’ life story.

 

The Good Shepherd stood firm, facing a storm of temptation his whole life. In Gethsemane the Good Shepherd stood firm and said “yet not my will but yours be done.” On the cross the Good Shepherd stood firm and refused to listen to the taunts of those around him to save himself. And with the tomb sealed and seemingly defeated by death, the Good Shepherd stood and then strode out of that tomb, away from the grasp of death and sin forever. It is victory and not defeat for the people of God because “he will stand and shepherd the flock” and so his people should know they are secure and so live without fear and in bold obedience to his call.

 

(Slide 8) The Shepherd’s story is one of Strength and not weakness. God’s plan seems strange – that somehow the arrival of a little baby could bring about so much transformation and hope. But that is what Micah reveals in verse 3 – in a time of hopelessness, the birth of a baby will transform God’s people’s fortunes; “Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour bears a son.” But it is who this baby is that matters so much; verse 2 shows us that this baby, this shepherd, this ruler over Israel, his origins are from of old, from ancient times. This points back to King David and the promise of an eternal ruler on his throne, but it points back far further than that. Somehow this promised baby is ancient – how can that be? We know don’t we? We have been celebrating this for a month now – the baby born in Bethlehem was God taking on flesh.

The baby looked weak, but this baby would take down sin, death and Satan forever. “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD.” A strength that nothing else can match. The Shepherd’s story is one of strength not weakness and so his people should know they are secure and so live without fear and in bold obedience to his call.

 

(Slide 9) The Shepherd’s story is one of Greatness and not smallness. “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah …” Bethlehem didn’t even get a mention back in the book of Joshua when over 100 towns and villages were listed as the promised land was divided between the tribes. Bethlehem seems small and insignificant yet from there came King David (the least from among his brothers) and now from there will come the one who “will shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,  in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.” There is something particularly British I think about loving an underdog. Our favourite stories are the ones where the little guy surprises the big guy. But in fact this isn’t British at all, most children’s favourite bible story is David and Goliath (or maybe Ehud and the fat king).

 

(Slide 10) What we need to realise this morning as we plunge our way into 2026, is that God’s story is one which deals with our smallness, our weakness, our defeat. The Shepherd’s story is one where he entered into all of this. He seemed defeatable, he seemed weak, he seemed small.

 

But instead, the Shepherd (who is the Light of the World, who is the King of Kings, the Obedient Servant), the Shepherd is a champion, THE champion. His story is the story of the cradle, the cross, the empty tomb; a story of unstoppable victory, incredible strength, eternal greatness, a story of smashing sin, killing death and destroying Satan. And so his people are to know they are secure and so live without fear and in bold obedience to his call.

 

 

  • The Sheep’s story (v1 and 4b)

 

(Slide 11) That should be our story, the sheep’s story. In the prayer meeting last week we were in Psalm 46 which starts with these verses; “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way.” Then later in the Psalm God says this; “Be still and know that I am God.” Because the Shepherd is so incredible, so victorious and strong and great, because by the cradle and the cross and the empty tomb Jesus has accomplished everything needed for our salvation and restoration, then verses 1 and 4 now make complete sense for the people of God, people whose faith is in Jesus;

 

 

 

  • (Slide 12) Verse 1 (“marshal your troops now, city of troops”) tells the people to stir themselves and to get ready for battle, even in the face of overwhelming odds, even when their king Hezekiah is humiliated by enemies. Instead of being paralysed by fear, the people of God, even in the middle of extreme circumstances, they are to rouse themselves and take courage for the fight because of the promise of this Good Shepherd. If your faith is in the Good Shepherd, then as you approach 2026 you have no business to be rolling around in despair. Christ Church Riverside, we can acknowledge pain and suffering but we must be roused to live bold, obedient lives because of what our Shepherd has achieved for us and is working in and through us.

 

 

  • (Slide 13) Verse 4b (“and they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth”). Fear is not to be a barrier for the sheep that Jesus shepherds. Nothing needs to keep us chained up any more. Not our own sin, not the circumstances we are in, not the seeming risk that it is to live wholeheartedly for the glory of God. You and I are completely and utterly secure forever because our God reigns. Jesus is the light of the world, the King of Kings, God’s tender servant, the Majestic Shepherd.

 

(Slide 14) What is our story? (And by “our” I mean exclusively people who have put their faith in Jesus. If your faith is not in Jesus this is NOT your story – but it could be, if only you would accept his invitation, bow at his command, listen to his voice and follow). This is our story Christ Church Riverside; “And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.” Do you feel almost defeated at times? Do you feel small? Do you feel weak? Fine, Absolutely fine. In fact, perfect. Because this is how God promised to do it and this is how Jesus kept those promises. Through what looked like defeat, and weakness and insignificance, God has worked to accomplish all of his plans to redeem a people, to bring a people into relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us not mind looking weak and small and insignificant as a church family, but let us realise that through us God is working out his victorious, strong, great plans for the salvation of many.

So let us start 2026 well and then go on well all the way through. In Christ you are eternally secure;

  • In the face of external trials.
  • In the battle with internal sin and failure.
  • As we seek to speak the gospel to unbelievers in our lives.
  • As we make sacrifices for the work of the gospel and the good of one another.

Start from now, take steps today because … Psalm 1 v 1-2 (read to finish).

 

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