Ps. 33: 10-12  “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.  The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!”

Remember growing up, back in P.E. class, choosing teams for games?   The teacher would assign two captains, usually the two most athletic of the kids present.  Then, alternating, one by one, the captains got to pick their teams.  The “pool” of pick–ees fell into three categories.  The majority of the kids were in the “middling” category, such that either side could reasonably make use of them.  The rest fell into two categories:  the first picks that the team leaders fought over who got to HAVE them, and the rest of us, the ones the captains fought over who got STUCK with.  Occasionally a captain would make a first pick one of us who wasn’t very good because we were good buddies, but if that leader were competitive at all, friendship came up short when weighed against the ability to help the team win.  

That’s how the world chooses its teams:  being good at the particular factor needed for the task.   Athletes who can run faster, jump higher, shoot straighter, hit harder.  Actors who can turn even so-so scripts into memorable movies.  Musicians who can … well, we’ll skip that one.  Considering many of the music stars today, I have no idea what the world is looking for!  Leaders with good looks, charisma, the ability to pitch a good sound-bite.  Men and women who epitomize the world’s standards of beauty.  The world likes larger-than-life winners.

God, of course, makes his choices the opposite way.  He deliberately chooses the ones the world rejects, overlooks, or disdains.  He chooses the most unlikely, flawed, and “everyman” heroes.  God chose Israel to be HIS people, but it wasn’t because they were a likely candidate for Most Favored Nation.  They were never a terribly numerous people; even at their height, they were a small nation.  They certainly weren’t strong; they were often outgunned and outmanned.  They certainly weren’t more faithful.  Even by the time of the exodus they had nearly forgotten the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  And their behavior on the journey to the Promised Land and then IN the Promised Land?  Not too promising, as “chosen people” go.  God’s reasons for choosing that people had nothing to do with any intrinsic value that lay in the Israelites, and everything to do with demonstrating HIS own power.  There’s no other explanation for the Jews’ survival!

The first two Psalm verses here provide an interesting point-to-point contrast.  “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing” is contrasted to “The counsel of the LORD stands forever”.  “…He frustrates the plans of the peoples” stands beside “…the plans of His heart [stand] to all generations.”  It is THESE verses that are followed by the ringing assertion of the blessing that sits on Israel because it has been chosen by God.  Israel was not blessed because they had prayer in school, taught the Torah as their curriculum, put His name in a national motto on their money, and proclaimed that they had chosen Him as their God.  Israel’s God was the Lord, not because they chose Him, but because GOD chose THEM. Israel was blessed because they, and no other nation, had been chosen as His heritage.  The ultimate blessing for Israel?  They would be the one nation from whom would come the Savior of the nations.

The Roman Empire seems an unlikely tool in the hand of God, yet so it was.  Seen from a worldly point of view, the Roman conquest wasn’t a positive experience for those under that conquest, yet, seen from God’ point of view, it set the stage for Christ’s birth and the spread of the Gospel in ways that no other time in history had.  To ensure communication and the rapid deployment of troops wherever needed,  the Romans built an incredible transportation infrastructure across the entire Empire.  The “pax Romana” meant that travel along that infrastructure was generally safe (except for the occasional bandit), unlike trying to travel through warring territories.   Latin became a ‘lingua franca” that was spoken by a good portion of the population throughout the Empire, making communication easier between peoples of different regions.   All these elements were set in play before Christ made His entrance.

 As we near the Christmas story itself, we see even more details of how God used the world’s plans to accomplish his own.  The Roman rulers placed sub-rulers in its various territories of conquest.  They didn’t much care just how those governors managed their internal affairs, as long as they saw to it that the proper taxes were collected and forwarded to the Roman coffers, and that the peace was kept so that minimum military expenditure was necessary.  It was in relation to the first object that Caesar Augustus gave his decree for the census to be taken.  He wanted to be sure he was really getting everything that was due him.  From the point of view of those affected by the decree, this was a hardship and just one more thing to hate about Rome.  Yet it was this decree that sent Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the very place foretold some 400 years earlier for the Saviour’s birth.    

When the wise men showed up seeking the one born to be the “King of the Jews”, once again Satan stepped in to attempt to destroy God’s plan and His people.   Rather than submitting to the new King, Herod ordered what he intended to be His slaughter.   Herod’s plan was to protect his own throne from what he feared was a usurper; Herod was, of course, a patsy because his throne was never in danger from Jesus.  Satan’s plan was to protect HIS kingdom from what he knew would be a fatal blow from the “Seed of the woman.”  Since Herod never knew just which child the wise men found, he would never have been sure that his slaughter had actually removed the feared threat.  Satan, though, knew well that his Foe had survived.

So Satan used yet another Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, to (as he thought) finish the job.  Pontius Pilate, too, feared for his position as ruler – not from any threat he felt from Jesus, but because Pilate knew that if Jerusalem erupted in riot, necessitating the call-out of troops, there would be repercussions.  If the riot were to be accompanied by accusations that, in letting Jesus live, he was abetting rebellion against Rome?  He would surely not only be removed from office, but likely executed.  Better that an innocent man die than that he, himself, run such a risk!  So, Jesus’ life, begun under threat death from Rome, in the end died by the hand of Rome.  From the world’s point of view, mission accomplished:  threat to Roman peace averted.  From Satan’s point of view, mission accomplished:  Chosen One eliminated, the ultimate blessing of the people of Israel denied.  From God’s point of view?  The REAL mission accomplished: the crèche finding its fulfillment on the cross, the blessing of the people of Israel brought to fruition, death itself slain, sin’s debt wiped out.  God’s purpose set from the foundation of the world could not be overcome.

The people of Israel were blessed, for from them came the Savior, and God still has a purpose for His people, but those of us who have been grafted in to that Root are now also part of that inheritance, the “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the exellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness to His marvelous light.”

As we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, let us take heart anew that no matter what the world may plan, no matter how circumstances may seem from where we stand, no matter what Romes, or Herods, or Pilates may stand against us, God’s plans, and no others, will stand firm forever.