Where are you from?

There is a place in scripture that says “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1.46)  We should hear this as a put down on Jesus.  Thinking that any significant teacher, preacher, rabbi, could come from such a small village of no acclaim was unthinkable.  It would be like saying “No one expects anything good to come from Needles or Cool!  Get real!”  This is a judgement on a town and her inhabitants.  So, when we pause to consider Bethlehem and those that come from her, that pattern comes alive again: in an insignificant town, an insignificant woman is bearing our exalted new king.

Where do you come from?  What surprises have been born in you?

What have you brought forth out your birthplace to share, in love, with your community?