"journey To Bethlehem: "can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth?"

“Journey to Bethlehem: Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?”

Luke 1:26-38

Early in Jesus’ ministry, when Philip, one of Jesus’ first disciples told his friend Nathanial: “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth…”

Nathanial was astonished.

He looked at Philip and asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Nazareth is much more well known today than it ever was in Jesus’ day.

It was a little town with a population of between one hundred and four hundred people.

It wasn’t even mentioned in the Talmud nor by the historian Josephus.

It was most likely a town of farmers, shepherds, and laborers who walked an hour each way to sell their goods and services in Sepphoris, a much bigger town nearby with about 30,000 people living in it.

Far from living in luxury, many of the inhabitants of Nazareth built their homes inside caves.

This was a sign of poverty.

The name Nazareth is interesting and holds a clue to the Child Gabriel told Mary about in our lesson for this morning.

Nazareth is a Hebrew word that means a “branch” or “shoot.”

As many of you know, when a tree is chopped down, a shoot will grow out of the stump, allowing a new tree to spring up where the old one has died.

Much of the Old Testament was written predicting, or in response to, the destruction of Israel.

The prophets in speaking about the destruction and re-emergence of Israel used the metaphor of Israel being like a tree that had been cut down, but would sprout up once again.

Then, Israel would be led by a messianic figure called “the branch” or “the shoot.”

Isaiah 11:1-4 and verse 6 prophesy about this: “A shoot shall come up from the stump of Jesse,” Jesse was the name of King David’s father...

…the prophet continues, “and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him…

…His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;…

…[And in those days] the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”

This prophesy was a promise of hope that the people of Israel had held onto year after year after year.

The people hoped for the coming of the “branch” that would lead the people—a messiah.

Jeremiah and Zechariah use this same imagery.

It was a sign that there are no hopeless situations with God.

Little did the humble, working-class folks living in Nazareth know that the “branch” foretold in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zachariah would be a child who would grow up in their own village!

Who would have dreamed of it?

Have you ever felt small and insignificant?

I think many of us have, at times.

Maybe you feel that way this morning.

Have you ever thought of yourself as so insignificant that God couldn’t possibly use you for God’s good purposes?

Certainly, if God needs something done, God will use someone with many more resources.

More talent.

Someone younger.

Someone older.

Someone richer.

Someone stronger.

I have felt like this as well.

You know, Red Bank United Methodist Church is a relatively small church in a relatively small town.

Most people in the rest of the world, America and Tennessee for that matter don’t even know we exist.

But look what God is doing through YOU!

We have one of the largest, if not THE LARGEST Food Pantry in the entire county.

People rely on this church.

We have a preschool that has 110 children enrolled…

…it’s only about 3 years old, but it has 110 kids and it has been nominated to win the award for Best of the Best by the in the Times Free Press for two years running.

On top of being one of the highest quality preschools, it is one of the most affordable.

These are ministries of this church.

And these ministries are making a huge difference in this community.

And YOU make up this Church—You are being used by God for God’s good purposes.

That is HUGE.

There is no greater privilege nor calling!!!

Perhaps there are people who, at one point or another, have written us off and said, “Red Bank United Methodist Church is a relic of the past. Their best days are behind them.”

I’m here to say that our best days are NOW and there are much, much better days to come.