Luke 4 ²²

“Is not this Joseph’s son?”

As this is still the season of Epiphany, I shall begin with a Christmas story.  At a restaurant in Nice, France, a family were sitting waiting for their supper.  It was a day when everything had gone wrong.  Their car had broken down, so they had to go to an expensive hotel.  Just a few tables were occupied in the café.  A pianist was playing listlessly.  The waiter brought the wrong meal, for which William blamed his wife (who had placed the order in halting French).  The local “flower lady” came in, and told the waiter she could only afford a bowl of soup, as she had sold nothing that day.

An American sailor went over to her, and bought two corsages, paying her 20 Euros, and refusing any change.  He gave one to her, and presented the other to William’s wife. The flower lady shouted to her friend the pianist that he could enjoy a meal on her tonight.  He began to play “Good King Wenceslas”, and the diners all joined in, in English, German and French.  This was soon followed by “Silent Night”.  People entered from the street, and soon there was a queue for tables.  William was so moved by the young American’s generosity that he wrote a commendation to the Admiral of the US Navy, and everyone unexpectedly enjoyed a really happy Christmas Eve.

Nazareth was a place with a bad name.  Nathaniel commented “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”  It was a large city, nestled amid the encircling hills.  Jesus had probably decided already it was not a good place to choose as the centre of his work, but he wanted to give the inhabitants an opportunity.  Maybe he would find a few disciples?

Jesus had been trained as a carpenter by Joseph.  This was wonderfully appropriate- even today, wood is an essential material, and it was yet more important in his day.  Jesus probably needed to work to support his mother, four brothers and at least two sisters after his father died.  The townsfolk of Nazareth knew Jesus, and had heard about his deeds in Capernaeum.  They probably expected him to heal Naomi’s lame leg, much as we expect “goodies” if our local MLA becomes Premier.  But Jesus threw down the gauntlet, and you know the result.  The people had a preconceived notion of what they expected, but Jesus did the unexpected.

Sometimes, the very people we expect to support us turn away.  I think of George Matheson, a Scottish preacher.  When quite a young man, he learned that he was losing his sight.  He wrote to his fiancée, hoping for her support, but instead, she accepted his offer of release from their engagement.  The result was a broken heart for George, but also the writing of a beautiful hymn (#658 in Voices United)- “O Love that wilt not let me go..”
Jesus doesn’t let us down.

When you ask people what they know about Nazareth, they will probably tell you that it was the hometown of Jesus- not the terrible godless place of 2000 years ago.  If Jesus can do this for a town, what can he do for a person?  He lived 2000 years ago, before any of our modern means of communication, yet here we are today joining in worship with millions of people all around the world.  This is more than a miracle.  Is this something that would have been expected in Nazareth? In Rome?  Or indeed anywhere, while Jesus was alive?  Jesus can change even the most unpromising people.  In the words of Sangster: “There’s not one of us, however mature we are in the faith, in whom He could not work some change.”  You may say “I’m too old to change, to really let Christ into every part of my life,”  or “I’m too busy- you should just see my “to do” list.”  You may argue “I already do a lot for my family, my sick mother, or my neighbour.”  You ask “What can I do?  God doesn’t need my inexperienced help.”  Speaking humanly, you are right.  But God can use every one of us.  God works miracles.  He works in the most unexpected people, showing that nothing is impossible.  There is power available for all of us.  All we have to do is to act.

A bishop once received a call from a vicar working in a poor part of the city. “I’ve been working here for 40 years, with nothing much to show for it, whereas you have won thousands to God.  Why am I such a failure?”  The bishop asked him if he remembered Mary.  “Oh, yes, she came a few times to my confirmation class, a long while ago- but she stopped coming.”  “Let me tell you all about her” said the bishop.  “She had to go to help her brother on his farm.  But this brother spent more time in the pub than on his land.  One day, he confronted his sister, asking why she bothered about him.  She told him that she loved him, and she gave him some notes she had taken at the confirmation classes many years before.  Unexpectedly, he read them, and through these notes and talks with his sister, he turned his life around.  He went on to enter the ministry, and he now stands before you as your humble bishop.”  What an amazing illustration of God working in unexpected ways through unexpected people.

So, don’t ever give up.  When things appear to be hopeless, our unexpected God will be ready to work wonders through us!

Take time to be holy, speak oft with your Lord.
Abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.