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Monday, 10 August 2015 - "Unpromising surroundings"
Daily Scripture: John 1:43 The next day, having decided to leave for the Galil, Yeshua found Philip and said, “Follow me!” 44 Philip was from Beit-Tzaidah, the town where Andrew and Kefa lived. 45 Philip found Natan’el and told him, “We’ve found the one that Moshe wrote about in the Torah, also the Prophets — it’s Yeshua Ben-Yosef from Natzeret!” 46 Natan’el answered him, “Natzeret? Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see,” Philip said to him. 47 Yeshua saw Natan’el coming toward him and remarked about him, “Here’s a true son of Isra’el — nothing false in him!” 48 Natan’el said to him, “How do you know me?” Yeshua answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Natan’el said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!” 50 Yeshua answered him, “you believe all this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” 51 Then he said to him, “Yes indeed! I tell you that you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down[John 1:51 Genesis 28:12] on the Son of Man!”
Reflection Questions:
One student said there was “nothing American dream” about McFarland. Nazareth was no “dream town,” either. That tiny town’s reputation led Nathanael to ask, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?” (John 1:46). Yet in that town, God found a teenager with no husband and no social status, and through her entered decisively into human history. Mary raised her son Jesus in Nazareth. Jesus' story, like McFarland, USA, shows that our origins do not have to define us.
- Nathanael’s initial reaction when his brother invited him to meet “Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth” mirrored a nearly universal human tendency: “Can anything from Nazareth be good?” What locations (in your community or your world), occupations, ethnic groups or even denominations tempt you to ask, “Can anything from ________ be good?” How can you challenge and move beyond those instinctive prejudices?
- In verse 51, Jesus reminded Nathanael of the story of “Jacob’s ladder” in Genesis 28:12. In doing so, Jesus was implicitly (almost explicitly) claiming to be the link between heaven and earth. How strong or weak is your sense of connection to the unseen spiritual realities of God’s world? What holy practices best put you in touch with that unseen realm?
Lord Jesus, in you heaven came to earth, and lived as one of us. Give me a living, lively sense of the ways in which you connect me to God, to the source of all life and goodness. Amen.
Insights from Roberta Lyle
Roberta Lyle has been on the Resurrection staff since 2006. She oversees the Collection Ministry, coordinating the donations of clothing, beds, food, furnishings, cars and computers and re-purposing them through our ministry partners to provide to those in need in our community.
Today’s passage reminds me of the negative impression many had of my home town. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa which proudly declared itself to be “The City of Five Seasons.” This slogan was meant to imply residents enjoyed a relaxing, leisurely pace that allowed more time for enjoying life. But inevitably some people preferred to call Cedar Rapids “The City of Five Smells,” and most of the smells were pretty awful. The good smells emitted by the Quaker Oats cereal mill and a molasses factory tended to be overpowered by the stench coming from the meat packing plants just south of town. The bad smell was often the first thing people noticed about the town and what they remembered, leading many to conclude the city was dirty and polluted. It didn’t make me very proud of my hometown, and like many of my peers I was anxious to move away to somewhere more cosmopolitan like Cedar Falls or even Iowa City.
Years later I had the unusual experience of returning to Cedar Rapids as part of a Resurrection mission team, where we repaired homes damaged by the flood of 2008. We had the opportunity to spend time with the owner of the home we were working in and learn her story. Sandee was a lifelong resident of Cedar Rapids, and she shared the harrowing story of how she managed to escape from her car as the flood waters surrounded and stranded her. Although Sandee had been relocated to a FEMA mobile home village outside of town, she returned to her neighborhood every weekend to attend church and teach Sunday school. We were touched and inspired by Sandee’s story of how her faith helped her through many hard times in her life and the tangible ways she shared her faith with the young children in her Sunday School class. Sandee reminded me of the many fine teachers I had who told me about Jesus and God and laid the foundations of my faith.
When Nathanael asks cynically whether anything good can come out of Nazareth, Phillip’s confident reply is “Come and see.” Phillip knew that meeting Jesus would change Nathanael for the better. No matter what our roots are, knowing and walking with Jesus gives us the strength and courage to be the best possible version of ourselves.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Today’s passage reminds me of the negative impression many had of my home town. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa which proudly declared itself to be “The City of Five Seasons.” This slogan was meant to imply residents enjoyed a relaxing, leisurely pace that allowed more time for enjoying life. But inevitably some people preferred to call Cedar Rapids “The City of Five Smells,” and most of the smells were pretty awful. The good smells emitted by the Quaker Oats cereal mill and a molasses factory tended to be overpowered by the stench coming from the meat packing plants just south of town. The bad smell was often the first thing people noticed about the town and what they remembered, leading many to conclude the city was dirty and polluted. It didn’t make me very proud of my hometown, and like many of my peers I was anxious to move away to somewhere more cosmopolitan like Cedar Falls or even Iowa City.
Years later I had the unusual experience of returning to Cedar Rapids as part of a Resurrection mission team, where we repaired homes damaged by the flood of 2008. We had the opportunity to spend time with the owner of the home we were working in and learn her story. Sandee was a lifelong resident of Cedar Rapids, and she shared the harrowing story of how she managed to escape from her car as the flood waters surrounded and stranded her. Although Sandee had been relocated to a FEMA mobile home village outside of town, she returned to her neighborhood every weekend to attend church and teach Sunday school. We were touched and inspired by Sandee’s story of how her faith helped her through many hard times in her life and the tangible ways she shared her faith with the young children in her Sunday School class. Sandee reminded me of the many fine teachers I had who told me about Jesus and God and laid the foundations of my faith.
When Nathanael asks cynically whether anything good can come out of Nazareth, Phillip’s confident reply is “Come and see.” Phillip knew that meeting Jesus would change Nathanael for the better. No matter what our roots are, knowing and walking with Jesus gives us the strength and courage to be the best possible version of ourselves.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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