December 19
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
John 1:46 (NIV)
Thirty-two years ago, I launched two life-changing experiences. I began a PhD program in Counseling Psychology at Columbia University, and I began attending Tim Keller’s church in New York City. A Keller Christmas sermon from that time continues to have significance for me, and so I share it with you today. He challenged me with a key question from the Christmas story: “Can we live in a place of brilliance without being blinded by it?”
As we celebrate the miracle of the Incarnation, we read that the “Son of God” and “Son of Man” comes from Nazareth. A common theme of biblical accounts is that Jesus was born into insignificance. Nazareth was the backwoods of Galilee which was the backwoods of Israel which was the backwoods of the Roman Empire. In that backwoods of the backwoods of the backwoods was the King of the universe. In that weakness was the all-powerful God. In that obscurity was the greatest event in history.
True greatness is naturally invisible to worldly eyes. God loves to use things that turn the values and expectations of the world upside down. Human culture flows from the top down and from the center out. God’s spiritual renewals and awakenings tend to come from the margins to the center; from the outside in. We can see this looking at Jesus and His disciples and at spiritual revivals throughout history.
The Christmas story confronts us with the question of what is truly great. It is commonly said that “All that glitters is not gold.” I was immersed in a glittery graduate program in a glittery city, and it was easy to mistake it all as “gold” according to the world’s measuring stick. The Christmas story, however, tells us real greatness is naturally invisible to the worldly eye. As J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, “All that is gold does not glitter.”
Can anything good come from Nazareth? The “Son of God” and “Son of Man” emptied Himself in the obscure backwoods of Nazareth that we may participate in the eternal exchange of love of the Trinity and celebrate the greatest story ever told. Now that’s truly gold!