Chances
This morning, as I was driving to my optometrist appointment in my 1999 Oldsmobile with the paint missing from the front driver's side door and the faded paint on the hood; I contemplated how Jesus broke stereotypes. As the wind blew through my hair thanks to the fact that the air conditioner went out this past winter and I have not been able to get it repaired yet, I thought of how people would picture me if they only saw my car. Would they automatically assume that I am dirty or uneducated or unintelligent?
In John 1:46, when who would become the apostle Nathanael is told about an amazing prophet named Jesus of Nazareth, he exclaims, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (This very statement is one of the reasons that I always specify my own son is named after Nathaniel Hawthorne but with the more traditional Hebrew spelling with an a instead of an i. But that's besides the point of this post). Nathanael assumed that nothing worth anything could come from a town with the reputation of the rough and insignificant Nazareth. Why even consider it?
Back then, there were stereotypes just as there are today. There was no way a prophet could come from Nazareth. Today, there is no way any good can come from the poor, the outcast, the sinners. People have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, make the right amount of money to buy the right kind of house (and car), have the right kind of education, and be employed in the right kind of job to be worthy of society's respect. People often make assumptions about another's worth based upon that individual's societal appeal.
I have to hand it to the apostle Nathanael. When he met Jesus, he had a change of heart. Of course, who wouldn't? I'm sure it was a pretty impressive meeting. Jesus broke every stereotype Nathanael had harbored.
In today's society, people are often not even given that benefit of the doubt. Those who are stereotyped are pushed to the side. When they are deemed worthy of help, those who offer that assistance pat themselves on the back for contributing to charity. Those who received the help will never be worthy enough to be accepted, to be a part of, to be heard, to be valued. They will never be thought of as anything more than a charity case. What they could contribute goes unheeded, unbelieved.
Interesting thing about my car - I travel in it on a regular basis. Twice a month, I visit a prison an hour a way from where I live for prison ministries. My family and I regularly travel, seeking new, exciting adventures throughout our state. It gets me where I need to go. Maybe it just needed a chance.
In John 1:46, when who would become the apostle Nathanael is told about an amazing prophet named Jesus of Nazareth, he exclaims, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (This very statement is one of the reasons that I always specify my own son is named after Nathaniel Hawthorne but with the more traditional Hebrew spelling with an a instead of an i. But that's besides the point of this post). Nathanael assumed that nothing worth anything could come from a town with the reputation of the rough and insignificant Nazareth. Why even consider it?
Back then, there were stereotypes just as there are today. There was no way a prophet could come from Nazareth. Today, there is no way any good can come from the poor, the outcast, the sinners. People have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, make the right amount of money to buy the right kind of house (and car), have the right kind of education, and be employed in the right kind of job to be worthy of society's respect. People often make assumptions about another's worth based upon that individual's societal appeal.
I have to hand it to the apostle Nathanael. When he met Jesus, he had a change of heart. Of course, who wouldn't? I'm sure it was a pretty impressive meeting. Jesus broke every stereotype Nathanael had harbored.
In today's society, people are often not even given that benefit of the doubt. Those who are stereotyped are pushed to the side. When they are deemed worthy of help, those who offer that assistance pat themselves on the back for contributing to charity. Those who received the help will never be worthy enough to be accepted, to be a part of, to be heard, to be valued. They will never be thought of as anything more than a charity case. What they could contribute goes unheeded, unbelieved.
Interesting thing about my car - I travel in it on a regular basis. Twice a month, I visit a prison an hour a way from where I live for prison ministries. My family and I regularly travel, seeking new, exciting adventures throughout our state. It gets me where I need to go. Maybe it just needed a chance.
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