You Want me to go where?

Luke tells us that, "God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth (Luke 1:26)."

In his account of Jesus' birth, life, teachings, suffering, death, and resurrection, Luke draws our attention first, to this particular event. I think we can all agree, it's a pretty remarkable event to record.

When there was no reason to hope, all of a sudden an angel showed up. When everything but faith was stripped away, an angel showed up. Advent, this season of waiting, begins in the dark. When everything was bleak, God sent an angel to make an announcement.

But what kind of God sends an angel to a place like Nazareth?

Why not a major city? Why not a hub of power, influence, and status?

After all, Nathanael is later quoted as saying, "Can anything good come from Nazareth? (John 1:46)."

And Phillip is the one who invites Nathanael to forget what he knows about the small city, to leave behind his presuppositions about how God works and to simply, "Come and see (John 1:46)."

So this year, I want to invite us to lay down our preconceived notions of how or when God works. If we feel like God doesn't care about the "insignificant" parts of our lives, may we remember that the angel was sent to Nazareth. God often shows up in unexpected ways, at unexpected times, in unexpected places to unlikely people. What would it look like for us to expect the unexpected this Advent season?