On Assuming - John 1:45-46
Don't assume. Don't sit and watch. Instead, go and see.
To my friends from the south end of Camden County, NC: do not be offended! I am trying to make a point here, so stay with me.
Among our dearest friends for the last 25+ years are David and Laurie, members of the first church I served as full-time pastor. Distance, along with realities of life, keep us from connecting as much as we would like. But we always know that if things go bad or get tough, we can contact one another.
That first church was in a sparsely populated rural county in eastern North Carolina. Laurie was originally from a wide spot in the road of that county called “Old Trap.” That section of a farming/fishing/hunting community had the reputation for being a little rough. Long-time residents of Camden County shared tales of shady shenanigans that happened in Old Trap over the years.
Of course, I find great joy in teasing Laurie about this. She had been a cheerleader in high school, so I occasionally toss out a comment about “cheerleaders from Old Trap.” Which results in a justifiably dirty look and perhaps a punch in the arm.
Here’s the thing: I don’t know if any of those Old Trap stories are true. I wasn’t born and raised in Camden County. I never saw anything in that area but fields and grain silos and deer and black bears. How do we know they aren’t like fish stories or urban legends or barber/beauty shop gossip? Or worse yet, CHURCH gossip? Maybe these are tales that grew taller over the years when shared in those spaces.
Someone at some time probably said something like, “Nothing good ever came out of Old Trap!” Why? Because that is what we say when we assume certain things about certain people from certain places when we assume certain things that may or may not be factual.
For starters, the community has probably changed a good bit in the past 250 years. Second, I know that something good came from Old Trap because our friend Laurie came from Old Trap! If there is something wrong with her, then there must be something wrong with us for maintaining 25+ years of friendship.
A person is defined by who they are, not where they are from. And they are certainly not defined by our blanket statements and flawed assumptions about who they are because of where they are from.
This brings us to one of the most underrated and underappreciated interactions in the entire Bible, IMO. It is in John 1, where a soon-to-be disciple says something both hilarious and utterly human in response to Jesus.
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
Nathanael’s response is typically and hilariously human. He blew off every single word as soon as he heard “Nazareth.” He almost missed Jesus because he assumed that no one important could come from a run-down, one-horse, good-for-nothing town.
And that is exactly the point.
The coming of Jesus into the world is not about triumph, trumpets, gold, ballrooms, military triumphs, or power plays against those who might be different from us. It is about a God who shows us that grace and goodness come not from the popular or powerful, but from places that we assume to be “less than” or “other.”
For the record, here is why we should never assume.
The hope of advent is not found in Nathanael’s apathy. It is found in Philip’s call to him: “Come and see.”
This is what the arrival of the living Christ calls us to do. Come and see, not sit and watch. Or keep your distance and assume.
One of the things that changes us is engagement with the other. The Gospel writer’s inclusion of this interaction is clearly no accident. Maybe we get to know someone from Nazareth or Old Trap or (insert town here) before assuming that “nothing good” can come from there.
Places with a “rep” have one undeniable common thread with us: people. Creations of God. People Jesus came for, just as much as us. Some we deem to be good, others bad. But the Christ child could show up in Old Trap or Detroit or Somalia or Afghanistan, because God loves the people there just as much as anyone else.
To say that a person is other is to say that Jesus did not come for them. If our focus is on the place of origin, race, gender, income level, attire, or religious upbringing, then our focus is far away from Jesus. And we have a long journey to be ready for the child in the manger.
Identifying God’s creation as “illegal” or “worthless” or “garbage” is siding with Nathanael. Unless someone like Philip comes along to beckon us, our assumptions might keep us from knowing the Christ child at all. We can hear about Him, talk about Him, sing about Him, and even pray to Him. But until we are willing to come and see the other as our brother, we cannot know Him.
Challenge: We all have reactions and make assumptions about the homeless in our communities. But how many of us know a homeless person?
Go and visit with an organization serving unhoused people. If you are in the Greenville, SC area, visit Triune Mercy Center on Sunday morning. Stay for the meal afterward and talk to people. Or connect with a group that serves immigrant communities. Or LGBTQ+ people. Don’t assume–go and see.
Speaking of assumptions…Laurie told me that she is NOT from Old Trap, but actually from Shiloh. Her father was from Old Trap. I stand corrected!
Great Point!