January 30, 2022 – 4th Sunday after Epiphany worship service
In today’s gospel, Jesus has returned to his hometown, a community eager to welcome him back into their midst. Perhaps they assumed Jesus would meet their familiar welcome with some special favor. But instead, Jesus shakes things up by pointing to God’s presence in the lives of outsiders. This is not exactly the message the hometown folks were expecting to hear! This reminds us that God shows up in the lives of those we least expect. Thereby nudging us to expand our horizons to notice the Holy at work in other communities, too. May God’s Spirit work to open our hearts to notice Christ in the places we least expect him to be.