They told Herod, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
I recall as a young boy learning about a famous person who came from a little town in MIssouri. Today I don’t remember who the famous person was, or what town he or she was from (sorry about that!). I do recall the aha moment, however, and being amazed that a famous person was actually from my home state. I guess famous people have to come from somewhere. I just thought they came only from famous places.
Not so! Not ever. Think of Saul hiding among the baggage when Samuel is looking for a new King. Consider David himself, when Samuel was seeking Saul’s successor. One was hiding. The other overlooked. Neither from a major political center. This, however, doesn’t seem to stop God from plucking a young shepherd boy and making him king. Nor does that prevent God from bringing the Savior of the World out of the small town of Bethlehem.
It’s easy for me to think of great things happening in great places. The best opera singers would surely be from Italy. The greatest dancers would come from the Russian ballet. The greatest financiers would come from Wall Street. You get the idea.
All that simply dismisses how God works. Not only does God not need celebrities to accomplish is will, he does not care where he must go in order to find servants to advance his kingdom’s cause. The lesson seems simply to be: God will work when and where he will and through whom he will, and from where he will. Don’t count yourself out, or your neighbor, or your town, or your church, or your lineage. All he needs is for us not to dismiss his servant because he doesn’t have the proper-to-us pedigree.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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