Christmas time is here again. Time once again for all of us to be blessed by the children’s Christmas pageants. The one character in the play that no little kid wants to get stuck with is that of the inn keeper. Who would want to be the person to tell Joseph that there is no room for them? However, I think if we look at Jesus’ birth a little differently, we might see that we have more in common with the inn keeper than we think.
Mary and Joseph had traveled a long way. They hadn’t been traveling because they wanted to; they were going to the City of David because Caesar had ordered a census and they had to travel back to Joseph’s home town to be counted. What a long journey it had been; Mary, nine months pregnant with her first son Jesus, was ready to give birth. What a time it must have been for them: Their first son would be God as a baby. What roads lay ahead of them? They were unsure; all they knew was that their lives were going to be changed. But for now, Joseph needed to find them a place to stay.
They went to an inn and were told that there was no room for them there, but they were welcome to stay in the stable out back. I wonder what would have happened if Joseph would have told the inn keeper that the Son of God was about to be born. Would the inn keeper have asked all of the other boarders to leave and go sleep in the stable? Or would he just have asked the people staying in the best room to stay in the stable? I’ll never know because Joseph didn’t tell the inn keeper that a miracle was about to happen, and so Jesus came into the world having already been turned away.
As I think about Jesus’ birth in the stable, I wonder if we, some 2000 years later, are any different than the inn keeper. We go to church, read our Bibles or a special story, and something, even for a brief moment, touches our hearts and Jesus knocks. “Is there room for Me here?” He asks. We tell Him no, we can’t make room for Him, but He can stay out back. We don’t want to give up any of the rooms in our hearts, not the rooms where the ambition stays, or where our desires reside, or the dislike for that neighbor or any of the other secret rooms. Those are our rooms and we like them the way they are, and so we turn Jesus away.
Much like the inn keeper, we miss something really big. We are willing to sacrifice what Jesus wants to do because we do not want to be inconvenienced with a little house cleaning. This year I have a simple Christmas wish: When we feel Him knocking, let’s make room for Jesus.
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20
Uncle Chris,
ReplyDeleteIt is posts like this that remind me why I love to talk with you about your perspective on God, Christ, and the church when I get to see you.
Dany
Chris,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say three things.
1) Our mens group, which consists of about 20 guys meeting at 5:30 every Friday morning has been praying for you every week for about 3 months. Your comments come up quite often.
2) Just saw "It's A Wonderful Life" last night. When George and Mary are talking to Sam Wainwright at the bottom of the stairs in Mary's home and George is realizing his plans to travel the world are not going to happen - he makes are revealing comment: "I want to do what I want to do!" - - then none of his plans happen.
That's the way life is.
When we realize that God is in control, not of some things. Not of most things. But of EVERYTHING, then we can say, "I want to do what God wants me to do." - and RELAX in whatever comes.
My son was killed in a tornado. God did not allow that tornado.
God CAUSED it. God killed my son. And He killed my friends child in a car wreck, and another friend with cancer.
He also gave me and my wife our son for 14 years! He didn't merely foreknow his life. He planned and controlled ALL the events in his life - just as he planned your life, my life and the millions of lives who died in the tsunami a few years ago.
When we RELAX in God's Sovereign hand - in EVERY event - that Trust is the greatest way we can give Him Glory.
Worry and distrust are an insult.(To others and to God)
Relaxing and trusting is a compliment. (To others and to God)
Things for George and Mary worked out great.
No matter how we hope or expect things to work out should be entrusted to our Creator, the One who has revealed Himself in His creation, His Holy Word - the Bible, and through His son, Jesus.
When we realize He is 100% in control and we thank Him for that - He is Glorified.
3) There's a great article by John Piper about cancer, and other difficult issues we face - - - (use Google "Don't Waste Your Cancer - John Piper")
Here's the Ten Points of the article in very brief summary . . .
1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
HOPE YOU DON'T MIND SUCH A LONG COMMENT -
WE'LL BE WATCHING FOR YOUR FUTURE COMMENTS AND REPORTS ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU AND THE UNIQUE PLACE GOD HAS PLACED YOU.