Introduction
1. Tonight we will continue our exploration of the ABCs of the Bible...
Tonight we will look at the letter I...
And in keeping with the spirit of the Christmas Season...
I is for Inn or Innkeeper...
2. But, before we get to the famous (or infamous) innkeeper from the Christmas story...
Let’s look at some other uses of inn or innkeeper...
Read Text:
Body
1. First, the Old Testament...
A. Jeremiah 9:2 says, “Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.”
In this verse, Jeremiah, the prophet, expresses his disgust with God’s people...
They have fallen away from the covenant of following only God...
They lie, cheat, and steal...
They commit adultery...
in a word...they are living in sin...
And Jeremiah, as a devout, god-fearing prophet...
sometimes the sin is just overwhelming...
He has tried to preach the Word of God faithfully...
But the people have been unrepentant...
and now, he just wants to turn his back and get away from all
the mess...
In today’s vernacular...
Jeremiah would want to just go away to a hotel or motel...
get away from all these people...
go someplace where no one knows him...
where he doesn’t have to see their disobedience...
to just get away from it all.
B. Some commentators feel that in the Old Testament passages...
There is not always an assumption that there is an inn in the sense of there being an actual building...
Sometimes the Scripture seems to refer to a camping area...
a piece of ground near a source of water...
Paul Robertson says, “It is doubtful that inns in the sense of public inns with a building existed in Old Testament times.”
2. But, By the time we get to the time of Christ,
A. things are different.
Public inns are known to exist in Greek and Roman times...
The Greek word for “inn” in the New Testament implies some
type of stopping place for travelers.
A public inn during New Testament times consisted primarily of a wall for protection with a well for water for the animals and the travelers...
A large inn might have small rooms surrounding the court.
Inns in New Testament times had a bad reputation.
They weren’t the places of comfort that we think of with hotels and motels today...
at times, there was even danger from robbery or even death.
The primary services that were offered was a place to spread a bedroll...
a place for the animals...
and water.
B. Mark 14:12-15...refers to an inn or lodging place as a private home...
Read Mark 14:12-15...
So, in some cases, an inn would be just someone’s extra room that they would rent out to make some extra money...
C. In Luke 10:34 is the verse that tells about the good Samaritan who nurses back to health the man who was severely beaten and robbed
The good Samaritan then takes him to a public inn...
where the wounded man could be fed and taken care of by the innkeeper.
3. And, As we come to our text...
A. We can’t be sure exactly which type of inn this was...
Although because of the situation...
with all the people coming into town to register for taxing purposes...
we can imagine that Mary and Joseph tried to go to several places of lodging...
public inns...
private homes with rooms to rent...
and so on...
B. In Bible times...
public inns weren’t reputable places...
innkeepers were thought to be dishonest...
often trying to cheat people out of their money...
perhaps even arranging for his own guests to be robbed...
Rahab, the prostitute from the Old Testament...
who hid the Jewish spies who were checking out the Promise Land...
is thought to be an innkeeper by many commentators...
and obviously, prostitutes running inns isn’t the kind of thing that would be bragged about in polite company...
C. Luke 2:7 tells us that they could find no room to rent...
no place to stay...
certainly this wouldn’t be a very comfortable situation for any one...
especially under the circumstances with Mary being pregnant...
and since they are unable to find suitable lodging anywhere...
finally, the innkeeper agrees to let them stay in the stable...
In Luke 2:8, since the shepherds have the sheep out...
the stable may have been clean and empty...
and sometimes the stable was actually a cave with the manger being carved out of the stone wall of the cave...
As you can see, there is just a lot we don’t know about the conditions where Jesus was born...
we try to surmise by what we know of the times and of Scripture...
we know that the Lord Jesus was born and laid in the
safest and most convenient place that Mary and Joseph could manage.
4. Application
A. The question is...how can we apply what we know to us today...
especially now, as we are right in the midst of our Advent season...
B. In some cases, people try to vilify the innkeeper...
not making any room in the inn...
forcing Mary and Joseph to give birth in an animal’s feed trough...
But then, after Mary and Joseph was turned away from other places...
perhaps they were grateful for this innkeeper at least making room in the stable...
In this innkeeper’s situation...
I see a similar situation for people today...
Actually, I see 3 possible innkeepers that will apply to us today...
C. First of all, there are innkeepers that will make no room whatsoever for Christ...
Like the first several innkeepers or homeowners that Mary and Joseph went to...
They just have no room for Jesus...
They are too busy with other things...
They are too busy with work...
Perhaps they are too busy with family...
And so, they just close the door on Jesus...
and they close the door on the true meaning of Christmas...
they just let Jesus, Mary and Joseph fend for themselves...
while they pursue all the other things that their busy schedule demands...
D. Then, there are those people who are like the innkeeper in Luke 2:7...
They are busy too...
They don’t really have any room for Christ either...
But they feel they must make some semblance of effort to welcome Christ...
so they relegate Him to the stable...
They don’t bring Christ into the central part of things...
they don’t make room in their own room for Christ...
instead, they let Christ stay out in the barn...
still on the property...
but out of the way...
out where there won’t be any undue embarrassment for folks...
out away from everyone so that they won’t be bothered...
As long as Christ isn’t the center of attention...
they are content to just go through the motions...
E. Finally, there’s the 3rd type of innkeeper...
we don’t see this type of innkeeper in Scripture...
but let’s just use our imagination...
what would it have been like if Joseph knocks on the door...
tells the innkeeper the situation...
and as the innkeeper looks over Joseph’s shoulder...
at Mary huddled on the donkey...
trying to keep warm and comfortable in the chilly night air...
and his heart goes out to them...
he has compassion upon them...
He tells them to come right on in...
He tells his wife to get ready to sleep on the pullout sofa...
because Mary and Joseph are going to be staying in their room that night...
And, not just having them to stay in their room...
but having the innkeeper’s wife to help with the delivery...
while the innkeeper and Joseph bed the donkey down and bring in their luggage...
In other words, Christ is brought right into the middle of things...
He is not pushed to the outside...
He is not kept at arms length...
but, He is welcomed like one of the family...
Conclusion
1. Now, let me ask you a serious question...
Which type of innkeeper are you?...
Do you slam the door on Christ...
and just attend to your own affairs?...
Or do you reluctantly make room at the outskirts of your life?...
Or do you welcome Him right into the midst of your home and your life?...
2. Jesus said, “behold I stand at the door and knock”...
Just like Joseph was standing at a different door and knocking 30 years before...
only this time, Jesus isn’t trying to find a place to be born...
Jesus is trying to find a place to reside...
It is my hope that we will open the door and welcome the Christ of Christmas into the most central and important part of our homes...
It is my hope that as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus...
That we will be like that 3rd Innkeeper that I described...
and that Jesus will have an important place in our Christmas celebrations this year...
3. Well, we are continuing to learn our Biblical ABCs...
I is for Innkeeper...
What kind of innkeeper are you?
