Finding Room for the Savior
Christmas through their Eyes
Luke 2:1-7
Introduction
Ask: Has anyone ever been to a children’s Christmas program?
Back when I was in elementary school it was still OK for schools to have Christmas programs and actually call them Christmas programs.
On top of that, we also would act out the Christmas story…kids in kindergarten lined up in back dressed like angels with their golden halos and little boys pulling out the bath robes to dress like shepherds.
The best part of the show would always be when Mary and Joseph would show up at the inn looking for a place to stay.
• They would walk up as the narrator would say, “Joseph took his wife, who was with child into Bethlehem in hopes that they would find a place to stay.”
• And you know the scene they would knock on the door, Mary wrapped in a blue sheet, Joseph wearing dad’s bathrobe and a bath towel on his head, only to be greeted by the inn keeper.
• And it was here the REAL acting took place, because some kid, also wearing dad’s bathrobe, would wait for the narrator to say, “But there was no room in the inn” and he would angrily say, “We don’t have room here, but we have a barn behind us…you can stay there! Now go!”
• Yeah…good memories.
Technically though, it probably didn’t happen that way.
In fact, let’s read that passage together this morning.
Read Luke 2:1-7 and pray.
My NT professor from Seminary, Dr. James Blevins would remind us that the actual Greek rendering of that verse from Luke’s gospel is better translated as “There was not an appropriate place in the inn” rather than “there was no room in the inn.”
Consider the setting, a busy census is taking place, and people have come from far and wide to Bethlehem to be counted by the Roman governor.
These inns, are not inns as we would think of today…like the Holiday Inn, a place to find a comfortable bed, warm shower and a quick breakfast in the morning.
The inns of the first century were more like a bar/eatery where rooms were available for those who may not be able to make home when it the night was over.
So when Joseph comes to the door with his pregnant wife during this incredibly busy night…the inn keeper probably didn’t want to deal with this too, but may have sincerely wanted to help out.
When he referred them to the stable outback, it was probably his way of saying, “Those animals back there are probably a lot safer to be around than the animals in here.”
Transition
We are beginning a new series this morning that I’m calling, “Christmas through their Eyes.”
During the next 3 weeks I hope we can get a different view of the Christmas narratives by putting ourselves in the shoes of those who experienced it first hand in Scripture.
Today we are going to begin by considering the inn keeper and then we’ll follow this up by exploring Christmas through the eyes of Joseph and Simeon.
It will require a little imagination on our part, and we may be making some speculation, but I think in the end it will allow us to see the season we are celebrating in a different light.
So, let’s begin with the inn keeper…the man who said there was no room in the inn.
Can you imagine telling the Savior that there is no room for Him?
Hard to imagine isn’t it…or is it?
Sadly, especially at this time of year, it is way too easy for us in many ways to not find room for the Savior in our hearts and our lives.
This morning I want us to consider 4 possible reasons why this inn keeper could not find room for the Savior…and why we may be in the same predicament.
First of all…
1. Busy-ness
It was a busy time for this inn keeper.
A census had been declared by Ceasar for all of the kingdom, and each head of household was to take his family to his home town to be counted.
Bethlehem was a suburb of Jerusalem, a small town…but the home of King David, and as a result was the home to many a sojourner who had moved on during the years.
A flood of people were now in this town for possibly the biggest event since the time of King David, and as a result the hotels and inns of the city were packed.
This inn keeper who may have seen only a hand full of guests in the months and years leading up to this was now up to his eye balls in business and busy-ness.
This should have and could have been a dream come true, but I have a feeling that he was way over his head on this occasion when this carpenter from Nazareth and his very pregnant wife showed up at his door.
And it was this busy-ness that kept him from realizing that savior was there at his door.
If there is one word to describe the modern Christmas season for most born again believers I think it is “busy.”
Who here is not looking at their calendars for December and thinking “busy”?
Here is what most of our December calendars probably look like to some extent or another:
• Church attendance on Sunday mornings, hopefully Sunday night and Wednesday also.
• 1 or more church related fellowships
• Fellowships you have been invited to at other churches
• Work related celebrations
• School related celebrations
• Family get-togethers
• Neighborhood or community get-togethers
• Decorating
• Cooking
• And you still have to find time for things like eating and sleeping…WHEW!
Sadly the inn keeper was not the last one to let being busy cause him to miss out on Jesus…and just looking around this room, I’m feeling safe in saying he wasn’t the last.
Let’s consider another Biblical account.
Read Mary and Martha; Luke 10:39-42
As we celebrate CHRISTmas…emphasis on the Christ, don’t let your busy-ness cause you to miss out on the Savior.
Find room for Him in your calendars.
A second reason I would speculate as to why this inn keeper couldn’t find room for the Savior and why we might also is…
2. Priorities
Once again, big census taking place, more people that they have seen in a long time, customers, profit…so much going on; some things just had to be more important than others.
And while that is true, some things do need to be more important than others…you can’t let the wrong things take precedence.
Based on the little we know about this inn keeper, I can assume his two wrong priorities that kept him from finding room for the Savior are similar to our own.
His priorities more than likely were misplaced and out of line.
The first wrong priority this inn keeper probably had was…
a. Money
For possibly the first time in a long time he was making a profit.
While the census may have been an inconvenience, it was a windfall for the merchants of the day.
It was like “Black Friday” for a struggling retailer who can’t wait for the day after Thanksgiving to finally make ends meet for the year.
Today, our priorities often are misplaced for money for just the opposite reason.
With our economy apparently going further and further in the tank, it is easy to let that take up so much energy that there is no room for the Savior.
That is why we need to remember the promise we find in Phil. 4:19… “my God shall supply”.
I know it is hard not to be concerned about money, but we can’t let it keep our focus on what really matters during this time of year.
Another wrong priority this inn keeper had that I think we may suffer from also is…
b. Selfishness
It is way too easy to become self focused during this time of year, and forget that when it is all said and done it isn’t about us.
We go and go and go…work and work and work…give and give and give, and our nature says, “Hey! What about me?”
Jesus actually gave us a prescription for this in the Sermon on the Mount: Read Matt. 6:33
How do you keep priorities in order?
Simply, keep the things of God at the top of your priority list.
Not you…not the economy…but God, and His kingdom.
And that takes us to the 3rd thing that probably keep this inn keeper from finding room for the Savior, and may do the same to you…
3. Stress
People every where, all wanting or needing something, you know this inn keeper’s stress level had to be pretty high.
I’m sure if you took his blood pressure when Joseph and Mary knocked at his door…it would have probably blown the meter.
Even the smallest thing probably would have set this guy off…and I have no doubt you may have been there, or have been there already.
• Making too much out of too little…petty things getting priority status.
Before this holiday season is over I can almost guarantee that you deal with something that in reality is the size of this pea gravel…but you will make it as big as Pikes Peak.
And I wouldn’t be surprised that here on the first Sunday of December, someone probably has already done that.
And the reason it grows is stress.
We focus so much attention, often unneeded, and energy on something small and petty that it just grows and grows and eventually takes over.
And in doing so, it keeps us from seeing the Savior and what really matters.
And all we have to do is remember that whatever it is, God’s grace can and will get us through it.
Read 2 Cor. 12:8-10.
Give out pea gravel…is it pea gravel, or Pikes Peak?
When you come across that thorn this Christmas season, the pea gravel that you are bound to turn into Pikes Peak…remember what Paul said, “God’s grace is sufficient for you and for me”.
Don’t let the stress keep the Savior from taking His much deserved place in your heart and life.
Busy-ness, wrong priorities, stress…and one final issue that may have plagued this inn keeper so that he didn’t have room for the Savior; and may plague you also…
4. Misdiagnosis
I imagine this inn keeper, surrounded by people and being hounded by what they needed…having to deal with more people wanting in, and now he had to send a pregnant woman to the barn.
And maybe you can see it too, maybe he found just a second to stop, lean against a wall or a door, maybe run his fingers through his hair and say “Will someone save me from all of this?!?!”
The sad reality of it is that what the inn keeper needed the most was knocking at his door.
He needed someone to save him, and the Savior was right outside…soon to be born in his born, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and celebrated by a bunch of shepherds, cattle and an angel.
He knew what he wanted and thought he knew what he needed…but he was wrong.
He self diagnosed and missed the mark.
And we are guilty of the same thing.
We think…
• If I had a little more money…
• If I had a better job…
• If my family and friends understood…
• If…how would you finish it?
My point is this, we look through our own eyes, which are faulty at best by our sins, and try to fix ourselves.
Our fixing only makes things worst though because we are fallen by nature.
We need to look for the real diagnosis and the real fix to the problems that is knocking on the door.
Rev. 3:20…the Savior is knocking.
Conclusion: We are now only 3 weeks away from Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Lord, and He is knocking even now.
If you are like the inn keeper this morning and did not find room for the Savior, I want to give you the opportunity to do so this morning.
How to be born again…ABC.
If you are a born again believer, you are not immune from not finding room for the Savior…and you may be guilty of that already this Christmas season.
It might be from being overly busy or it might be from wrong priorities.
Maybe it is stress or a misdiagnosis on your party.
Or maybe it is a mixture of any of them, or all…whatever the case, I want to give you the opportunity to open the door and let Him in.
