No Room in the Inn
Introduction: When my son, Cody was younger before we moved to McAlester, Ok. He was only in one Christmas play. It was at the rural Assembly of God church and he played the inn-keeper and he had one line . . . and he forgot it. When the time came for him to say his line we all saw the door slam shut and everyone heard, “Oh man what was my line again?!” (I remember smiling) and someone whispered him the line, and he said it and everything proceeded with some chuckles from the audience. Its usually those kind of things that make Christmas plays memorable, fun, and special. However we must remember that the story they are portraying is not only true, but a serious one. And when you consider Cody's forgotten line: “there is no room for you here in the inn.” is there better thing to be forgotten than “Sorry I have no room for you Jesus.” If the LORD were to say to us, what he said to the laodicean church: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock..” the last thing we want to say is “there is no room for you here." The very thought of dismissing the greatest gift we could ever receive should be totally forgotten. We should not only accept the greatest gift but celebrate the fact that God gave us his greatest gift: the gift of his son. That is what Christmas is about.
Back in this time, an inn was not like our hotels. They were more like a free bed and breakfast voluntarily given to weary travelers. In simpler times when it was very rare to see someone outside your community, it was considered an honor to host and entertain a stranger. As traveling became more common, lets just say that many desired to shift that honor to their neighbors. Then it became common for just one person in town to represent them all and host strangers, until eventually the only provision made was a square building with rooms for people and stables for animals with some water and chopped straw, but the good news is it was free to everyone, especially the stable.
In that free provision we see a great analogy, as the manger was free to Joseph and Mary, the child born to them is also born to us and his salvation is free to all those who will have him.
Luke 2:7 - “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
No room in the inn
Keep in mind that Mary was close to having the baby, and instead of allowing her a more comfortable and more appropriate place to give birth, we read that she gave birth to Jesus in a manger. Why? Because there was no room for them in the inn. This is what we will be exploring together this morning, that there was no room in the inn for Jesus.
As a baby, Jesus should have been greeted with the greatest pomp and celebration that all man could afford. The extravagant royal weddings in Britain should pale in comparison to what should have been offered to Jesus at his birth. All of the grandeur and opulence possible should have been offered by all mankind, even wicked Herod, should've been giving gold and incense and myrrh and whatever his royal treasury could afford but instead Herod was scheming for a way to kill him and as Jesus grew up, nothing changed. He should have been embraced by the Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Saducees, teachers of the law and all the well respected people in Israel but instead they too, tried to kill him. Jesus told them “you are looking for a way to kill me because you have no room for my word” There was no room for him in the inn, there was no room for him in the tabernacle, or temple, or synagogues, and they had no room for his word in their hearts. His whole ministry was spent looking for room, a space to plant a seed in the hearts of men, room in their ears to hear what he had to say to them. Instead of choosing Pharisees, he chose fishermen for his companions and his disciples, instead of lying in a bed he had no place to lay his head, even a palace would have been beneath him, but instead he was born in a manger.
Sadly, it has become too common for there to be NO room for Jesus!
Even after the story has been told millions of times in a million ways. Even though Christ's miracles have been well documented and recorded. Even though the life, death, and resurrection of Christ has been preached for more than 2,000 years. Even though the mysterious works of Christ have been experienced by believers for centuries. Even though many have been healed, delivered, saved, and blessed by Jesus, and yet remarkably, Christ still struggles to find room in many peoples lives.
* There is no room for him in our colleges
Satan has infiltrated the education system. It really all began when they took Christ out of schools. I remember saying the Lord's prayer with the pledge of allegiance in the morning at school. That is the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. What is so amazing . . . . is THAT IS SO AMAZING! We can't do that now. It seems the separation of church and state only goes one direction. I saw on the news where the taking of social security numbers in the church to report donations over a certain amount to the IRS was being considered. They may say well its only a proposal or its only voluntary, but this is the camel sticking his nose under the tent. You see the devil does not mind the state in the church, its the church in the state that He has a problem with!
We not only have kids killing kids. We not only have teachers raping sexually active with students. Not only is there no room for Jesus, the school makes sure to put Satan in his place. We need to pray for education that these babies are going to get when they get older. Blasphemy and perversion is being taught to our children in some places now imagine 5 to 10 years from now. From kindergartners to college students: From militant atheists who despise all religion teaching college classes, to 'Gender neutrality' 'Sex education' and homosexual deviancy being taught to kindergarteners, its no wonder more Christians are turning to home school because there is no room for Christ in public schools anymore.
If you sincerely believe in Jesus and the gospel and openly profess to be a believer, then you are all but disqualified to be a professor at today's universities. What was once a resume enhancement must be kept a secret if you want to keep your job. The truth is, it was no different during Jesus' day. The self righteous professors of Jesus' day looked down at the lowly fishermen disciples with as much scorn and ridicule as we have today. The three wise men were wise because they were wise enough to know that the wisest of all men is Jesus. The Jewish teachers of the law, the scholarly philosophers had no room for their own messiah, why should we expect our institutions to be any different?
When speaking about universities in his time, the British pastor, Charles Spurgeon said “ . . too often learning is the forge where the nails are made for Christ’s crucifixion;..”
They will teach the faith right out of you if you are not careful. If you are not filled with faith, they will have you so confused, discouraged, and depressed; but a mill stone necklace will be their judgment for causing so many impressionable youth to stumble. Their rooms are beautiful and impressive, their lecterns are professional and stately, but there is no room for the greatest teacher to teach there. Isn't it telling that the institutions that are suppose to be open to all ideas are so close-minded to the idea of Christ and him crucified? They are open to everything except the truth. Those that hold up tolerance as their only virtue, tolerate all the things they shouldn't, but won't tolerate the one thing they should. It makes me wonder what a person could gain by going there? But then again I am reminded that
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.
* No room for Christ in our culture
There is no room for Jesus in the public sentiment. Our culture accepts anything. Our culture prides itself on tolerating everything there is to be tolerated and loving everything there is to be loved, and yet there is no room for Jesus in the public sentiment. If you stop being what a Christian must be, what a Christian has to be, that is when our culture will gladly call you a “true Christian” or a “good Christian.” When you lose your desire to follow God in order to accommodate the world, then they will say “You see! That's the religion we like!” But if you live your life in reverence to God and his commands and feel compelled to share it, that will be the same moment you realize that even in our hyper-tolerant culture there is no tolerance for Jesus!
There is no room for Jesus in conversations, there is room for slander, lies, and gossip. There is plenty of room for politics and sports, and entertainment and news, but no room for Jesus!
Even in the workplace. There is room for obscenity, and there is room for blasphemy, and there is room for drunkenness and swearing, but there is no room for Jesus!
Even in a culture where all other things and all other religions are accepted. There is plenty of room for Buddhism, there's certainly room for Hinduism, We all know how much we are breaking our backs to make room for Islam, and there is even room for Satanism, in which all these religions linger under. All Gods and all beliefs are accepted with open arms! But what about the son of God? What about the Messiah? What about him? Well, there is no room for him. You can be an unbeliever and won't have to worry about being mistreated; but be a Christian, and you'll be despised. “There is no room for him in the Inn.”
* No room for Christ in Christmas
There is not even room for Christ in Christmas. Even this festive Holiday in which Christmas got its name there is no room for Jesus. How often do we hear that another nativity scene must come down for fear of offending the 0.01% of the population who don't celebrate Christmas. Not only is there no room for Christ at the town square, where people could sing carols or deliver a devotion, but there is no room for a painted plastic blow mold depiction of him either. The town Christmas parade must change its name to the Holiday parade, the business Christmas tree must be renamed the Holiday tree, The school Christmas concert must change its name to the winter concert. I read that a family had to sign a release form for their children to participate in singing Christmas songs and dancing around a Christmas tree at school. Why? Because there is no room for Jesus.
The atheists have put out their billboards telling everyone to skip church and enjoy the holidays. Some have suggested that it is an effort to push the notion that there is no connection between going to church and being a moral person. Well I could have told you that. But the truth is they want to push the notion that there is no relationship between Christmas and Jesus Christ! One could argue for and against a “war on Christmas” but I know without a doubt that there is and has always been a war on Christ. (Eph. 6:12)
Keep in mind the word says that “..there was no room for them in the inn.” There was no room for Joseph and there was no room for Mary. The two of them apparently didn't have any family living in Bethlehem to stay with either. Although they were born in Bethlehem, they were strangers in it. We may have been born in a strange world but we have no relationship to it, the light does not have fellowship with darkness and this desert land we live in will not recognize us even though we have been born in it we have no relationship to it. “If any man love this world the love of the father is not in him.” Not only is there no room for Jesus in this strange world, there is no room for his family either. You and I as Christians will not be welcome. I want to ask you church “Are you ok with that?”
Transition: I want to move to another point before we close. That is that the manger was necessary.
The manger was necessary.
The manger was necessary because there was no place for them in the inn. But the manger was a also necessary place because the people traveling into Bethlehem had to have some place to put their animals. I hope to make the point that there was a physical and spiritual need for the manger.
Christ glorifies the manger, because He was in it! Without Christ, the manger is just a filthy, nasty, stinky place not fit for man, much less the son of God. When he comes into your heart, He glorifies your heart, when he comes into your life, he glorifies your life. Without him your heart, just like the manger, is just another filthy and sloppy place fit for only unclean, unholy, and impure things.
Keep in mind you can not clean your heart enough to accept him, you can't sweep it clean with good deeds or polish it with righteous works to an acceptable place to invite Jesus in. This is like trying to be born backwards. A man can't be born by going back into his mothers womb, a seed must be planted in her first and the fetus grows to a baby and then the child is born. The seed of Christ himself must be received in your heart before you are born again. You may be thinking “but my heart is way too dirty for Jesus to come into.” So was the manger and that is where Christ was born. If you let him in, then the miracle that happened in that manger will happen in you: new life and new hope. Like the manger in Bethlehem, your life will no longer be known for what it was, but will be known for the Christ who lives inside it. Your friends, family and co workers will no longer see you, they will see Jesus, because he has glorified your heart and made your heart his home, the way he glorified the manger and made it his birthplace, and the wicked of this world will not overlook it.
If you embrace him understand this: When you find room for Christ, you can not expect the world to return the favor. Once you have room for Jesus, the world will no longer have room for you. It's certain that the world has no room for the man who has room for Christ. Expect ridicule and embrace it, because he embraced the cross and he embraces you today.
Transition: A manger is a poor place for Jesus to be born, but then again a cross seems to be a poor place for him to die. That is until you see that all these things have a purpose. While kings had their children born in ornate palaces it wasn't beneath the Holy God to have his son born in a manger. Why? To relate to the least of these. There is hope for the rich and the poor, the wise men and the shepherd, the black man and the white man, the old woman and the little girl, there is hope for ALL PEOPLE!
A poor place for Jesus
The inn was not an appropriate place for a king either. And even though Jesus was technically born at the inn, He was born in the worst part of it, tradition teaches us it was most likely a cave nearby the inn that was reserved for the traveler's animals.
A manger was a necessary place but not necessarily a valued one. Is Jesus a necessity but not a value? The question is do we use him as a necessity to get from earth to heaven or do we value him as our savior, redeemer, divine father. (Jn. 14:9) Is he living in the appropriate place in your heart today? Are you going to treat Jesus like the inn-keeper and say “I have more important things in the better rooms of my heart. You can come into my heart BUT there is no room for you here, . . . you have to go back there!” Is there not a better place for the King of Kings and the LORD of lords? Does the Prince of peace have to be relegated to the manger of your life?
I want to encourage you to put him in the best room of your heart and hold him in highest regard and put him in the most important places in your life.
Conclusion: What's ironic is the kindness of Christ and his gracious nature. Although in the beginning of his life there was no room made for him in the inn. Jesus said at the end: “My fathers house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
Even though a room was denied them in the beginning, he lovingly promises that in his father's house is not just one room, but that there are MANY ROOMS. That's grace! That's love! . . . That's Jesus!
[Call to stand]
With all the presents, parties, food & candy, plays, parades, shopping, and activities, it seems that it is easy to get our priorities misplaced. Just as the Inn was full of more important people – is your Christmas full of more important things? My hope for you is: that you will find room for Christ this Christmas.
Lets not only be reminded of what Christmas is about let's remind others what it is about.
[prayer]
