"No Room"
Luke 2:1-7
You may not want to know this but there are no more shopping days left until Christmas. None. And for some of us here tonight, that is not exactly good news. I am of the belief that many people, probably most people, actually go right through the entire month of December at full speed, not having a moment to relax and actually enjoy what the season is really all about. Let me try and give you a few words/phrases that may describe how you feel at this time of year. Rushed. Broke. Out of time. Stressed. Hurried. Tired of Turkey sandwiches. Hectic. Overextended. No room for anything else in your schedule.
When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem after a lengthy trip, they were no doubt tired……exhausted. After all Mary was pregnant; at full term and had just ridden a donkey for 80 long, dusty miles. Likely a 4 day journey. They, like everyone else in that area had been ordered to come to Bethlehem to pay their taxes. They had no choice but to go. Mary couldn’t call in sick; she couldn’t apply for medical leave; there was no way to postpone any of this so she and Joseph made their way to Bethlehem. Because they were convinced that Mary was about to give birth to the Son of God. So they arrived in Bethlehem, tired, weary, registered for the census and were ready to go home. But it was long trip so they needed some rest. So they went to the local inn and guess what they said, NO ROOM. Now maybe we should not be surprised that this was the response of the innkeeper; I mean after all historians tell us that nearly ½ million people were making their journey there. But it still surprises us.
We have not room for you. We have no room for you, Virgin Mary, husband Joseph and the King of Kings. We would think that if anyone had any clout/any pull at all that it would be God and that they would not be forced to stay in a stable. But they were. Because there was simply no room. I would guess that many of us can identify with this statement because we feel the same way at this time of year. We have no room. Our lives are just too full for anything else. And when that occurs there are several things that happen and NONE of them are good.
When we have no room left we can …… (1) Lose our time alone with God. We make not time to talk to Him or read His word. In fact, for some, making time for Jesus is the last thing we have on our mind. And here is what happens.
(2) When our lives become too full, if Jesus is not the first thing in our lives He will usually be the last. There are many things Jesus will tolerate but 2nd place is not one of them. Jesus doesn’t come in 2nd.
(3) When He is no longer first we lose our relationship with Him. It is a fact of life that we make time for the things that matter. We make time for the people that matter. We make time for the things and the people we love. But we somehow have this mistaken idea that God understands. Trust me, He doesn’t. From the beginning of His life Jesus has been told by too many of us that there is no room for Him right now. Think about it.
• The innkeeper told Mary and Joseph there is no room for you in the inn.
• When Jesus told that rich young ruler he needed to sell all he had and give it to the poor, the young man walked away very sad and gave nothing. He basically said, Jesus I don’t have time for this kind of thing.
• When Peter said to Jesus, I don’t even know you, he was saying I don’t have time for you right now.
• When Judas sold Jesus to the highest bidder for 30 pieces of silver, he was saying Jesus you don’t matter to me. Money is more important.
• When they nailed Him to the cross the soldiers were saying we have no time for you. We don’t need you here.
And the truth is we do the same. Now I know what you’re thinking here…Pastor, “I never denied Jesus, I never sold him to the highest bidder; I never crucified Him. That was the Jews, the soldiers….that was Herod.” Whomever we choose to blame it on. This month we have looked at a different Christmas word each week. So far we have looked at Hope, Peace, Joy and Purpose. Well here is the word for tonight. JESUS.
Did you know the name Jesus means this: to deliver, to save, to rescue. Anyone here tonight need that? In a tough situation and you’re thinking somebody please deliver me from this …. Feel like you’re drowning in debt or pain or problems you can’t seem to solve …. You need someone to save you, to rescue you. There are a lot of things we can do without at this time of the year but you can’t do without Jesus. You just can’t. I mean take away the tree, the ornaments, the shopping, all the material things, we will survive; but if you take away Jesus you have absolutely nothing.
We have to understand (1) all of us have sinned and all of us have fallen short of God’s standard for our lives. God does not put us into categories according to our sin. There are only two categories of sinners…lost, saved. That’s it.
(2) There is no way out for us except through Jesus. It is as though we have fallen into a pit. We try and try to dig ourselves out. We go this way, we go that way. We try every way possible except the one Christ has offered to us through His Son. I got myself into this, can get myself out. Well you can’t. No matter how hard we try. NO matter how much we work at it. There is only one way out. Jesus. I would suggest to you today that what most of us need is a brand new start. The ability to simply erase the past and start all over again. Kind of hit the refresh button. A do over.
You see when the Lord Jesus came into this world, the Bible tells us that there was no room in the inn. And 2000 years later, not much has changed. Many of us still have a no “vacancy sign” hung over our hearts. Can’t stop here Jesus, keep moving. Surely someone will have an opening. There were some who were actually ready. The angels were. The shepherds were. Mary and Joseph were. But not the innkeeper. But what could he do. But have you ever thought, maybe Jesus just wasn’t supposed to be born in the inn. After all the appropriate place for the Lamb of God just might be a stable. Think about it.
In the fall of 1775, the manager of Baltimore's largest hotel refused lodging to a man dressed as a farmer. The manager if he allowed him to stay there it would give a bad image to the inn. So the man left and found a room in another place. Shortly thereafter, the manager discovered that the man he had refused lodging was none other than Thomas Jefferson, then Vice President of the United States. So immediately he sent a note to
Jefferson and invited him to return as his guest. Jefferson instructed his messenger to relay this message: ''Tell him/tell the innkeeper that I have already engaged a room. I value his good intentions highly, but if he has no place for a dirty American farmer, he has none for the Vice President of the United States.'' If today you have no room for the one who was born in a manger, the one who the Bible tells us never even had a place to lay his head, The one who was despised and rejected then you have no room for the Savior of this world. If you do anything at this time of year, MAKE ROOM FOR JESUS.
