INTRODUCTION
CUSTOM BLOCK
Advent means the arrival; the appearance and that term is usually associated with someone who is notable. So, it is fair to say that those who lived in the times of the Old Testament were looking for the Advent (the coming, the appearance) of Christ. In fact, Advent is not limited to those on the other side of the cross. We who are on this side of the cross are also looking for the Advent of Christ, His second appearance, this time for His Church. But here is the sad thing, some are not going to be ready for His Second Coming. Now that should not surprise me because some were not ready for His first coming despite all that was said about the Messiah coming to earth from the mouths of the prophets.
For the next few weeks as we approach Christmas, I want to look at those persons who misses the First Advent- the Innkeeper and his guest, King Herod and the scribes and priest who Herod summoned. I want us to see what we can learn from them so that we don’t miss the Second Advent or see what we can learn so we can tell others so that they don’t miss the Second Advent.
So, we will look at the innkeeper and his guest today and that takes us to Luke 2:1-7. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
2 SCRIPTURE
APPLICATION
Luke 2:1-7 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
BACKGROUND
Did you notice the last two words of verse seven (7) that we just read? The Inn! What does every inn have? An innkeeper and his guest. There must be someone who manages the place and people who stay there-the guests. In our story that we just read; we are told that this innkeeper met a woman who was near time to deliver her baby, but there is no mention of him trying to accommodate her in his inn. I know it was full, but you could always find room if you wanted to find room. Haven’t you in the past done that when family came to town even though you had a full house? You did not turn them away; you found room. Maybe the innkeeper could have found a space in the corner of a room where you could roll out a mat and let a pregnant woman have a warm place to spend the night. Instead, this innkeeper did not want to be bothered or inconvenienced so he sends her out telling her that his inn has no room.
And the guests staying at the inn, they make no effort to rearrange their own accommodations to make room for Mary in their room.
And what is so interesting to me Advent had come to this innkeeper and to these guests? And they missed it, and I want to know why?
4 ONE
SOMETIMES WE ARE SO BUSY DOING LIFE THAT WE MISS THE MIRACULOUS.
Luke 2: 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
For the innkeeper, business was good. A crowded inn meant the innkeeper was running here and there making sure that his guests were satisfied. But think of all the money that he was making. A crowded inn means big dollars in the innkeeper’s pockets. And the sad commentary is that he was so busy doing life that he missed that the Savior of the world in the womb of Mary walking into his established. The innkeeper did not have time for Jesus and so he pushed Jesus out. There is no room here for you.
Jesus had so much to say in the New Testament about doing life that you miss the miraculous. To Martha who was so busy in the kitchen, preparing a meal for Jesus and His disciples that she got no time to spend with Him. Jesus tells Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things, but you are neglecting the most important thing- time with me. She was so busy doing life that she was missing that the Son of God was in her house.
Jesus gave the parable about the farmer who barns were full and he still had more crops to bring in from the field. And so, he said to himself, I need to build bigger barns so that I can sit and enjoy life. The farmer was so busy doing life, planning for what had not come yet occurred, that he never thought about where he will spend eternity and was not prepared when the death angel visited him that night.
And then Jesus says to each one of us in Matthew 16:26 (NKJV)
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
This innkeeper was so busy that he missed the miraculous. Martha was so busy doing the household chores that she missed the miraculous. And the farmer was busy planning out his future here on earth, he gave no thought to eternity. But the real danger is that maybe somebody in this room, or maybe a family member, or a friend you know might miss the miraculous because they are so busy doing life. Jesus knows very well that when He returns the second time some will not be in the number that He gathers up because they were too busy doing life. Look what Jesus said right after He announced that it is foolish to be so busy with life that you miss the miraculous.
Let me read the next verse in Matthew 16:27 (NKJV)
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels…
Jesus is saying I know when I come again; there will be some too busy doing life that they miss the miraculous. Don’t neglect the miraculous. This Christmas are you going to neglect the miraculous, God with us Immanuel, for the cheap substitute the world says is Christmas?
5 TWO
SOMETIMES WE ARE SO SELF FOCUSED ON OUR OWN LITTLE WORLD THAT WE IGNORE THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.
Luke 2:1-7 (NKJV)
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
I want to take you back to that inn that is at full occupancy. Was this inn always that full? Probably not! It was the decree of Caesar Augustus that families must return to their own cities to be registered for the census that caused the inn to be full. The inn would have been full of family coming to be registered: moms, dads and the children because while families had to return to their own city.
In the account that Luke told of the birth, I always found it puzzling that no guest in the inn offered to give up his space for the pregnant woman. When I was growing up in New Orleans, I had to take the public transit bus to school since I was in the fourth grade until I got a car. My mom could not drive, my daddy was at work, and the Catholic schools did not have school buses. So, my daddy drilled into my head, when the bus was crowded and no more seats available, you always gave up your seat to a lady, especially to one who is pregnant or one with a small child. I am sure the guest at the inn must have seen Mary when they came in, saw that she was pregnant, but no one was willing to give up their room.
OK, I understand that is asking a lot of a person to give up their room. But nobody even offered to make some room in their room for her. Couldn’t a family rearrange their sleeping arrangements by doubling up the children in one bed thereby freeing up a bed for the pregnant woman? Couldn’t a family, put a child on the floor to sleep on a mat. But no one offered to even do that.
And what was most appalling to me was even after Jesus was born in the stable behind the inn, and the news filtered into the inn that the pregnant woman had her child, there is no mention that even one of the guests in that inn came to check on the newborn and his mother.
What can be said about the guest? Certainly, it can be said that they were all self-centered caring only about their little world and shutting others in need. It kind of reminds me of the story of the Good Samaritan. A man was left near death on the road from Jerusalem to Jerico. A Levite and a priest, two people who you thought should have cared, saw the man, and passed him by on the other side. It was a Samaritan, who took care of him.
I should not be surprised because God says in 1 John 4:7 (NKJV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But God does warn us through 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Just how it was at the Inn at the First Advent, that is how it is going to be at His Second Coming. What do I need to do? I need to take care that I do not repeat the mistake of the innkeeper or his guests. I need to ready for His Second Coming by letting my love shine.
6 Conclusion
APPLICATION
It would be tragic to leave Jesus out of Christmas 2021 because I am too busy or because I am so absorbed in my own little world. That’s what happened the First Christmas, and that same time have been happening in many homes Christmas after Christmas. And sadly, that will be the way it will be all the way up to the Second Advent.
As for me I chose to look for the miraculous and I chose to let my light shine.
Let us pray!
