(repost from 12/20/10)
Anyone who knows me, knows I have a very active imagination. These past few days, as we approach Christmas day, I have been considering the manger from the perspectives of everyone we hear about in the Christmas story. The thoughts and feelings of Mary and Joseph have long been explored, but I've found myself walking in the shoes of that one innkeeper who had no room, but offered housing in his barn. An ordinary man, overwhelmed by a larger than normal demand due to the census, who finds himself recorded for all of history as the one who allowed God's son to be born among the animals.
I am sure he was weary, exhausted, tired of telling people "No room!" I wonder how many travelers, pushed to their limits and ready for sleep begged for housing, argued and yelled, or cursed at this man. The rise in business was welcome, but the frustrations and threats of agitated travelers was not.
I wonder if he even looked up at Joseph as he approached, hopefully asking, "Do you have any room? My wife is about to have..." and didn't even allow him to finish, offering his standard response to dash hopes. Maybe, because this man didn't argue back, or because his heart was stirred by God who had planned it this way from the beginning of time, he looked up to watch this man walk away. I wonder if he saw the emotions Joseph carried, unsure of how to provide for his very pregnant wife, unsure of how he would be qualified to raise the son of God, but still faithful. Maybe it was Mary's belly that caused him to think of his own children and have some pity on these travelers. Whatever the case, this innkeeper changed his course of action and offered his barn. Surely some shelter is better than none!
I wonder if he felt proud of his actions, to offer a kind deed to a stranger in need...or if he felt frustrated that all he had to offer for comfort from the night was a stable. Maybe he felt put out that he had this sense of obligation to go above and beyond for this young couple. I wonder if he heard Mary's cries in the night as she labored, Joseph's nervous voice trying to help and comfort, the Son of God's first cry- a triumphal announcement to the world of his arrival. Maybe he thought of the mess of labor he would have to clean up and regretted even offering what he had.
I can't help but laugh as I think of the face he must have made when a herd of smelly, dirty, confused, still awestruck shepherds, the lowest of the low, made a scene around his property. What about the other guests there at the inn? Surely they would be offended and find somewhere else to spend their hard earned money than at this inn! I wonder about the shepherd's sheep, doing what sheep do, all over this innkeepers yard. Maybe the bleating from the herds were disturbing the peace. Did he think to himself, "Who are these people I've allowed to stay on my property that have shepherds as friends?" or did he scratch his head in wonder and amazement at the obscurity of it all?
Did he realize that this was the Messiah, the one they all had been waiting for? It surely wasn't what he was expecting. They were expecting a King, a mighty warrior, a strong political power...and all he saw was a tiny baby born to young parents with his animals as witness. If he sensed the divine in these moments, did he find himself filled with regret and "if only"? If only they had arrived sooner, he wouldn't have been full! If only he had been kinder and helped them to find a place to give birth! If only he had known that the Messiah would be born here, he would have kicked other paying guests out and allowed Mary and Joseph to stay in a proper room! If only he had known, he would have done something great!
Can you picture yourself in his shoes? Filled with emotion and wonder at an unexpected encounter with the divine? Well, we are there. Jesus is asking us now,
"Do you have any room?"
The holidays are an exciting, busy, bustling time, and I can easily find myself lost in the tinsel and merriness of it all. But it's not about that...it is about so much more! We celebrate Emmanuel- GOD WITH US! And He is gracious enough to knock at the door of our busy lives and ask if we have room for the Living God to come and dwell among us, every moment of every day. If we are honest with ourselves, how many of us are weary, exasperated, overwhelmed and issuing a tired "No room, Jesus. There's just no room." Our lives are so full of "stuff" without trying to balance something else in the middle of it! Or maybe, out of obligation, guilt, pity, frustration, or a last resort, we offer Jesus what we have left, which isn't very much at all.
Unlike the innkeeper, we KNOW that it is the Messiah who asks. We have no excuse, we cannot offer, "If only I had known it was JESUS, I would have done something great!" because we know! Will we give Jesus the first, the best, the ALL of us, this Christmas season, as He deserves? He doesn't desire to add to your ever growing to-do list, or be one more tradition that your family participates in. No, He wants to be so much more.
Do YOU have any room?
