No Room at the Inn

Intro

Have you ever been driving somewhere, usually somewhere you have been hundreds of times, take the same route you always take and yet for some reason you will miss your turn or forget to to exit highway?

I mean it isn’t because you are lost or don’t know where you are going, you just get miss it and then have to turn around or take a different, longer route.

Sometimes this might even make you late to the place you are going all because you missed it.

Most of the time when that happens it is because something is going on in our minds that causes us to take our focus off of our objective; getting to where we are going.

It is usually because we allow ourselves to be distracted by something other than what we should be focusing on.

It isn’t just driving either. There are a number of things that we miss out on because we aren’t paying attention or get distracted.

Perhaps its the big play in the game, a pivotal scene in a movie, or an important part of the directions you wife is giving you about where you need to take the kids after work (not that I am speaking from experience).

As frustrating as that is, what happen when we get distracted about big things. Can you imagine getting so distracted that you missed your own wedding, the birth of a child, or some other milestone.

What about important days like Christmas?

Can you imagine if you woke up this morning and realized it was Christmas morning and you had done nothing to prepare for it?

One would think that would be pretty hard to do. How could a person miss Christmas? Well, as we are going to look at over the next couple of weeks, there are a few people in the Bible who did in fact miss or almost miss the first Christmas.

Over the next few weeks we are going to examine the nativity story by investigating a few characters who either missed out on or almost missed out on the birth of Jesus.

As we learn from these stories, there are many things that can keep us from being transformed by Jesus’ birth—whether it be distraction, selfishness, or disappointment.

Looking at the gospels of Matthew and Luke, this series will hopefully serve as a warning to us that we could miss out on the real meaning of Christmas if we aren’t careful.

Power in the Text

Luke 2:1-7 NLT At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

“There was no lodging available for them” (Luke 2:7). The NASB translation says it this way: “there was no room for them in the inn”.

This small sentence contains a big message.

First, one has to understand what is taking place in the text at this particular time.

We read at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke that the Roman Emperor issued a decree, or a law that required everyone living within the governance of the Roman empire to participate in a census.

Unlike today where you can fill out a census online or have someone come to your house to fill it out with you, in the 1st century everyone had to return to their ancestral land.

So Joseph and a very pregnant Mary had to make the difficult journey to Bethlehem since that was Joseph’s ancestral town.

These were unique circumstances for sure. A young couple with a little one of the way having to make a journey mostly by foot or donkey. Joseph and Mary were probably a little concerned to travel this far from home so close to her due date.

Then add on top of that the divine circumstances of Mary’s pregnancy, the fact that this baby was not Joseph’s but rather the son of God himself.

Never the less, this was where they found themselves. Far from home, tired for their journey, anxious I’m sure of what this divine child would be like, away from anything and anyone that is familiar to them and of course, Mary goes into labor.

So the do what any normal person would do and they begin looking for a hotel, or in this case an inn to stay so she can give birth and rest since they aren’t at home and hospitals aren’t a thing yet.

We were on vacation several years back and we decided to cut out drive home in half and do it over two days. We decided to leave around 7:00 and I was just going to drive until I was tired and then we would get a hotel room.

Well several hours into the drive, it was now well after midnight and I was tired and decided it was time to get a hotel room. What I didn’t account for was the first several hotels we stopped at being completely booked.

After I believe the 4th one I was starting to get quite frustrated. Katelyn was tired, the boys were tired, and everyone was getting cranky.

Fortunately on the 5th try I got us a room at a hotel.

Now imagine being in the 1st century, no modern conveniences, an in-labor wife, and each inn you go to says, sorry no vacancies.

For the sake of his marriage, Joseph needed to get it figured out and quick.

So they come to an inn who like all the others, did not have any room, but they did have a stable and so the innkeeper offered it to them.

Mary’s condition must have been fairly obvious. It leaves us to speculate: what was going on in this innkeeper’s mind? Perhaps their sense of compassion was overshadowed by the distraction of making money.

This town packed with visitors coming in for the census.

No to mention it wouldn’t be good for business to have a woman giving birth in close quarters with other paying guests.

Whatever his motives, he missed out on the miraculous entrance of God in human form because he was too distracted by what was going on around him.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

Have you ever seen Christmas with the Kranks? It is a pretty funny movie about a couple who decide they are going to skip Christmas since their daughter has moved away to college.

They decided that they are going to skip out on every tradition they normally observe much to the disappointment of their friends and family.

That is until they discover their daughter is making an unexpected trip home for Christmas. So chaos and hilarity in ensue as they have to plan for all the Christmas stuff they were skipping in order to have it ready for when she gets home.

The movie is ultimately about a couple who almost missed Christmas because they forgot what matters most—shows how easily we can become distracted by outside pressures during the Christmas season.

Like the innkeeper in the nativity story, we too can be distracted by the pressures around us and miss out on the miracle of Christmas.

Maybe worse than that, we will settle for a counterfeit Christmas that is consumed by the pressures and values of this world rather than the hope, joy, and peace that the true meaning of Christmas brings as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Application/Closing

Remember who the first people to learn of the arrival of Jesus the messiah were, they were shepherds.

Shepherds were the least likely candidates (according to human standards) to first hear about the Messiah’s birth.

Why didn’t the angels make their announcement to the some of the important religious leaders of Israel?

Maybe it was because these individuals were distracted by their political expectations.

They missed the Messiah at His birth and during His ministry. How are our rigid expectations blinding us to God’s working around us?

We often use the term advent to describe the weeks that lead to Christmas. The word advent itself means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.

To Christians, advent is the arrival of Jesus. Christmas is a celebration of the first advent, or coming of Jesus.

And in the Bible, there were many who missed it. We as 21st century Christians have 2,000 years of Church history and the full revelation of God’s word at our disposal.

However, like those who missed the first advent of Jesus, the Bible promises us that there will be a second advent or coming of Jesus.

The Bible also warns us that like those who missed the first advent, if we aren’t careful, we will may miss his second and final advent.

Mark 13:23-27 NLT 23 Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time! 24 “At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

Here is one of many description of Jesus’ return to Earth, and just a few verses later he tells a parable about his second advent.

Mark 13:34-37 NLT 34 “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.

35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”

For this Christmas, I challenge you to go home today or sometime this week and write down your top 2-3 stressors/distractions during this season.

Be intentional about not letting those things get in the way of seeing God at work in your life and in our family this Christmas.

Pray about those things, and make a commitment to hand them over to God. May we not get distracted and miss out on something pretty great this year.