Scripture Reading: Luke 2.1-20

Good Morning.

Last year as I prepared a message for our annual Christmas brunch, I casually said to Dylan on the way to school one day, "What do you think I should talk about?" "The inn, Mom--I think you should talk about how 'there was no room in the inn." Hmmm. . . it immediately spoke to me. . . besides, I had previously taught on the different angles of the Christmas story. This was fresh, it was different. I kept thinking, 'would it have made any difference if there had been room in the INN? How would that have changed the story? The INN - a place of provision, a place to rest, a place for nourishment--like when the Good Samaritan took the injured man to an inn, and paid for his keep. INN - a place of hospitality, like in our own homes, be they grand or small. . . it doesn't matter our means, what matters is our heart. . . so, what will you do with your INN this Christmas season? It is a great time to invite friends for some memory-making moments. Hot chocolate, old Christmas movies, Catch Phrase, whatever. . .

Let's look again at the manger. . .

"Off to one side sits a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor; perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear Him--so on this cloudless night, He went to simple shepherds." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Do you think the shepherds would have found the Christ Child if He had been ensconced in the inn? Well, yeah, there was the star, but, there were so many people in Bethlehem. . . What if there HAD been room, would that have changed things? One thing is for sure--the message of access to Jesus would have been missed. In a stable, or in a cave (as some suggest), He was easier to get to--just ask the shepherds! Even smelly, dirty shepherds visited the newborn King. "Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter."

The INN. Place of hospitality and opportunity. Finally, there is another type of INN - that which we hold deep inside of us. . . that each one bears within his breast. . . the chance to receive not an infant now, but a coming King. True hospitality is a feeling of warmth, somebody wanting you to know you are safe, you are cared for, loved. . . there is nurturing to be had in this port of shelter. An incomprehensible thing happens inside of me, when I open the heart inside of me that is the home for the Savior King. . .

I provide the space, and He brings the warmth, love, safety, and rest to me. Amazing love. . . how can it be? Well, 700 years before His birth, Isaiah had prophesied that the "virgin would bear a Son, and they would call His name Immanuel, which is translated, "God with us." When I open my heart to Jesus, I am never alone again. Immanuel -- God with me.

Let the stable still astonish: straw-dirt floor, dull eyes,

Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen; crumbling, crooked walls;

No bed to carry that pain, and then--the Child,

Rag-wrapped, laid to cry in a trough.

Who would have chosen this? Who would have said, "Yes,

Let the God of all the heavens and earth be born here, in this place"?

Who, but the same God who stands in the darker, fouler rooms of our hearts

and says, "Yes, let the God of Heaven and earth be born here in this place."

Making room in my Inn for the Messiah,

Christine