No Vacancy

 

If we have followed the Christmas story over our lifetime, we have heard it said that there was “no room at the Inn” For Mary and Joseph. They had just traveled many miles. Each one of them had just surrendered their lives to the coming of Christ. The angel proclaimed Jesus’ arrival to both Mary and Joseph separately. God clearly had a plan.

So why was it that this very pregnant, due to deliver Mary and most likely very nervous new expectant husband, stood at the doors of the Inn and were told there was no room?

Wasn’t there a plan? Hadn’t the angel told them not to be frightened? I wonder if they thought “surely there must be a mistake…we are delivering the Christ Child to the world! The Son of God! This is important! We have been commissioned by God!!”

Before we get to that probing question lets look at why Mary and Joseph were even looking for an Inn so late in her pregnancy.

“At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 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. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.”-Luke 2:1-5

Joseph and Mary were there because of this imperial command. This imperial command for a census, served the purpose of getting a count of the people, so that taxes could be anticipated. It took an enormous amount of taxes to keep the Roman Empire going. There were roads to build, armies to fund and military campaigns to increase in order to continue conquering the world.

Caesar Augustus was the self-chosen title of a man by the name of Octavian, or Gaius Octavius. He had been adopted by his great uncle, Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar famously attempted to set himself up as the supreme leader of the Roman Republic but was murdered by the senators. Octavian took over Julius Caesar’s position at the age of only eighteen and completed Rome’s transition once and for all from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

That concludes our history lesson for today. The thing is, that in the midst of this historic story, there is much more going on. We can’t miss an interesting name change here. Octavian changed his name to Caesar “Augustus”. Augustus means exalted and understood by some to reference a god. Augustus was known for having many statues made of himself. These statues held great clues as to what he thought about himself. These statues were formed in ways that only statues of gods were formed. He’s depicted with bare feet, which at the time signified a god. One of his favorite titles was Divi Filius, which is Latin, meaning “Son of God”.  Caesar Augustus thought he was the son of God on earth.

So, as we ponder this, I take you back to that filled Inn. It was filled because everyone was called back to Bethlehem for this census. I’m sure not only every building was filled, but the streets were probably bustling with crowds who had traveled miles just like Mary and Joseph.

Often times the Inn Keeper is written off as a selfish, thoughtless villain, but there is a good chance that there truly was not an inch of space left in that Inn. Some have thought that the area where Jesus was born could have very well been the stables of the Inn Keeper. Perhaps he did take pity on them and offered them the only thing he had left.

Regardless of all of these details, one question remains. What does it mean that Mary and Joseph had to go through such difficulty if God had sent them to bring Christ to the world?

Great question! Well perhaps instead of only focusing on a possibly insensitive innkeeper or a narcissistic leader, we look deeply at Mary and Joseph; two people who had been called to bring Christ to the world. They were two people who surrendered their lives to deliver the true Divi Filius to Gods people. The angel had told them not to be afraid. It was clear that God had a plan. There was scripture prophesying the events around them! So, why was God not in the detail of getting Mary a clean, dry, warm room to deliver Jesus in?

Perhaps it’s a message for us to ponder. As Christians we have been commissioned to go into the world and bring Christ; in what we say, in what we do and how we act. Matthew 28 says “Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus also said “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Perhaps the vision of Mary and Joseph at that door of the Inn being told there was no room, is also a vision of us. A vision of us as Christians going out into the world to deliver Christ, only to find people who are not always willing or able to make room. Perhaps the vision of Jesus being delivered in a dirty manger is a vision of our ministry as believers bringing Jesus to places far from ideal, perfect, clean or comfortable. Maybe this visual of a young couple in a world overly preoccupied with everything from conquest to survival is the very world we see around us today.

Have we ever said in our plight as Christians “surely there must be a mistake…we are delivering Christ to the world! The Son of God! This is important! We have been commissioned by God, why is this so hard!!?"

God did have a plan and does have a plan but we will sometimes be turned away and expected to deliver Christ in ways that are less than hospitable or comfortable.

Perhaps the message here is in the trust and surrender. In a world with many self-chosen titles, we continue to birth Christ into the dark cold places of humanity. Gods message to Mary and Joseph and perhaps also to us may just be, to trust God regardless of the chaos of the world. To surrender to God instead of focusing on our circumstances. To know He most certainly does have a plan.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11

So, this Advent season let’s not see the dirty mangers in our life as a place of “less than” or “inadequate”. Let’s see every circumstance, situation and location as a place to birth Christ into the world.

We have to stop waiting for that clean room at the Inn to begin our commissioning, and birth Jesus right where we are!

 

-Pastor Patti