Christmas Eve 2008

12/24/08
Christmas Eve 2008
Hudson UMC

The Christmas story culminates in Luke, chapter 2, where we read about the actual birth of Christ. One of the things that it is a very important part of the story is that there was no place for Mary and Joseph at the Inn. I have heard the story often enough that I don’t even bat an eye when I hear it anymore, but I remember first hearing the story. No room at the Inn? They had to stay in a stable? Jesus was born and they had to use the manger, the feeding trough for the animals, as a crib? It seems like an atrocity, to force a pregnant woman into a place where they keep the animals, and yet, this woman, the mother of the Christ, the redeemer of the world, was treated this poorly.

The reason that this detail is included in the Christmas story is because it should get us all riled up that people would treat the king of the world and His family this badly. There is no excuse for anyone to be treated like this, let alone Jesus. And yet, how often have we thought about why this might have happened? Why would the Inn have refused Mary and Joseph in their time of hardship? We get mad about it, but how could such a thing have happened?

The fact of the matter is that Bethlehem was a happening place at the time. We read that Caesar Augustus had decreed that a census should take place, which required everyone to travel back to the cities of their ancestors. Bethlehem was not a particularly large town but it was the city of David, who had many children and nearly uncountable descendants, all of whom would have flooded the city and overwhelmed the amenities that were available. It would be like if everyone who has roots in Hudson, Cedar Falls, and Waterloo and the surrounding areas all traveled back at once and tried to rent hotel rooms. They would be more than full. When Alli and I went to Little Rock to attend a friend’s wedding, we could not get a room because a martial arts convention was there and had filled up all the hotels. How much more would Bethlehem have been packed?

The point of the matter is that, though we often think that it was the tragedy of tragedies that Mary and Joseph were denied hospitality, it was not likely based on malice, but was a matter of business. There simply was no room. If there had been room, the owner would not have passed up an opportunity to let the room out. This is the difficult and sinister part of the story. We desperately want to condemn those who could not make room for Jesus’ family, but we can’t do it when we realize that they were not denied because of hatred, but because of the way the world works.

The difficult part of all this is that it is the ways of the world that caused this display of inhospitality. The people who turned Mary and Joseph away were not evil people, they were people like you and me who were trying to make ends meet, trying to do for themselves what they can. They were simply so caught up in the cares of the world that they just could not understand the ways of God. They were not pursuing evil, but doing good, reasonable things that everyone else would have done: taking care of their families, trying to earn a little extra money, worrying about themselves before worrying about others. We can’t believe that anyone would reject Christ, and yet, when we really get down to the nitty gritty, the Innkeepers and people like them are really just like us. Ordinary people caught up in the hustle and bustle of life.

It is also very important to remember that the people who were involved in this rejection simply had no idea of the significance of Christ. When they turned Mary and Joseph away, they were not saying to themselves, “Let’s renounce the Son of God,” but probably rather regretted having to turn anyone away. If they had understood the significance of what was happening, would it have made a difference? It might have, but we can never know. I have a hard time thinking that things would have been exactly the same if they had understood the magnitude of the situation.

So, the question that has been coming into my mind this holiday season over and over has been, “Is there any room in your heart?” Now, you are not taking a census in your heart that makes people travel or anything like that, but are there things in your heart or your life that are making you too distracted or too busy to take notice of Jesus? I don’t mean, are you doing a bunch of sinful things that are unquestionably evil and messed up. That is a serious question as well, but that is not what I am asking. Are you involved in good things that are healthy and productive, but so many of them that you have become too busy to be a Christian?

I think that most people ignore Christ, not because they are particularly evil or wicked, but because they are, just like the Innkeepers, distracted by the cares of the world. We get so worked up asking ourselves, especially in the midst of this economic situation, “How I can make more money?” “How can I get ahead in this life?” They even take noble spins sometimes. “How can I better provide for my family?” “How can I make life better for my children than it was for me?” The problem is, these good questions that are productive can grow and grow until they have taken over our lives and blind us to other concerns. I can’t tell you how many people I have met who grew up in the church and value church attendance but just can’t get themselves up on Sunday mornings because they are so busy during the rest of the week that Sunday morning is the only time they can catch up on their sleep or it is the only time left in the week that the family can spend time together. Again, even still, the goals of taking care of ourselves by getting sleep or having family time are noble and good things, but they only get dealt with in this way when we have allowed the other things of our lives to take over more than they should.

Every once in a while, when I allow myself to lose sight of what really matters and I do not give the best of my time to God, (Did you know that pastors can have problems like this, too?) it is often because I have forgotten how significant God’s love as shown through Jesus Christ is to me and my life. When I turn God away from my heart, it is just like when the Innkeepers turned Mary and Joseph away. I am not trying to be wicked or evil, I am not even thinking about the significance of my actions, I am just doing what seems to be the best thing to do at the time. I am not actively thinking, “I don’t want anything to do with Jesus,” I am simply thinking, “I am so busy, I just can’t read my Bible/pray/go to church right now.” And yet, though I have convinced myself that it is just because I am busy or caught up in the cares of the world or something else like that, I have turned the very Son of God away from my heart and life.

I am not going to talk your ears off this Christmas Eve, but I want to pose a question that I think we all, including myself, need to consider and answer. How can we slow down this season and appreciate what God has done for us by sending us His Son? What can we do to visit with our friends and family and yet not get so overcome by the festivities that we forget what we are celebrating? How can we take a break for God? How can we take a step back from our busy lives and just give some time to the God who has given us so very much? I can’t tell you what you need to do, but I encourage you to think about it, as individuals, as families, as members or visitors of churches. The grace of God is so near us; let us respond with joy and thanksgiving. Let us pray.

AMEN