No Room At the Inn

"The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.  And coming to her, he said, 'Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. . . '  But Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, for I have no relations with a man?'  And the angel said to her in reply, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. . . ; for nothing will be impossible for God.'  Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.' " --[ Luke 1:26-38].


For millions of Christians around the world today, this was the beginning of the First Christmas. For Mary, Joseph and Jesus, this was simply their life.

After Mary had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, there were whispers in her community about her, no doubt. Joseph, "being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ' Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.'. "- [Luke 1: 20].

Mary was likely about age 14, a peasant girl, illiterate.

Magi from the East had told King Herod that a child was being born who would be King.  Herod was so threatened by this new king, that he sent the magi to determine Jesus' whereabouts. This was no ordinary homage trip. In fact, King Herod wanted to kill Him.

When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room at the inn. Jesus was born in a stable.

After leaving the manger where Jesus was born, the magi traveled on, in a different route, to avoid Herod. In a rage, King Herod ordered a census, to find and systematically exterminate all baby boys age two and under.  Our First Christmas began with what was, essentially, terrorism.

The harsh qualities of Jesus' life went on from there. He was rejected and mocked when trying to preach in His own home town of Nazareth. People there said, "Is this not the son of Joseph, the carpenter?" -[ The modern day equivalent of, 'Who does this guy think he is?]  Jesus said, "A prophet is only without honor in his hometown." His own family told Him that they believed he was deranged and had gone insane. [Mark 3:21].

Jesus went on to be publicly "tried",  humiliated and executed as a criminal.

I have spent a lot of time this Christmas, meditating on what would be the "perfect Christmas".  When I reflect upon that First Christmas, that Biblical story would certainly not be "it".

A few weeks ago, when I attended an Advent program of song and reflection with Dan Schutte, Mr. Schutte declared, "God messes up our plans." And YET, God has the perfect plan for our lives! We just don't always see it at the time. . . .

During this year, the dear patriarch of my extended family passed away. This is the first Christmas without him. We were "supposed" to be with the entire family on Christmas Day this year. But the trip to the Christmas dinner is a day's drive round trip. The house there will be full of relatives. We have been told, there is "no room at the inn", for us to stay.

I have railed against this! That is not fair, we have the "right" to be there with the rest of the family.

Well, the God's honest Truth is, Jesus never railed like that. "Christ Jesus who, though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, And being found in human form, He humbled Himself, and became obedient." -[Ephesians 2:6-8].

The Truth is, Mary did not assert her "rights" about how she was to conceive and how her baby was to be born-- not how, not where, not who He was to be. She simply said, "May it be done to me according to your Word."

In short, life is not all about how we want things to be! Life goes awry, we don't get to arrange the perfect tableau. It is not all about  "making Christmas happen".  Life is about letting Christmas happen TO us!

This Christmas, I pray that I may empty myself, may open myself to all of the strange and unexpected, and even unwelcome, twists and turns in my life, and may allow Jesus to come into my heart. My life may be far from perfect, but it is the life God gave me. And, He is guiding me by His plans for me.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  - [Jeremiah 29:11].

[Related Posting: "Holy Family", December 29, 2011].

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