Making Room for Jesus

Would you take your Bible and go to Luke, chapter two.

You should be grateful this morning that, as I preached to you, we did not do what Pastor Royce suggested back in early November when we were planning out the Admet messages.

He was like hey, ian, maybe you should preach on Christmas Eve and since you have such a phenomenal beard, maybe you should die at white and do the Santa Claus thing.

And I think Pastor Bob for a moment took him serious and he goes oh, I wouldn't go that far, and so we haven't gone that far.

But I am grateful for the opportunity to enter into the Advent series and this morning I'm going to be preaching from a familiar passage in the Christmas narratives.

But I want to direct our attention to a not so popular character.

In fact, the character I want to direct your attention to in the Christmas narrative is an unspoken character, rather a reference, passively and that is the keeper of the inn, the innkeeper.

And this morning I do want to preach to you a message on making room for Jesus.

So would you direct your attention now to Luke, chapter two, and let us hear the word of God.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration, when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered, each to his own town, and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

That is God's word.

May he has blessing to his reading and now preaching by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, amen.

I found myself on social media recently reading about a debate that was going on between a bunch of men, and they were debating that men today need to stop creating in their homes man caves and go back to establishing studies and libraries.

So libraries and studies over man caves.

As I was reading the debate and watching guys argue for this, I began to think to myself is this really an either or situation?

This is more of a both and in fact, in our homes that we've lived in, we've always had a study or a library and a what we didn't call it a man cave.

We call it a family cave.

The family cave was the place where we would watch movies together, play games, build Legos and, from fall to winter, pay homage to our Philadelphia Eagles, and so we would in Philadelphia.

Obviously, we had a lot more people who were interested in watching the birds with us, and so we would cram it in to our family cave to watch the games.

And very, very frequently there was an issue.

Every time we get together to watch the games, there would be a lack of room for everyone to sit on the in the prime seating on the sectional couch, and so this was okay for the first quarter or two, because something weird would happen, but it became very, very predictable, so it wasn't so weird.

The ladies would often hang out in the kitchen talking while the game was starting, and so we had plenty of room until they began to mingle back down to the game.

And this is when we would do what you do.

When this situation happens, we make room.

When the ladies walk in the room, we teach our sons even to the young age here's an opportunity for chivalry.

Let's make room.

And so we'd squeeze it in, or some of the kids would get kicked off the couch and the ladies would sit down, because guys and kids can sit on the floor but not the ladies, at least in our home.

And so what do you do?

When there's no room, you make room.

Right, it's just a simple gesture of courtesy.

You give people who deserve space room when they need it.

I always found it interesting that part of the Christmas narrative is that there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn.

Now, we're really not sure if the inn was what we think of when it comes to modern day ins, or maybe it was just a guest room at someone's house, or maybe a first century version of an Airbnb.

I mean, really it's not that big of a detail and there are not a lot of theological implications connected to it, but it is an interesting detail nonetheless.

Not a lot of explanation, not a lot of expression.

However, luke, when he's capturing the narrative concerning our Lord's birth, he wants us to know that the place where Mary and Joseph would normally stay, there, was no room for them there, because it's a passing comment that sets up the explanation for why Jesus was born in a space reserved for animals.

I think we're left to our imaginations a little bit, and imagination can be dangerous when it comes to sermonizing but I think it's important that we understand as much as we can why this detail is included.

And maybe you've seen in dramatizations of the of the nativity.

You know Mary and Joseph going from door to door frantically.

We need a place to stay, we need a place to stay.

And then some mean innkeeper, no room.

We hate pregnant women, you know, go away.

But in reality they weren't probably scurrying door to door.

There's probably only one inn in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was a little town.

We just sang about it.

This was really the little town of Bethlehem.

It wasn't a tourist destination.

It had some national significance because it was the birthplace of King David, who was celebrating as the greatest king in Israel's history.

But it was a little town.

Bethlehem was to Jerusalem what maybe Union City is to San Francisco, small and sized by comparison and small in significance by comparison, not a big deal, not a lot going on there.

So they had an inn.

The grammar of chapter 2, verse 7, says there was no place for them in the inn and there's a.

There's a definite article there.

This was it.

This was the inn.

It was not one of many, it was the inn, and so, given the influx of travelers coming in because of the census, it was packed out.

There wasn't room for another single guest, let alone a family with a wife about to have a baby.

So what do you do in a situation like this?

Well, if you're this innkeeper, you make room.

You make room, a woman is having baby.

You make room.

You go to Mordecai and Sarah and say, hey, would you mind squeezing in with Jacob and Ruth tonight?

We got a family here that needs some space.

They're about to have a baby, but they didn't.

And we don't know why and I'm not going to pretend to know why, I can only imagine but they didn't make room.

So you know how the narrative unfolds, unless you're hearing this for the very first time.

And if that's the case, that's amazing.

I'm praying for you this morning.

If you come to church and you've never heard this story before, I cannot wait to introduce you to Jesus.

So Mary ends up giving birth to Jesus in a stable, lays the baby in a manger, a cattle stall, a feeding bin.

Now we can assume and we often do that.

The innkeeper offered it.

We've got no room in the inn, but you can stay over here in this stable.

The text doesn't say that either.

That's assuming too much.

It's possible that when Mary went into labor, joseph's like all right, here's what we've got, let's go.

And so the baby is born in the closest available shelter.

But here's what we do know.

We don't know much about the stable.

We don't know much about the hotels, motels, inns and airbnbs in Bethlehem, but here's what we do know.

There was one, and they didn't make room for Jesus.

When you think of it, knowing what we know, that's absurd.

Knowing what we know, not making room for Jesus to be born in your space is absurd.

I mean, just even on a human level.

Can you imagine the promotional material that would have come out from this inn?

I mean a big neon sign, the place where Jesus was born.

I mean they could have made a lot of shackles if they would have simply let Jesus be born in this inn.

But it's Christmas.

Let's give this innkeeper the benefit of the doubt.

He probably just didn't know.

If the innkeeper knew see if you agree with this if the innkeeper knew who was in the womb, I'm sure that he would not have only made room for them, he would have given up his own room so that the Son of God could have been born in his space.

You have to admit that there is a bit of absurdity to this lack of hospitality.

And they're never been born.

They never would be born another child like this one in Mary's womb.

This was the birth of births.

This was the baby of all babies.

At our home during Christmas, we really look forward to decorating with our Christmas decorations and how it is.

Once you've been a family for a while, you have this collection.

You have a collection of Christmas decorations that you've had for the duration of your life as a family and you only get them out once a year.

It's kind of exciting to get those boxes and unpack them.

One of them for us is an olive wood creche nativity set that was given to Rachel from her grandparents and they got it in Israel these beautiful hand-carved figurines of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus and the manger.

We get them out and Rachel, being the practical woman she is, she will often say this our house is for a living, it's not a museum, so if it's out you can touch it.

The kids would play with the nativity set when they were kids and remember one time walking into the living room and Pason was like four years old at the time.

He's got Joseph in one hand, he's got baby Jesus in the other hand and I don't know what's going on, but they're having a conversation and it's pretty intense.

It seems like this conversation was going to be settled by this amazing comment that Pason makes with baby Jesus.

He holds Jesus up like this, looking down on Joseph, and says I am Jesus, king of babies.

I'm sure that was supposed to settle the argument.

I don't know what was going on there and we've never been able to find out 16 years later.

But that's what was going on.

But you know what?

Out of the mouth of babes, I am Jesus, king of babies.

More than that not just the king of babies, not just the king of humans, but the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

The absurdity of not making room for Jesus, the absurdity of not making room for the baby of babies, the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the savior of the world, to be born and to live for as long as he would need to in your space, the absurdity of not making room for Jesus is not, in the text, rooted in lack of compassion for a pregnant woman.

The absurdity of not making room for Jesus is rooted in not knowing who he was.

I come back to this If the innkeeper knew who was in Mary's womb, he would have gladly and quickly made room.

Do you agree?

When we are aware of the true identity of Jesus, we will not push him away.

We will gladly invite him in.

Here's the big idea of this Christmas meditation that I have the privilege of bringing to you this morning.

The more we are aware of the identity of Jesus, the more room we will make for him in our lives.

The more we are aware of the true identity of Jesus, the more room we will make for him in our lives.

Presenting Christmas provides a perfect moment for us to revisit, to reacquaint ourselves with the true identity of Jesus.

It also gives us plenty of opportunities to introduce others to the pressing question who is Jesus?

Why all the lights, why all the gifts, why all the songs, why all the festivities?

Well, he's a big deal.

And when we come to grips with the answer of who Jesus really is, oh, my friends, we will not push him away.

We will be eager for him to be closer and closer and closer, living in our homes, if you will.

Well, in chapter one, luke recounts Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel, and it's here we find out what Mary knew on that doorstep as they were looking for space in the room, and we're probably pretty sure, because Joseph also received an angelic invitation, that he knew as well.

So someone needs to write a song, joseph, did you know?

It's here that the angel tells Mary and Luke one that she's pregnant with Jesus and that, even though she is a virgin, this is happening because of the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit.

I don't need to tell you this, but it's always good to remind us of this every single advent.

Virgins don't normally have babies.

Mary was a virgin.

This was a miraculous pregnancy, and the reason this is happening is not only because the Holy Spirit is enabling it.

It's because, on God's timetable, this is the moment for the most significant promises of Holy Scripture to be fulfilled the Messiah is arriving.

So here's what the angel Gabriel told her in chapter one, verses 31 through 35.

And here's the basis of my argument this morning, which is more of a meditation, but there is a little bit of an argument here.

If the innkeeper knew what we're about to read, oh, he would have made room for the son of God to be born in his inn, verse 31,.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord.

God will give to him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom.

There will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel how will this be, since I am a virgin?

And the angel answered her the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the son of God.

Let's take a moment to consider the identity of the one in the womb and the absurdity of not making room for him First.

He's the saving one.

Notice, the angel says to Mary you shall call his name Jesus.

The name Jesus means Yahweh saves.

This means that the one in Mary's womb is the one who's being sent from God to save God's people from their sins.

In fact, the angel said this to Joseph directly and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Mary is pregnant with the one who did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

Mary is holding housing, if you will, in her womb the savior of the world, the savior, the redeemer, the rescuer.

How absurd not to make room for the savior.

Second, he's not only the saving one, notice that, he's also the great one.

Notice, the angel also says to Mary he will be great.

I love this word in the original language.

He will be mega, jesus will be mega.

This is a word that's used to speak of the significance of the child.

Some scholars argue that this is a word, when it's used by itself, can only refer to a deity, but most likely in this context it's talking about the future accomplishments of the one who is in the womb.

He will do great things because he himself is great, and he will do great things right.

He will do what no one else has ever done.

He will give sight to the blind, he will walk on water, he will raise the dead, he will do things that only God can do, and then he will do for individual sinners what individual sinners cannot do for themselves.

He will live the life we cannot live to be our righteousness.

He will die on the cross, a substitutionary death, receiving the judgment of God in the place of sinners, so that we can be free and justified by his grace.

He will rise from the dead promising to all who trust in him that as long as he lives, they will live, and he will live forever.

He has done and will continue to do great things.

He will return and judge the living and the dead and listen, make all things new.

He is the great one.

How absurd to not make room for the one who uniquely and singularly, has the power to do what he alone can do, because he will be mega.

Thirdly, he's the divine one.

Notice that the angel also says to Mary he will be called the son of the most high.

Son of the most high is a title that highlights his special relationship to God, the Father in heaven Most high, the one who is high and above and overall.

This title is highlighting not only that relationship, but the unique relationship that the son and the father have, and also the divine origin of this son.

It's synonymous with son of God in verse 35.

And so what this is truly highlighting.

And for those of you who are theological nerds and geeks like me, you know that we could probably spend multiple sermons plural just talking about the significance of this title alone.

But suffice it to say for us this morning, what this title points us to is the great mystery and glory of the incarnation, that Jesus Christ is both God and man.

The God man, the son of the most high, this is both God and man.

How absurd not to make room for God.

Fourthly, he's the promised one.

In one sentence here, in verses 32 and 33, the angel indicates what Pastor Ricky has been highlighting through the duration of our liturgy so far that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, that Jesus is the king, the forever king, the one who is sent to reign not just for a period of time, but to come and reign for how long?

Forever he will sit on the throne of his father, david.

He will reign forever.

His kingdom will have no end.

So Mary is holding in her womb, housing in her womb the forever king, the one whose reign will bring in an unending epic, an unending period of peace and righteousness and wholeness.

His reign will make the world what it was meant to be again.

His reign will make our lives what they were created to be again.

We use words like thriving and slurishing around here.

I'm so glad it's part of our usable vocabulary and it all ties back to this reality about the one in the womb that Jesus would come and through his kingship, through his authority, through his sovereignty, through his use of power.

He will not abuse it, but he will use it first to fix everything and then to ensure that we flourish under him.

For how long?

Forever.

Yes, that was a reference to the Sandlot, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, that's who's in the womb.

How absurd not to make room for the one who reigns and makes all things new.

Finally, he's the Holy One.

Notice that the angel's clinching statement in this visitation is therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, and the word Holy doesn't just mean free from sin, although it does mean pure.

The word Holy means separate, set apart, unique.

Maybe a phrase that we use a lot is one of a kind, a one-off.

This baby will be unlike any other baby.

This baby will be unlike anyone else, set apart, separate, unique, own category.

There will never be another one like this baby.

In other words, we would say there will be no one, ever, ever, ever like Jesus.

He's a one-off, one of a kind, unique, the only God-man, the only forever King, the only son of the most high, the only savior of the world.

So here's what's happening on the doorstep of that Inn.

Joseph and Mary are standing there.

She is in labor and this is who is in her womb, and they don't make room.

Can you imagine not making room if you knew who was in the womb?

This is where we boo and hiss the innkeeper again Boo, hiss.

No room for the saving one, no room for the great one, no room for the divine one, no room for the promised one, no room for the holy one.

You've got to be kidding me.

We love that song, mary.

Did you Know?

We not only need a sequel, joseph, did you Know?

I want to ask the innkeeper buddy, don't you know who's left on the doorstep?

You have to admit it's a little unfair because we know some things he did.

But you have to admit, knowing what we know, there is an absolute absurdity to this lack of hospitality.

Can I see some nodding heads?

Do you agree?

I'm setting you up, by the way, but here's what I wonder we can be more absurd than the innkeeper?

The innkeeper didn't make room for Jesus because he didn't know who he was.

He had no way of knowing who was in Mary's womb.

But we do.

Here we are celebrating Christmas again and we know Jenny, do you know?

You know Fred, do you know you know Pete?

Do you know?

You know Piper, do you know you know Ricky?

Do you know we know you know?

I know.

We know how seemingly inappropriate is for this baby to be born in this feeding trial.

We know how seriously absurd it is to not make room for him because we know who he is.

We know that Jesus is the saving one, the one who rescues us from our sins.

We know that Jesus is the great one who has the power and the ability to do in us and through us what no one else can.

We know that Jesus is the divine one, the self existent, eternal God who's worthy of our worship and adoration.

We know that Jesus is the promised one, that he truly is the perfect prophet who speaks on behalf of God, the perfect priest who cares for us on behalf of God, and the perfect King who reigns over us on behalf of God, but not only on behalf of God, as God and we know that Jesus is the holy one, that, my friends, there's absolutely no one like him, unlike the innkeeper.

We know who Jesus is, we know what he came for, we know what he has done, but how often we treat him like the innkeeper.

No room, or maybe not too much room.

We may have room for Jesus to be a part of our lives, but have we made room for Jesus to take up full residency in our lives?

This may not even be the main reason this detail is given in the Christmas story, but it's a worthy meditation and a necessary exhortation that my friends, my soul needed this advent.

I make too little room for Jesus.

Am I the only one?

This Jesus deserves a place of full occupancy in our lives.

He deserves more than our Sundays.

He deserves more than a few bucks in the offering plate.

He deserves more than our religious routines.

He deserves our all.

I wonder if he gets it from us.

I wonder if he gets it from you.

We want him to have it, don't we?

And how absurd to not make room for Jesus.

We have our excuses for not giving room to Jesus.

We have our excuses for not making more room for Jesus.

Sometimes I think we're too busy for Jesus.

We pack our schedules with things that we don't think relate to Jesus and that's another sermon, because it all relates to Jesus but we think we don't have time for Jesus because our schedules are too packed.

Sometimes I think we're too distracted for Jesus.

We need to get our faces off our phones.

Sometimes I think we are too satisfied with substitutes for Jesus.

We take God's gifts and we turn them into God Himself.

Sometimes I think we think too narrowly of Jesus.

He's truly Lord of all and we keep him sectioned off in a little room in the house of our lives because we don't think the Lordship of Jesus has anything to do with our work, has anything to do with our loves, has anything to do with our food, with our art, with our play, with our sports, with our families.

He has something to do with it all.

And this is Christmas.

Calm down, ian.

Here's the point.

He's worthy of it all.

Every space, every nook and cranny of our lives, every space in the house.

He should be welcome and we make room for him.

Let's stop giving him the Harry Potter room under the stairs and let's say Jesus, come on in.

It's all yours.

I'm all yours because of who you are.

So this Christmas, though, I want to challenge us to take time to consider what kind of space Jesus occupies in your life.

If you're not a follower of Jesus, would you make room for him today?

Would you realize that he can do for you what no one else can do for you, that the Father sent Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit because he loves you?

He lived the life you couldn't live.

He died the death you deserve to die, and he was raised from the dead so that, today, you turn from your sin and you open the door of your heart to him.

He will not only forgive you all your sin, he will cover all your shame, he will remove all your guilt and he will make you a blessed son or daughter of God forever.

Would you let him in today, if you are a follower of Jesus, this morning, would you consider what it might look like to make more room for Him in your life?

Does the Son of God have full occupancy this Christmas?

Make more room to hear from Jesus.

Open that Bible or crank up that audio app a little more.

Make more room to talk to Jesus.

Have some more conversations with Him as you start your day, as you end your day and spontaneously in between.

Make more room to tell others about Jesus.

Get more involved in mission.

Look for opportunities to make connections with your faith and the people that you are surrounded with on a daily basis.

Make more room to give to Jesus.

Use more of your resources and time to directly spread His fame.

Here is what I found out in my own life, and maybe this will be true for you too.

In order to make more room for Jesus, I need to make less room for other things.

The rooms of our in get full and we really can't fit anyone or anything else in.

What this means is that if we are going to make more room for Jesus, we probably need to make less room for something else.

What do you need to clear out in order to make more room for Jesus?

You say, okay, hold on, ian.

This is legalism.

You're going down a bad path here.

This isn't legalism.

This is love.

If you love someone, you will make sacrifices to be with them.

I'm not being a legalist when I say to Rachel all right, I'm not going to watch Thursday night football.

This week, football is really messing with our marriages, man.

I mean, it used to be just Sunday, now it's like Monday and Thursday, and now we're doing Christmas time Saturday and Sunday.

This is a little too much for even me.

For those of you who know me, you know that's a big confession right there.

But it's not legalistic for me to say to Rachel, you know, I got too much football in my life.

I need to turn this TV off and I need to spend time with you.

That's not legalism, that's love.

Love requires sacrifice.

It always does.

If you're going to grow in your love for Jesus, it will cost you.

You realize that very often, to make more room for Jesus, we need to make less room for other things.

You think about what it means and what that might look like.

Less of this in order to get more of Jesus.

When you are aware of the true identity of Jesus, you will gladly make every sacrifice to get more of Him.

You will not push Him away.

You will gladly invite Him deeper in.

The more you are aware of the identity of Jesus, the more room you will make for Him in your life.

In Luke 2, we're drawn to imagine Joseph and Mary knocking on the door of the Inn and Bethlehem and being left out on the doorstep.

In Revelation, chapter 3, we're given a similar, yet slightly different picture.

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

Listen to these words from Jesus himself, revelation 3.20.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.

So we go from the door of the Inn and Bethlehem to the door of our human hearts and Jesus knocks.

Notice that he's not banging down the door.

He wants you to say come in and when you do, look what he offers you.

He's not coming in to tell you how dirty your house is.

He's not coming in to tell you that you're a bad cook.

He's not coming in to tell you to get the cracks and corners of your house together.

He says I want to be with you and I want to eat with you.

I want to offer you intimacy and I want you to experience nourishment in my presence.

This is what Jesus offers.

When we open the door and show the Son of God the hospitality that he is worthy of, he comes in, he's with us, he cares for us and reminds us through his presence.

This is what we were made for.

So let's stop leaving Jesus on the doorstep of our lives.

Let us open the door and give him full occupancy and let's prepare him room this Christmas and beyond.

Amen, merry Christmas.

Let's pray, father.

We come to you now in the name of your Son, jesus, and we thank you that there was a day in our lives, as sons and daughters, where we heard the knock of Christ on our hearts and, by your mercy and gracious intervention, by your mercy and gracious invitation, our hearts were opened to receive into our hearts, to receive into our lives, to receive into our homes the saving reign of the Son of God.

And so, god, I pray that this Christmas season, as we transition from Advent into Christmas time, I ask that our lives would be fuller of Jesus and less cluttered with that which does not satisfy, more full of Jesus and less cluttered with sin, more full of your Son and less distracted by the trinkets of this passing, fading world.

But I pray that you'd open our eyes to see more and more the true identity of the Son of God and compel us to make more room for him in our day to day lives.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.