Church Message

Several years ago, I had a church family who were farmers, and they had an old barn on their property that was mostly used for storage.

That year I proposed having a second Christmas Eve service in a barn, so that same church family asked me to come out to look at their barn. Much to my surprise it was smaller than I thought it would be, and that was OK; the space necessary for Jesus’ birth couldn’t have been that big, either.

On the day of Jesus’ birth, Luke 2:1-20 records that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem to be counted for the census after Quirinius became Syria’s governor. In those days, anytime the census was taken, it meant taxes would jump and the poor would suffer the most.

So, when it came time for Mary to have the baby, Mary and Joseph couldn’t find anywhere to stay except a space reserved for animals. And that’s the point. The only place for Jesus was a manger. Luke only describes a manger. The first Christmas gift was wrapped in bands of cloth and set in a trough used to feed animals. That’s the only space the innkeeper had to offer. Maybe he didn’t want to be inconvenienced by the inconvenient.

And then I asked myself: What if I am the Innkeeper who doesn’t like being inconvenienced by the inconvenient? I don’t know that any of us likes being inconvenienced, do we? Then I realized, every one of us decides whether to make room for Jesus’ birth today, tomorrow and every day. We decide whether we’ll be inconvenienced or blessed.

What if Jesus’ birth is about being inconvenienced by the inconvenient just like Zechariah and Elizabeth were, and just like Mary and Joseph were? What if the first Christmas gift was all about being inconvenienced by the inconvenient especially since the inconvenient often ends up being a blessing?

Luke’s gospel describes how God gave humanity the first Christmas gift, so each of us could decide if they are going to let Christmas inconvenience them or if they are going to let Christ’s birth bless them and others. Maybe the first Christmas gift is the choice God gives us to welcome this child or shoo him and his family away. Maybe Christ’s birth is about letting our hearts, souls and lives glorify God. Maybe Christ’s birth is a time to reflect on the great things God has done and continues to do for us. Maybe Christ’s birth is about walking with the arrogant and proud who don’t realize their arrogance and pride hurt them more than bless them. Maybe Christ’s birth is about recognizing how God is ready to bring good news to all the people since it was meant to be shared with all people, just as the angels said.

I believe Luke is inviting us to wrestle with what room we will make in our lives for the birth of the Christ child. Is it prime space or leftover space? Is it a barn or a cave? Will we inconvenience ourselves and accept the Christ child whose family crossed the border without authorization? Will we let the Christ child born in a house that could be fixed up that’s been recently condemned? Will we let the Christ child born under the Highway 81 viaduct?

That year we’d planned on having that added service in the barn didn’t work out. Between two feet of snow and a death in the church, God was up to bigger things that year just like God was that first Christmas, and just like God is now in your life and mine. It’s like God is inviting us to let Christ be born all over again and again and again – however many times it might take.

So, in the year ahead, let me invite you to consider what room you will make for that child to be born today, tomorrow and every day? After all, sometimes God inconveniences us so we will make room to receive the greatest blessings of all.