Throughout this Advent Season, we have been opening a new Christmas present each Sunday. We’ve opened a lot of gifts already; the gift of expectation, the gift of acceptance, and last Sunday, we opened the gift of family.
For today, let’s
have a volunteer come
forward and open the Christmas box.
Let’s see what is in the beautiful
Christmas box for today. It’s probably going to be one of the best gifts since
tomorrow is Christmas! What’s in the
box?
(Opening of Christmas Box)
It's a mirror! This must mean that we are the gift. We belong at the manger scene!
Turn to someone near you and say, “You’re the gift.”
Turn to someone near you and say, “You’re the gift.”
Yes, you are the
gift for this Sunday! We have been
pulling out a different nativity display each week to symbolize the Christmas
gift, but for this week, I realized that you don’t often see the innkeeper in
the crèche scene.
In many ways, the
innkeeper represents you and me in the Christmas story. Sometimes in the busyness of the Christmas
season and running around trying to think of everybody else, we forget that
we’re part of the Christmas story too.
We heard a little
about the innkeeper during our Advent candle lighting earlier in the
service. Well the truth is, the
scriptures don’t have a whole lot to tell us about this person. All we know is that there was no room in the
inn.
Instead, Mary and
Joseph had only one option on that first Christmas Eve. They had to lodge where the animals were kept
at night. Mary and Joseph would have probably
had to use their own robes and extra blankets just to keep warm.
Sometimes I
wonder if we brush aside the innkeeper in the Christmas story since we are told
that there wasn’t any room for Mary and Joseph that night. There is no indication in the story that the
innkeeper had any idea about the holy child inside Mary’s womb.
So what happened
to the innkeeper in the Christmas story?
We don’t know. But the more I
think about whoever this person was, the more I think that this person
represents you and me in the Christmas story.
This innkeeper
was right there. I mean, he was right
there with Mary and Joseph on that holy night.
Physically, he was as close as anyone to the holy family, but we’re not
sure how close he was in a spiritual sense.
One summer, I was
driving through a trendy section of a community near Columbus. It was around lunch time and I decided to
find a parking spot and try out one of the restaurants on that block.
As I was enjoying
my lunch, I remembered that a good friend of mine was serving as pastor of a
United Methodist church somewhere in that community. And so, after lunch, I started walking to my
car which was parked by a building next to the restaurant.
I got in my car
and as I started to pull out from my parking space, it suddenly dawned on
me. The building next to my car kind of
looked like a church. And sure enough,
it was. It was my friend’s church. During my lunch, I was only about twenty feet
away. I was right next to it the whole
time! I was so close to missing it even
though it was just one door away!
How can we be so
close to something and yet be so far away?
This story has a good ending because my friend happened to be in his
office that day. He gave me a tour of
the church, we had a great conversation, and we ended our time by praying for
each other. That visit became a holy moment for me. I left feeling renewed and encouraged.
Sometimes, we can
be right next to something that is holy and can make a difference in our lives,
but unless we open the gift, we can miss out on what God wants to give us. I think this is true of Christmas. We can be this close to Christmas and it can
be happening all around us, but until we open ourselves in this season, we can
miss it.
The innkeeper was
as close as you can get to Christmas.
The birth of Jesus happened right there in his own home. I wonder if this innkeeper ever realized that
this holy moment was meant for him as well.
The innkeeper helps us to think about
ourselves on this Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Sometimes, we remember everybody else at Christmas time except ourselves
and our own need to receive the gift of Jesus’ birth. The innkeeper may not be in the crèche scene,
but he was part of the Christmas story.
Do you see
yourself in the Christmas story? Or do
you see Christmas as only something that is meant for everyone else and not for
you in a personal way?
There’s a United
Methodist Church out in California that came up with a creative way to help
everyone in the church and their community feel part of the Christmas
story. Let’s watch.
We’re all part
of the Christmas story, each and every one of us, including the innkeeper,
especially the innkeeper.
There was once a
Christmas pageant at a small church in which the part of the innkeeper at
Bethlehem was played by a high school student.
He was a quiet and polite boy, but the kind of boy who was a little
awkward – in his manner, in his social relationships, and even physically since
his growing frame made it difficult for him to find any clothes that fit.
When Mary and
Joseph appeared at the inn, he stood…awkwardly…in the doorway, slumping a bit
toward the couple as they made their request for lodging. He then dutifully recited his one and only
line, “There is no room in the inn.”
But as Mary and
Joseph turned and walked wearily away toward the cattle stall where they would
spend the night, the boy continued to watch them with eyes filled with deep
compassion. Suddenly responding to a grace which, though not part of the script,
he startled himself, the holy couple, and the audience by calling out, “Wait a minute. Don’t go.
You can have my room!”
By adding this
extra line to the play, this boy reminds us that we all have an important part
to play in the nativity scene. God
invites each one of us to participate in the Christmas story in a very real
way. Even the innkeeper can go off
script and say, “Wait a minute. Don’t go.
You can have my room.”
In the Christmas story, nobody is left
out. Even the innkeeper can take more of
a leading role.
Let’s do this one
more time. Turn to a different person
this time and say, “You’re the gift.”
You’re the gift
on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Of all
the gifts that you wrap and open this year, don’t forget to open up yourself and
invite Jesus to live in the room of your heart.
I’d like to offer
three important thoughts on making sure that we don’t forget to take ourselves
out of the Christmas box this Christmas.
Slow Down
The first way is
by slowing down. Easier said than done,
right? “Today is Christmas Eve. What do
you mean, slow down?” I know. It almost seems impossible to slow down in
our frantic culture. Not too many people
are slowing down during this busy time of year.
But it’s necessary if we want to receive the gift of Jesus Christ in our
own hearts. When was the last time you
spent time praying in a chapel or in a place where it was just you and God?
I came across
this post on Facebook. A friend of mine who serves as a pastor posted these
words one day: “On Saturday mornings I work in the office and spend time in the
sanctuary praying and, when it’s my turn to preach, practicing the sermon. Some years ago a serious inquirer asked me,
‘Ed, what do you do with yourself all week long?’ Well, the answer isn’t what
any of us do all week long, it’s more like ‘anything God wants to do with us!’”
Slowing down and
being still and experiencing the presence of God is the first way for us to
personally receive the gift of Christmas this year.
Know What Is Important
The second thing
is to know what is and what is not important.
That’s not always easy to do.
Especially during the holidays, we can easily make the little things
outweigh the more important things.
Don’t worry about trying to have a perfect Christmas this year. Instead, focus on celebrating the perfect
Savior.
A Personal Daily Devotional Time
Slow down. Know what is and what is not important. And
last but not least, here’s a third way to help us not forget that we are a gift
that is meant to be opened this Christmas.
Have a personal daily devotional time which includes prayer and a
scripture focus. Allow these daily
routines of scripture and prayer to be how you center yourself during this holy
season. It’s a way for us to take a deep
breath and soak in the meaning of this holy season.
I wonder how the
innkeeper reacted to the birth of Christ.
Did he welcome all the attention and the extra guests who came to see
the newborn King? Or was it more of an
inconvenience to have those shepherds and onlookers stop by to see what was happening? Did it have an impact on him personally or was
this all something that he would soon forget. We don’t really know what
happened to that innkeeper.
Just remember,
you and I have a part in the Christmas story as well. This Christmas, may we each say, “Wait a minute. Don’t go.
You can have my room.”
Open the Gift of Yourself
Discussion Questions
Micah 5:2-5a & Luke 1:26-38
December 24, 2017 (4th Sunday of Advent)
Today's gift that we take out of the box on this 4th Sunday of Advent is the inn keeper who is usually not included in any of the manger scenes. The inn keeper symbolizes you and me. We don't know a whole lot about the inn keeper from the Christmas story, but we do know that he was not that far away from the miracle of Christ's birth.
Do you see yourself in the Christmas story? Or do you see Christmas as only something that is meant for everyone else and not for you in a personal way?
Pastor Robert shared about a children's Christmas pageant in which the inn keeper went off script. As Mary and Joseph were about to leave after hearing there was no room for them, the little boy who was playing the part of the inn keeper said, "Wait a minute! You can have my room!"
Like the little boy who added the line in the Christmas play, how can we make room for the Christ Child to be born in us?
Pastor Robert shared three ways that we can open the gift of ourselves this Christmas. These include 1) slowing down 2) remembering what is most important this Christmas season and 3) having a personal daily devotional time.
Which of these three ways of opening the gift of ourselves do you want to focus on this Christmas season. Remember, the Christmas season lasts twelve days from Christmas Eve through January 6 (Epiphany.)
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