No More Room

Luke 2:5-7 "To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. [6] And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. [7]  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

Once more the Christmas season is upon us. Stores are swamped with people, overcrowded, everyone desperately trying to find something, to buy something, for their loved ones. Television commercials hawk their wares, telling you how each product is essential for your husband, your wife, your child. Houses are being decorated - yes, tonight we'll even be decorating the Church. Carolers will sing Christmas songs, Church bodies will sing Christmas songs - the season is festive:

"Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head, the stars in the sky look down where He lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying He makes; I love Thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky, and stay by my cradle till morning is nigh."

The songs give us a nice warm feeling for the holidays, as we set up our mangers, as we make our preparations for the holidays. The only problem is, amidst all the decoration and songs we are in danger of forgetting Who is in the manger, and why He had to be in it.

Luke 2.7 "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

I want you to put all holiday cheer from your mind for just a moment and think of the manger. The birth of Jesus Christ is covered in just one verse, but Oh, so much can be determined from this verse. Look:

"And she brought forth". Mary was about to deliver, but she couldn't go to a hospital, a antiseptic place, nor did she have nurses waiting on her for encouragement and aid. If someone had cared, room could have been made for her. I know someone is going to say, "But the innkeeper, out of kindness, allowed her and Joseph to stay in the stable". If it was kindness, it was certainly the least he could do. Certainly, I am sure there was no rooms left at the inn, but there is no way you can convince me that every square foot of floor space was packed with people. The innkeeper could have found room for Joseph and Mary, or at least Mary, if his heart was right. But, perhaps as a joke, or perhaps as a way to ease his conscience, he "graciously" allowed them to stay in the stable.

A stable is no place for an expectant mother, and certainly no place to deliver a child. Stables are filthy places, filled with animals and bugs. If someone had cared, room could have been made for Mary and Jesus, but He was pushed aside from the very beginning. Jesus was born in a smelly stable. Jesus was born in poverty, for if Joseph had had enough money, he certainly could have purchased a room. He was born in obscurity and loneliness - His birth took place apart from all people, none were there to give comfort or aid. Mary herself wrapped the Christ in "swaddling clothes", a long strip of cloth, and then laid Him in a feeding trough (PHATNE, Manger, a place to eat in, a trough).
 

In 1973 Gary Kildall wrote the first popular operating system for personal computers, named CP/M. According to writer Phillip Fiorini, IBM approached Kildall in 1980 about developing the operating system for IBM PCs. But Kildall snubbed IBM officials at a crucial meeting, according to another author, Paul Carroll. The day IBM came calling, he chose to fly his new airplane. The frustrated IBM executives turned instead to Bill Gates, founder of a small software company called Microsoft, and his operating system named MS-DOS. Fourteen years later Bill Gates was worth more than eight billion dollars. Of Kildall, who has since died, author Paul Carroll says, "He was a smart guy who didn't realize how big the operating system market would become." In a similar way, people often don't realize how big God's kingdom will someday become. God comes calling with the offer of a lifetime, and we find other things to do. (Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers. Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 217.)

All because "there was no room". The world, represented by the innkeeper, had no time for Jesus - time is money, and money and comfort are for the rich, the successful. People were busy chasing "success", and in focusing on the cares of this world missed the first Coming of Jesus. How many will miss the Second Coming and eternal life in Heaven for the same, foolish reason?

God in His omnipotence could have built a hospital, staffed it with nurses, and placed it directly in front of Mary when she started to go into labor. Yet He waited on man to reach out to this expectant mother, waited for man to show true compassion to show us our depths of depravity. All men are not, contrary to the liberal theology, "inherently good". Man is inherently evil, fallen under the bondage of sin. Every action we take in the flesh, by our own power, is unnaturally sinful. Men are inherently selfish, looking to their own, and not to God. We cannot be good apart from God!

The manger started with Adam. God wanted to maintain an eternal relationship with man, but man, Adam, made a choice - follow the world, and refuse to follow God. Adam made "no room for" God in the Garden, and humanity fell under the weight of sin. Since that day long, long ago the natural tendency of man has been to push God to the side, to call on Him only when in desperateness they must, to tell Him "there is no room for" You here, Lord. There is no room for You in our schools, prayer must be forbidden. There is no room for You in the classroom, instead we'll teach evolution as truth. There is no room for You on television, unless it be through the occasional wild eyed lunatic we see representing Christianity. There is no room for You in marriage as we justify homosexuality and abortion. We, like the innkeeper, made no room for God .....

but He made room for us. He made room for us in the Garden when Adam fell, and warned the Serpent, that old Devil:

Genesis 3:14-15 "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: [15]  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

When the time was right God would send His Son to stomp on the Serpent, defeat the Devil, and that Son would come to us. We made no room for the Son, but the Son made room for us:

Matthew 1:23-25 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. [24]  Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: [25]  And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."

Praise God that He made room for us, when we made no room for Him! Though we pushed Him away, He reached out, and through His great love entered the world in humility. Imagine, the King of all laying in a feed trough! Jesus entered this life as the lowest of the low, in order that He might raise us to the heights of Heaven. By believing in Him we become the adopted Sons of God, we by faith in Christ are purchased, redeemed from the slavery of sin and are raised to the place where we can be sure of our future, we can be sure we have eternal life with God in Heaven. Listen to how Paul said it:

Galatians 4:3-7 "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: [4]  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5]  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. [6]  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. [7]  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."

If you will make room in your hearts for Jesus, if you will accept Him as your Saviour, you will never have to hear "there's no room" for you in Heaven. There's room for you in Heaven if you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour. There's room for you in this Church, room to serve our God, room to earn rewards and crowns, room to be a part of this family. The only one that keeps you out of the Great Inn of God is you, not God.

Won't you come and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? Don't let the commercial fluff of Christmas keep you from seeing the awesome power of God's love in that manger. He reached down, though we refused Him room. He's still reaching out today, reaching out to you.
 

In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor had explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor. "Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room - Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?" Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He'd thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save his sister. Each of us however, has a condition more serious than Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just his blood, but his life. (Illustrations For Preaching & Teaching Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 25.)

Titus 2:11-15 "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12]  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; [13]  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [14]  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. [15] These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority... Let no man despise thee."

Return to the Main Menu/ Bible Studies!