"Making Room" - Christmas Day Message 2009

(1) Garage Sales everywhere

Everyday as you drive around you see many signs about upcoming “garage sales”. And often when you pass an op shop you see boxes or bags of stuff left outside the front door as donations. People talk about having too much stuff, or that their house feels cluttered. Others think about the need to ‘downsize’ and get rid of things they no longer require.

Such people could perhaps be making room for new belongings, which might include the incoming hoped for gifts at Christmas. Others might truly be looking for new space in which to simply breathe. For others, downsizing is part of a new life orientation. Put simply, where there is ‘no room’, there is need to ‘make room’.

‘Making room’, then, when faced with the challenge of ‘no room’, would be about priorities. What are the most important things going forward that I need to retain, and what are those things that can be sent to the op shop, sold at a garage sale, or thrown into the rubbish bin? And indeed if we need to move something new into our house, what is it that has to go, so that we won’t be over-cluttered?

(2) No Room – Luke 2:7

Back in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, whether it was a hotel motel type place, or more like a bed & breakfast guesthouse, there was “no room” in the main accommodation area for Mary and Joseph. This meant they were relegated to the barn out the back. Whereas this might be considered a kindly act by a desperately stressed innkeeper, this is not really the point Luke is seeking to make.

There is certainly a negative tone in Luke’s description that suggests that this was an inappropriate disappointing occurrence. Yet at the same time it is highly significant in painting the picture concerning the level of response that Jesus would encounter as his ministry unfolded. Even though Jesus ‘pitched his tent’ in the centre of public activity, he was generally pushed away toward the margins. He didn’t fit the expectations, so the door was often closed to him – “no room” for Mary & Joseph … “no room” for Jesus.

Despite the prevalence of the innkeeper story, this is the only biblical reference we have to that popular tradition (and you can see how these simple stark words in verse 7 have been read into over the centuries). We are used to this by now, and thus perhaps we have been a bit immunized against the full significance of Luke’s comment about their being “no place” for the impending birth of Jesus. This could be viewed as just a quirky part of the Christmas story, but I think we can dig a little deeper.

Why was it that there wasn’t any room for the poor young woman who was so obviously very pregnant. Was it truly the busyness of this census period, where so many were descending upon Bethlehem all at once? Or was it more that the rooms were being kept aside for the important and well-off; where the good accommodation would not be allocated to such a poor seemingly insignificant family? Or was the prospect of childbirth and having a crying new baby in the place way too inconvenient?

Was this all the innkeeper’s fault? After all, there should be no reason for the ‘innkeeper’ to know the identity of the child to be born (although, having said this, any bias against the poor that led to this outcome would have to criticised)! Perhaps though, the target of Luke’s disappointment in this turn of events is actually directed elsewhere.

(3) Making Room for Jesus

Luke was writing looking back. In its written form, Luke’s Gospel dates several decades after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Luke was bringing together the incidents of Jesus’ life and his dramatic teaching (under the Holy Spirit’s guidance) for the good of his community. Luke was looking at the contemporary lives of the people he knew, and was wondering where Jesus fitted in for them.

The closest thing to this “no room” concept in the other gospels would be from John’s first chapter: [The Word] was in the world … yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him (1:10-11). This was also a comment made looking back on how the world of Jesus’ time responded to the Son of God – that he in fact was largely rejected.

For Luke, in the face of the rejection that Jesus himself later experienced, this mention of their being “no room” for Jesus from the very beginnings of his time on earth, was intended as a challenge to all readers, as to whether they were making room for Jesus in their current lives.

This of course was the first of many such challenges. Jesus was rejected early days in his own home town of Nazareth (4:28-30). The rich young ruler was just unable to give up his wealth in order to gain the spiritual well-being that he was so much searching for (18:18-25). Jesus was plotted against by the religious leadership, and then tortured and crucified by the Roman governing authorities. Jesus was betrayed by a disciple and denied by a friend (22:47-62).

There was of course good news in Luke as well – those who did indeed make room for Jesus. However, these were unlikely candidates which further challenged conventional wisdom. These were: the prostitute who bathed Jesus’ feet in her tears, dried them with her hair, and further anointed them with ointment (7:36-50); the Samaritan “leper” – the one of ten healed who came back to thank and worship Jesus (17:11-19); the crooked tax collector Zacchaeus who having met Jesus, completely changed his ways and gave away his wealth (19:1-10); and the criminal on the next-door cross to Jesus who acknowledged Jesus’ innocent sacrifice and was thus promised paradise (23:39-43).

In each of these four positive cases there is a common denominator – a humility that has allowed for an inventory … a clean-out or a ‘garage sale’ if you like … which has made room for the entry of Jesus into their lives. These were all people in extreme despair who then experienced revolutionary transformation; yet we should not have to get so low before we wholly open ourselves to Jesus’ entry into all the areas of our life. The time is actually now … as we are.

That Luke’s words were not first and foremost written as a statement to the world at large, but rather primarily as a theological statement to the early church, must get our attention. Luke was writing to the early Christian communities wondering if these people were actually living up to their name and truly making room for Jesus in their lives; or, on the other hand, possibly putting up the ‘no-vacancy’ sign (just like the ‘innkeeper’ had).

This would mean an ongoing daily assessment of our priorities and allegiances. Without proper attention being given to this, Jesus can so easily be squeezed into small convenient compartments, or ultimately, right out of the picture altogether. If you catch yourself acting in ways that disappoint you, or find yourself offending others, perhaps your life has been too overly cluttered with other things besides Jesus, this tending to squeeze the breath of life out of you. If we find ourselves resistant to Jesus, what fears lie behind this … we would need to do some deep thinking here! Are their areas of our life that we can’t seem to let Jesus into, why is this?

(4) Making Room for Others

This is not to say that we shouldn’t make room for others. In fact quite the opposite! It is in wholly making room for Jesus, and centring our priorities there, that we also make room for other people, especially those with special needs. Remember Jesus’ statements about loving our neighbour – having made room for Jesus is demonstrated by our willingness to make room for other people.

What Jesus follower could not be moved to make room for the Karen refugees coming to this country from the camps just on the Thailand side of the Burma (or Myanmar) border! These are people who have been rejected by their own country, forced to live in appalling and dangerous conditions. We in Australia have a God-given opportunity and responsibility to offer such people a new home and a new start … to put out a real ‘welcome sign’ to them.

We can be thankful that in the West the Westgate and Newport Baptist churches have wholistically embraced these Karen people (even though they would be likely outnumbered by them). In the past they have been rejected in their homeland just as Jesus was, but are now being accepted just like we have been.

Who could not also feel compassion for the Sudanese people coming to this country, following the terror and violence that these people have endured. Yes their brokenness brings us big challenges, but we should want to address such challenges out of our feelings of tremendous advantage. The North Melbourne Football Club must be congratulated for, amid all of the available talent, drafting a young nineteen year-old Sudanese boy onto their Rookie list, in a wonderful act of welcoming.

In this way, Christmas should be much more about giving than receiving! As we accept the offer of Jesus taking up residence in our lives, making sure we have made adequate room for him to do his stuff, we will be free to give of ourselves to others. Despite the gifts we receive today, that we have to find a place for somewhere in the wardrobe, pantry or garage, it is also a good day to consider de-cluttering our lives and truly making room for Jesus.