December 23, 2018 Christmas Eve - Eve Service; Luke 2:1-7

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

2] This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3] And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

4] 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,

5] To be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

6] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7] 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.

Let us pray…

You may now be seated. Thank you.

When I was in grade school, I was always chosen to play the role of Joseph in our Christmas plays.  

Then as an adult, I became the Inn Keeper just like John in this story.

·         Just like me, John was big for his age--7 years old.

·         His family wondered what role the teacher was going to give to him in the annual Christmas play.

·         Especially when you considering the fact that John was also a slow learner.

·         Perhaps he will be able to pull the curtain or to turn on and off the lights.

But, to almost everyone’s surprise, the teacher assigned John the role of the innkeeper.

John of course was delighted.

·         After all, all he had to learn was one line: “There is no room in the inn.”

·         And in no time, John had that down flat.

Then came the Big Night for the program.

·         The parents took their places in the auditorium.

·         And Every seat was filled.

The children entered on the right, singing "Oh come all ye faithful."

The lights dimmed.

A “hush” moved over the audience.

You could hear the ropes pull as the curtain opened.

Okay, the moment is here.

“Scene One”.

·         Mary and Joseph entered the stage and walked up to the inn.

o   "Please sir, my wife is not well.

o   Could we have a room for the night?”

John was ready.

·         He knew his line.

·         He kept saying it over and over in the car, all the way to the play that night.

In fact, He had rehearsed it every night since the teacher told him about it.

·         Here he goes.

·         Both of his parents hand their fingers crossed.

o   He began,

§  “there is…

·         Then, he hesitated.

o   He started over again. But this time a little louder.

§  “There is. . .

·         And once again his mind went completely blank.

There was an “oh my” that whispered over the crowd.

Everyone’s heart was embarrassed for him.

·         But poor John just didn't know what to do.

o   Joseph and Mary froze in question.

o   Then Joseph thought,

§  Well, If I would start walking away - towards the stable on stage left…

Then, with seeing Joseph walking away

·         John cried out in desperation:

o   “Hey - Look,

o   There's plenty of room at my house,

o   Why don’t you just come on home with me."

Isn’t that a rather delightful twist to a familiar story.

Now over the years, the characters in the Christmas story have become clearly defined for us.

·         The issues seem so clearly cut out.

·         Herod was a villain

·         And the wise men were heroes.

·         The shepherds were heroes

·         And the Innkeeper--well, the poor innkeeper has gone down into history as one of the heavies in the story.

Really - Don’t you picture him

·         As a grouchy old man

·         With a night cap on his head

·         Just sticking his head out of a second story window or out the door,

·         And just giving a quick shout:

·         “Take the stable and leave me ALONE!”

But JUST – perhaps, the innkeeper has received some bad press.

Preachers over the centuries have had a field day with this poor fellow.

But was it Really - his fault?

What it his fault that?

·         The inn was built:

o   With only twelve rooms instead of thirteen?

Was it his fault that?

·         Caesar Augustus had issued a decree

o   That the entire world should be taxed?

Was it his fault that?

·         Mary and Joseph were so late in arriving?

But was it his fault?

Let’s See…

·         The Penman Luke has taken a simple “Little One Line Statement” about there being no room and it becomes the ‘Walking Stick’ for Luke to write with.

“There was no place for them in the inn.”

Luke writes his Gospel,

·         As if this One Line Statement becomes the theme for His Entire writing.

In this One Line,

·         “There was no place for them in the inn,”

·         Luke will shows us how this phrase is repeated throughout Jesus’ ministry.

And The Question that Luke Leaves Us with is:

·         Will there ever be any room for Him?

 

There is NO ROOM for Jesus in Our Money.

Beginning in Luke 8:26,

Luke begins to record one-day when Jesus and the disciples stepped off a boat at Gadara (gad-a-ra).

·         Here, there is a mad naked man,

·         Running around,

·         Screaming wildly

·         And tearing at himself,

·         And then he suddenly approaches Jesus.

I am not sure about you, but I picture this Wild Man

·         Much like I have seen many Mean bull act.

o   You know,

§  They Run towards you at full speed.

§  All the while – Wildly and Thrashing about.

§  And then going from full speed to a full stop.

§  Abruptly, Planting himself deep in the earth,

§  And then paw at the dirt,

§  As if he is warning you

§  And he is declaring his territory.

§  ‘LEAVE ME ALONE’

That was when this Wild Man screamed

“Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you. Don’t torture me!”

Jesus just calmly walked up to the man

·         And asked, “What is your name?”

o   "I am legion, for we are many," was his response.

And he was right.

·         This poor,

·         Tormented man was so confused.

o   He has been pulled in so many different directions.

o   That he no longer had just one personality

o   But rather by now, Thousands.

Jesus then commanded for the demons to come out of this man and He sent them into a nearby herd of swine.

And we all know what happens next.

·         The pigs immediately squealed

·         And in a full speed stampede,

·         They all ran off a high cliff and were killed.

And as a result, the man was totally healed.

Now we know that Jesus was/is a Jew

And with knowing that Many Scholars believe that this territory was occupied by Jewish descendants.

·         I ask, What was the response, the reception that Jesus received after He Healed this Troublesome-Demon-Possessed Wild-Man within this Jewish community?

·         Did they begin to sing the Words of the Doxology?

o   “Praise God from whom all blessings flow”?

·         Did they cry out

o   “Praise be to Jesus”?

·         Did they build a hospital within their community?

o   And then name it after this Nazarene?

No, they did none of these things.

·         But rather

o   They immediately gathered together in anger

o   They formed a posse or a mob like group

o   And they went out to confront Jesus

o   And ordered Him to get out of their town.

You see, they had no compassion,

·         They had no sense of concern,

·         Really, none at all about this poor demon possessed man.

No, none at all.

They really couldn’t have cared less.

·         He has been around here for so many years,

·         Even though they could not control him,

o   He has simply become a part of their landscape.

·         And, now, Jesus removed him from being their ‘Butt’ of their jokes.

But what really got their Goat,

Or should I say ‘hog’, was the fact that:

·         Jesus destroyed their herd of swine during His Healing.

·         Their cash crop has gone over the cliff. Literally!

o   That is, the Hogs that they shouldn’t have had in the 1^st place, because they are Jews, and Jews were not supposed to even be close to Hogs.

o   But now with them all laying dead at the bottom of the cliff,

o   It leaves them almost speechless.

This hit them right where it hurt the most—Right in their pocket book.

·         It was quite clear to them

o   That IF Jesus stayed around

·         Their local economy that they built

·         Would be disrupted to say the least.

·         Their Little Cash Empire would be gone for good.

What they wanted was business as usual

·         And the last thing that they needed,

o   Was for some Travelling Hotshot Miracle Worker to come into their lives.

So, they chose a spokesperson,

And they were off to Confront Jesus.

And the spokes Person is to tell Jesus to LEAVE.

Now, we don’t know the exact words that were used however,

The Bible does say that they were full of FEAR

However, I believe it would be safe to say it went something like this:

Sir, Jesus, the Nazarene,

·         We have been living here,

·         Over here on our side of the waters.

·         Minding our own business.

·         For a great deal of time now,  

·         And we are doing it all quite well.

·         That is, Sir, until you came into our town.

·         We have all gathered together

·         And it has been decided

·         That we don't think that we NEED You,

·         And we KNOW that we don't WANT YOU!

·         So, Jesus, Sir, IF it is all the same with You

·         If You could Do us a Great Favor

·         And Go,

·         Go and do your little ‘saving of the world’ thing

·         In some other place.

·         We have all work too hard

·         To now start dealing with a

o   Do-Gooder like You.

You see, there was just NO ROOM for Jesus within Our Money.

There was NO ROOM for Jesus in Our LEGAL SYSTEM.

Their law was cut and dried.

·         It had been arranged and placed in the

o   Right Order So L-O-N-G  ago.

·         AND - The law was clear.

Now there is One of these Laws which read:

·         Whosoever commits adultery shall be stoned to death.

o   Now - There it is, in black and white.

·         And This was even ONE of the Original Top Ten Commandments:

o   Thou shalt not commit adultery.

And it was within this LAW-

·         Which They came down even harder on

·         And with even more enforcement than of any other Law.

Well, at least, They acted upon the women who broke this Law.

·         Do you also find this strange? That’s for another time.

But so be it.

·         It was the law.

·         And the penalty for breaking this law was death.

o   Death by stoning.

·         There are no loopholes.

·         There are No plea-bargaining.

·         There No Exceptions

On a side note, did you know that the punishment was the same when a female become pregnant out of wedlock?

·         So, the question is, what about Mary and the Child?

But- there was an alternative punishment.

·         The male who was responsible could take upon himself the punishment and undergo a whip lashing.

·         So, it is believable, that Joseph stood up and took this punishment to cover Mary’s pregnancy.

So Now, let’s go back to this punishment for adultery.

Beginning in John 8:1,

·         It tells us of a time when a crowd brought to Jesus a woman who had clearly been caught in the act of adultery.

·         And the crowd was ill-prepared for his response.

This is when Jesus started to draw or write in the dirt while one by one of the accusers, dropped their stones and left.

See, Jesus refused to join in with their little lynch mob.

·         They asked, Doesn’t this Rabbi know the Torah?

o   Little did they know, Christ was the One who wrote it.

o   I would say that qualifies as knowing it.

·         But Jesus also knew something about Grace.

·         And that is Much Higher than the Law.

The crowd was astonished to say the least.

·         Yes, One by one, they dropped their stones and then walked away

·         But you had better believe it.

o   They didn't like it one bit.

§  No Sir.

See a person who has had their mind changed,

·         This is, Changed against their will!

·         That Is a person whose mind hasn't changed.

This crowd didn't do anything about it right away.

·         They are storing it up, waiting for right time to react.

Jesus was saying that people are more important than rules.

·         But the crowd didn't buy into that for one minute.

·         See, to them, the Law was the Law!

·         And it was crystal clear to them!

o   That there was simply no place for Jesus

o   And for His Grace in this whole matter.

There was No Room for Jesus in the Empire of the Religious Order.

That may sound strange but it was true.

·         People like Annas (an-us)

·         And Ciaphas (Ka-afus) already had all of the High Religious Positions that were available.

Israel had all the high priests that they needed and then some.

·         Who was this ‘new’ man on the scene who called himself a teacher, and a rabbi.

·         Where did he go to seminary?

·         Who were his parents?

·         Where does he get his authority from?

No-where is there any hint that the chief priests extended

·         Any type of acceptance of or to Him.

·         They didn't stretch out their arms

o   And welcome Jesus into their clerical profession.

·         In fact, they did everything they could to keep him out;

They most certainly were not about to adjust

·         Their comfortable life styles

·         Nor of their position within the community

·         Just because of the claims of this Jesus.

But it went even deeper than that.

Let me ask: Have you ever run across someone who had the opinion that maybe you or maybe someone was wrong about something? And that person has taken it upon themselves to make it Their Life-Time-Quest to either persuade them to change their minds and/or, to tell everyone they meet just how wrong that person’s point of view is. 

See, these High Priests earnestly thought that Jesus was wrong

·         And it was their duty to oppose Him in Every direction.

They organized themselves and set out a charge to destroy Him.

·         And their plan climaxed when Jesus was hanging on a cross at Calvary.

There was just No Room for Jesus in the World of the Religion!

There was No Room for Jesus in the World of Politics.

Oh, the people of the region wanted Jesus to be King.

·         Some of his disciples even became so enthusiastic about it

o   That they even asked Him for their positions

o   When He came into power.

·         But Jesus wouldn't play by the rules.

·         He told them that His Kingdom was not of this world.

We have it explained to us, starting in John 12:14, where it tells us of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

·         And then later when He walked into the temple on Palm Sunday.

·         Oh, how the crowd was prepared for a coronation ceremony.

·         But Jesus again, seems to have disappointed them.

·         He just refused to play the game of politics:

·         You know, I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.

·         He shunned the smoke-filled rooms of the power people.

·         But rather, He spent his time with the common people.

o   The less fortunate people,

o   And even with the ill and dirty people.  

This even stirred up their anger even more.

·         Oh, Jesus was a favorite subject of theirs,

·         And they all agreed that He needs to be removed.

·         He needs to disappear.

·         He needs to be crucified.  

So, His earthly crown was exchanged for a crown of thorns.

There was just No Room for Jesus in the World of Politics.

IN Our Money, Legal, Religious, and Our World of Politics

It just seems,

·         Wherever Jesus turns

o   There Is no room for Him.

So, what began first in Bethlehem

·         When the innkeeper turned

·         Joseph and Mary and God’s unborn Son away,

·         That became ever repeated theme for His entire Life here on Earth.

Let’s look at us today--to you and to me.

Do we have room for Christ in our lives?

When the innkeeper was presented

·         With his unexpected situation that one, late night,

·         He faced what I call our universal dilemma.

·         Just as Adam faced at the beginning,

·         The Innkeeper, At that point - he became every man.

·         Every man is asked:

·         Do you Have Room for the Messiah?

The fact is that the Messiah comes knocking

·         At our door of our hearts,

o   Many times, within our lives.

He knocks  

·         In various ways,

·         Through various people,

·         In various events.

And, you may be thinking,

·         I am not a preacher

·         And I am not a theologian.

·         How am I supposed to recognize these times?

And That's Precisely the Point.

·         You are given no more preparation for this decision

o   Than the innkeeper had that night.

·         He was just an ordinary person like you.

Now, He could have said:

·         If I had only known that this was the Messiah,

o   I would have gladly given Him my bed.

o   But if he had known that,

o   He would have responded out of

·         Awe,

·         Fear,

·         Or courtesy,

o   And not out of compassion.

So, the Messiah comes to us just as He came to the Bethlehem innkeeper.

He comes but He doesn’t come

·         In the form of a King

·         And in All of His Splendor,

But rather in the form of people in need—

·         Just like Mary and Joseph.

And whether or not we receive Christ

·         Is totally linked to how we respond to these people.

The innkeeper claimed that he had no room.

Yes, I believe that is fitting.

·         See, isn’t the crowded inn

·         A rather appropriate symbol of our lives?

Our lives are so cluttered.

And when it comes down to it,

·         Yes, some are important,

·         But – the majority, it doesn’t matter one way or the other.  

·         But it’s this filler ‘STUFF’

o   That eats up our time,

o   That eats up our energy,

o   That eats up our money,

o   To such a degree that we end up

o   With no room left over.

All filled up and There is just no room in our lives for the Messiah.

And it always seems,

·         Just like it was in Bethlehem,

·         The Messiah comes to us

·         When we so often least expect him.

Did you notice that Mary and Joseph,

·         See, They did not arrive there at the beginning of this Census Season.

·         They didn’t arrive before the rush of people came.

·         They didn’t arrive while there was still plenty of space left.

·         But rather, they arrived late in the night

·         When this poor innkeeper was tired, and irritable, and grumpy

·         They Arrived very late, long after he had put in a very long – extra hard day’s work.

·         That’s when God knocked.

·         The knock of ‘Unexpected Destiny’.  

So, the Advent message to us is to watch and wait.

To Keep our minds and our hearts open for His coming.

·         For the hour approaches when Messiah will come to you and to me.

·         And like the Bethlehem innkeeper

o   We will be forced to make a decision.

·         Will our lives be so cluttered with incidentals that there will be no room for God?

·         Or will we Open the door and Gladly, Cheerfully welcome Him in?

To the innkeeper,

·         That knock has already come.

·         That knock - which came that night, was just one more thing to add to long list of bothersome interruptions and demands.

And it is sad, but it is also True,

That is and will be how some of us, will respond to God’s knock in our life.

“YES!!!”

·         “Just Take the stable!”

·         Just Do anything!!!”

·         “But-Just-Leave-Me-Alone!!!”

God knocks at the door of every person.

But The Question is—

·         Will there be Room Enough

·         In Your Life  -

·         To Let Him in?

Amen