Every Advent season a different aspect of the story stands out to me. Every year I am surprised by what I spend my time pondering. This year is no different.
This season I have been pondering a character that is never mentioned in the text but has become ubiquitous in most depictions of the birth of Jesus. In some ways he (always a he) is a villian, the Grinch of David-ville. I speak of none other than the hard-hearted Innkeeper.
You know the scene: a stone faced, elderly man opens the door.
Joseph pleads, "Please, sir! My wife is about to give birth! May we please stay here?"
The Innkeeper gives one disdainful glare at Mary and says gruffly with a sneer, "No room! Go away!" Then he slams the door.
The implication for me has been that if he had wanted to, he could have made room for Jesus. The implied question has been will you make room for Jesus?
This year it finally occurred to me that this is not the point of the story. There was no conspiracy in Bethlehem. The Innkeeper was not rejecting God. However the scene played out in that far away dusty road, I am convinced our modern dramatization is likely not it.
The reality likely is these were all just ordinary people, responding to and wading through the world as best they could. They were probably poor, subject to Roman rule, and just trying to get by. Messiah had been prophesied, but that had been hundreds of years ago. If they were still actively waiting, they certainly were not looking for the man and pregnant woman that showed up on their doorstep among the crowd that arrived for the census.
This year I am thinking about the "villains" in my life; past, present, and future. How many are just trying to get by? How many are just in a tough spot when our paths cross? This year I am pondering that He came for even those I like the least. He stepped down into our mortal mess for them just as He did for me.
No matter where life finds you this Christmas, no matter the trials or villains you face, there is "good news of great joy!" There is a Hero of the story, and He is the infant born of glory.
Merry Christmas!
The Livingstons
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