When was the last time we didn’t make something and felt like an outsider? There are some stories to tell because stories help us make sense of whatever we may be dealing with or having dealt with….
And we could have a good laugh or nod in agreement because we know exactly what those feelings feel and look like.
Forward Friday looks at how the Christmas story is laced with the idea of Room Enough.. Could there be ever room for us?
But if we look closely to see past the fact that Mary and Joseph had no other place but the stable, maybe because of humble beginnings, Jesus understands the “Room Enough” moments of our lives and makes room for us with Him!
And as always, there is good medicine at the end!
Let’s Get Into This!
The first “Room Enough” moment was when I played on the local midget baseball team and the coach came to me after practice to tell me that I was being traded because they brought another player in to be one of the pitchers….
I mean they kept promising that I’d be able to pitch; left handed pitchers were a rarity. But.. never had a chance to pitch much less practice on the mound. Man, did I cry that night. They didn't want or need me. No room on that team for this guy.
But…New team… pitched…played first base and… we won the championship that summer.. and we beat my old team…
Room Enough #2 For some reason, I had it in my mind that I wanted to make the senior basketball team. Weird because basketball was and still is my least favorite sport so maybe because a couple of my friends were on the team and I wanted to see if I could.
I was the last cut which was pretty interesting as I had really worked hard to try to make the team… While feeling a little shut out in one way, some of us from senior band would play in the grandstands during home games. Maybe it was making lemonade out of lemons. Still felt like it was more of a buddy/friends team and I didn't fit in with that group. No more room...
Room Enough #3 was harder….. a group of my friends were hanging out a fair bit and a couple of the guys weren’t so keen on me hanging with them.
So the plan was that we were going to meet downtown on a Saturday evening…This was pre-cellular era (dating myself) so I figured that young adults being late was not so unusual.
2 hours plus later, one of the guys came as he felt bad for me. He said straight out that the group decided based on the “cool guys” thinking, I wasn’t wanted so they decided to ditch.
Hurt for a while but what some of those experiences did was sensitize me to looking to include people; especially those that often looked like they were viewing from the outside as time would move on.
Lest you think these stories were defining moments of sadness; they propelled me to think of what it must be like to be an outsider….
The Christmas Story Reminds Me Of Room Enough….
Can you imagine and my mind runs as I think about this; Joseph is not excited, “Seriously!
First, Mary gets pregnant! The constant cloud of scandal and suspicion is happening. The city will make fun of them because everybody knows everybody and well?
Who is going to believe our story? And then, Caesar decides to take a census!
We’ve got to go 70 miles on a donkey to Bethlehem! Then when we finally get there, no more rooms! Co’mon man!”
We can surely imagine that for Mary and Joseph this was hardly “the most wonderful time of the year.”
Joseph and Mary would soon find out that God had initiated a giant star to invite
and direct wise men from the East to visit the newborn child.
I can’t help but imagine Joseph wondering, “If God could get a giant star to light up the skies, couldn’t he have made one hotel room available?
Was this just a last minute overlooked detail by God or maybe there's something to learn from this?"
1) Could it be that there was no room in the inn so that even from the beginning of his life, Jesus could completely identify with the underprivileged, vulnerable, oppressed, rejects, outcasts and poor? It is worth contemplating..
When God became one of us, he demanded none of the world’s comforts, luxuries or protections. God knew that throughout history, there would be people from every part of the world, destitute, struggling, living on tough times, trying to stay warm at night, fighting to make it through one more day who would look up at the stars and say , “God, you have no clue what I’m going through!”
To this, Jesus could honestly and lovingly say, “Actually, I know exactly what you’re going through.”
2 Corinthians 8:9 says this: “Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”
3) The fact there was no room at the inn was the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 53, which says that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.”
A great writer said “The mother and father of our Lord were pushed out and rejected. Even before he was born, our Lord was rejected and turned away. The words ‘no room for you’ followed him throughout his life … There was just no room for him anywhere.
It is the same in the lives of many people today, he is still being crowded out. With all the festivities and all the busy-ness, he is an often just an afterthought. Instead of a place of honor at this time of the year, Christ is often shoved into a corner. Even today in many hearts, there is no room for Jesus.”
But The Good News Medicine Is This:
There is an amazing and beautiful thing that strikes me and it's that This same child came to find room for us.
Even though, time and time again, humanity told the Son of God we simply have no room for you, Jesus continues to tell humanity, “I have more than enough room for you.”
On the night before Jesus was crucified, he told his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3)
It is interesting that Christmas is actually one of the most lonely of times for many people.
There are people who are facing a crushing holiday season as this will be the first Christmas without a mom or dad, family member or friend.
I know those first Christmases without mom and dad were so lonely even with people around. The room that was has closed and there isn't room anymore or so it seems and feels.
Those who have a marriage or relationship that has disintegrated and this will be the first Christmas that life will look completely different and it's a lonely feeling. There's no room for us any longer in that relationship.
Friendships that have melted away or drifted and it's like the room we had in that relationship has disappeared or that place has been taken up by someone else. There's no room for us any longer that used to be.
Sometimes, it's hard to breathe when it seems like there "Isn't Room Enough" and because the feelings are often so acute, we forget that even in the desolate place, life is still a journey that entails marathon and not sprint.
Some times, even in the losing or missing of feeling like there is no room for us, especially in the places or spots we want to there to be room, there is a place and person not only during this Christmas season who wants to hang out with us.
It always blows my mind that He wants to warm and light the dark and seemingly cold places of the heart.
Ironically, just as his earthly parents knocked on the innkeeper’s door, Jesus still knocks looking for a home in our hearts.
He said it best, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
So, we may, for whatever reason feel like we are on the outs this Christmas season but the Good News is that Jesus came so that we could and can have "Room Enough!"
When we know who holds us together and makes room for us, it's easier to Stop Being Afraid!!
It's a wonderful truth to grab and hold on to this Christmas!
I'm glad there's room enough for you and I; walk with me on the Room Enough" Hope filled road!
Dave
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