The Part of the Christmas Story Everyone Forgets

I know it’s been awhile… And while I wish I had a million excuses to give, the truth is I’ve simply let my life get too busy. Bittersweet emotions encompass the reality that I am DONE with graduate school. However, with the completion of that chapter of my life, I am welcoming more time to write, more time to spend with my precious husband and fur baby, and more time to grow in this thing we all call life.
I’m sure your Facebook, twitter, blog pages, and Pinterest boards are COVERED in the Christmas spirit. From holiday parties, to ugly sweaters, to family traditions, and to Christmas engagements… It seems like Christmas brings out the best (and worst) of everyone. More often than not, I see posts on social media that encourage the world to remember the
“reason for the season,” and everyone attempts to take time to ponder over the Savior of our world, recall the story of the baby at the manger, and reflect on the blessings of life.  However, this particular Christmas season has forced me to realize that there is often a character who gets neglected when the Christmas story is shared around our trees, over broadcast radios, and within our churches… Nobody really talks about the innkeeper. ​

The innkeeper is often a foot note in the birth of baby Jesus. He answers the door, tells the family he has no room, and sends Mary and Joseph to a stable. It’s forced me to think about the state our country is in today. Please NOTE: I do NOT want this to be a political blog… I am simply talking about the condition of the human heart. We are living in a time when there are shootings on a weekly basis. We are living in a time when we are sending people away who are begging for our help and who are in need of refuge. We are living in a time when we are pretending that people do not need us, and we are living in a time when we are denying those in need of resources that they must have in order to survive. We are giving people a platform to say things like, “Keep them all out of the country.” We are marginalizing and persecuting those who we find “different” than ourselves. We are choosing who to love and how to love based on our own ideas and beliefs, and I truly believe, WE HAVE FORGOTTEN the lesson within the footnotes of the Christmas story.
I don’t want to be the innkeeper. The Gospel of Luke states, “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2: 4-7). There was no room. I’m sure that the innkeeper was innocent in his intentions when he told Mary and Joseph he didn’t have room for them. However, I wonder how the story would have changed if he realized exactly who he was speaking to. Truthfully, he was telling them that he had no room for them. He had no room for the Savior of the world, the God who would bring healing to the sick and the blind, the Son who would die on the cross for the Earth’s sin, and the leader of all the nations. If he would have viewed them differently, seen them with clearer eyes and a fuller heart… I wonder if he would have made room for the young man and woman who needed a place to rest.

In forgetting the footnote of the Christmas story, I think we miss a huge part of what God is trying to teach us through the innkeeper’s decision. We always have room. We always have room to share what we have. We always have room to listen to those who are hurting. We always have room to help those who are persecuted, and most importantly, we ALWAYS have room to create space in our hearts to LOVE other people (despite how different we may be). I want to MAKE room. In this world that is hurting, crying out, and suffering…I want to MAKE room for all. John 13:34 states, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The God that I know loves me regardless of my short comings, my faults, my weaknesses, and my failures; He LOVES me… And I don’t think He loves me anymore today than he did the day I came into this world. He loves me DESPITE how differently I look and act like him. He MAKES room for me… And I am called to MAKE room for all. I wonder if we made room, how we could change the lives of those around us.

​Written by: Logan