The innkeeper missed an opportunity to welcome the Savior - not because he was unwilling, but because he was unaware. What about YOU?

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Intro

• New Series starting today! 
• The Christmas Story from People Who Were Actually There
• The Innkeeper (today)
• The Shepherds
• The Wise Men
• King Herod
• Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve
• Every week we’ll be digging deep on stuff you didn’t know
• 
  
• But I just want to take a few moments to ask you, Q. Are you making room for Jesus in your life?
• Maybe you think it’s hard to be focused at Christmas, after all there are:
• Projects to finish at work, budgets to set for next year, proposals to submit before the end of the year.
• Family vacations to plan, parties to throw, presents to buy, and kids’ schedules to keep up with. 
• In fact, life can get so busy in December that it’s pretty easy to push Christ out of Christmas.
• We can spend so much time focusing on all the stuff around Christmas that we fail to make room for Jesus.
• But here’s what’s amazing, the same thing happened on the very first Christmas.
• Let me show you what I mean:

Luke 2:1, 4-5 (NLT) 1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire…. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

• Describe craziness of census
• Connect to the busyness of travel during the holidays
• Check out these stats from AAA
• Nearly 80 Million Americans Expected to Travel over Thanksgiving (new record)
• 72 million by car
• 6 million by air
• 2 million by “other” (joke)
• Can you imagine the stress of Joseph and Mary? 
• She was VERY pregnant, worst time to travel

Luke 2:6-7 (NLT) 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

• (ESV) because there was no place for them in the inn.
• This, of course, refers to the famous point in the Christmas story where Mary and Joseph were shooed away by an uncaring, busy, and inattentive innkeeper. As a result, they were forced to find a barn or cave which is where baby Jesus was born.
• Although this is how the story is typically told, the real story of the first Christmas might have actually been a bit different.
• The word “inn” is a tricky word to translate.
• It can refer to a hotel as in the traditional understanding of the story.
• Or, it can refer to a finished guest room in a home. 
• For example, the same word for “inn” is used to describe the room where Jesus had his last supper with his disciples.
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) “Because there was no room for him in the inn” (KJV) is indelibly etched in Christian vernacular, but it is misleading. The Greek word katalyma does not refer to an “inn” or “hotel” (in the Parable of the Good Samarian, 10:34, the Greek word pandocheian means “inn” or “hotel”). Archaeology, even more than lexicography, has helped define katalyma properly as a “guest room” (so NIV). The footprint of a typical first-century Palestine dwelling was a rectangle divided into three spaces: a large central room with a stable for animals on one end and a guest room (katalyma) on the other. All three rooms normally had separate entrances. The katalyma was an attached guest room separated from the central room by a solid wall. The stable was separated from the central room by a half-wall, thus allowing the family to feed animals without going outdoors. When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, the guest rooms in homes were already occupied, and hence the newborn Jesus was swaddled and placed in a manger.
• Today: sounds like an attached garage
• Or maybe an RV in the driveway (Christmas Vacation movie)
• If this is the correct meaning of the word in Luke 2, then the innkeeper may have actually been a relative of Joseph. Joseph and Mary went to his house for lodging during the census.
• But the relative told them that there was no room in the upper, furnished, comfortable part of the home.
• As a result, Joseph and Mary would have had to stay in the lower, unfinished part of the home that housed animals and contained a manger.
• Whatever the case, there was no room for Jesus on the first Christmas and it’s still that way today.
• I want to take a few moments to think about the lessons of the innkeeper.
• It’s easy to make fun of this guy as somebody who really blew a chance to be a hero and help welcome the savior of the world into his home. 
• His problem wasn’t willingness; it was awareness. 
• But his attitude the first Christmas reminds me a lot of our attitudes at Christmas.
• Let’s do a personal audit with three questions about making room for Jesus

Q. Are you making room for Jesus in your schedule? 

• Not just at Christmas…
• Think about what you do with your time…
• Sports
• Netflix
• Kids activities
• Time with friends
• Time to read
• Time to check Facebook
• Christmas Parties
• Christmas Eve service at church!
• The problem isn’t that you don’t have room. The problem is that you aren’t making room.
• Luke 10:39-40 (NLT) 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
• Luke 10:41-42 (NLT) 41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
• Explain
• The 10-minute Challenge: 
• Wake up 10 minutes early for 30 days
• 5 minutes in the Bible
• Try Proverbs or Luke
• Or a YouVersion reading plan
• 5 minutes in prayer/thanksgiving
• It’s easier than you think!
• This is a challenge that can become a regular habit

Q. Are you making room for Jesus in your traditions?

• Typical things we do at Christmas time:
• Decorate
• Driving around to see the lights
• Elf on the Shelf
• Christmas Stockings
• Give gifts 
• Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
• Ex: present hawk
• Watch Christmas Movies
• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966 and 2018)
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
• Home Alone (1990)
• Elf (2003)
• The Polar Express (2004)
• Die Hard (1988)
• These things are great! Family traditions are wonderful. But maybe it’s time to add something:
• Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NLT) 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
• The Challenge: Start a New Christmas Tradition
• Three ideas that we’ve used to bring Jesus into the celebration…
• If you have kids at home:
• Nativity Re-enactment
• Advent Calendar 
• Christmas Prayer Circle

Q. Are you making room for Jesus in your budget?

• Giving stats: how much people spend at Christmas
• 
  
• 2 Corinthians 8:12 (NLT) 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.
• Explain context
• The Challenge: Step up your giving
• For those those with tight budgets: establish the discipline of small monthly giving
• I get it, not much room in budget
• But there’s still value in the discipline
• For those who have been blessed: establish the discipline of generous monthly giving
• Think of how generous you are toward your retirement, etc.
• There’s room in your budget; be generous toward God

Close

• Back to the Inn Keeper
• He missed out on the Savior! We don’t have to.
• Revelation 3:20 (NLT) 20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”