by Rev. Allie Rosner, Williamsburg United Methodist Church
The Christmas drama is beginning to unfold: in church, in made-for-TV movies, in nativity scenes we fill in piece by piece. And as it does, there are many characters in the story capable of capturing our imagination. There is Mary, the unwed teenage mother, who suddenly discovers that God has a great calling for her life. There is Joseph, who takes a leap of faith and commits to being a father to a child that isn’t his. There are shepherds and wise men who leave their lives and their lands in search of a baby who somehow holds a promise for them.
But I often find my imagination captured by one character who isn’t even explicitly mentioned in the Bible: the innkeeper who didn’t have any room.
I can’t help feeling kind of sorry for the guy. Talk about missing the opportunity of a lifetime. He has a chance to provide a place for the Son of God to come into the world, and he doesn’t have any room. The best he can come up with is a dirty stable and a manger full of hay.
If you and I had been there, we would have done a few things differently, right? If a pregnant Virgin Mary had showed up at our inn on Christmas night carrying God in her womb, you can bet she would have been treated like a queen. I’m talking the best room in the inn, with a soft bed and a fireplace and a balcony overlooking the Jordan River. That’s what we would have done—wouldn’t we?
Of course, the story might have lost some of its magic if we did. But still. We would have done things differently.
I don’t know what that night at the inn was really like, but I imagine it must have been one of those nights where it gets dark early and the wind just rips through you. The inn would have been busy, with everyone in town for the census. In my imagination, the guests had all finally been fed and settled in for the night, and the innkeeper had just sat down to his first hot meal of the day. And just as he sat—a knock at the door.
The couple who stood there looked dirty and tired. Frankly, the innkeeper wasn’t sure if they could have afforded a room even if he had one. And there was a whisper around the inn: Are they even married yet? Yes, for these people, the innkeeper thought, the stable would be more than adequate. Not that he was judging.
Yes, we would have done things differently.
I suppose it wasn’t really the innkeeper’s fault. He didn’t know. No one had told him that God was with us.
But we who hear the story know! We know that God is with us. We know what salvation looks like when it knocks on our door and asks for a room. We know that miracles like this happen at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected places.
And even knowing that, would we really have done things so differently?
I wonder if anyone ever told him. I wonder if maybe, 30 years later, someone casually dropped into conversation with the innkeeper, Hey, remember that couple you didn’t have room for? Well, their son is gathering quite the following in Galilee these days. Remember that baby that shepherds visited in your stable? People are calling him the Son of God!
Or, I wonder if he just forgot, and never thought about it again. Mary and Joseph were just two travelers like he met every day—just a little dirtier, a little more tired. It was a crazy night, to be sure, but nothing to write books about.
I wonder if he ever thought we’d be here, thousands of years later, saying we would have done things differently.
So, when someone knocks, open the door. If someone needs a room, give them yours. It might just be God with us.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Allie Rosner is the associate pastor at Williamsburg United Methodist Church, and a William & Mary alum (’06). Go Tribe!
Williamsburg United Methodist Church
500 Jamestown Road
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
(757) 229-1771
http://www.williamsburgumc.org/
Advent Schedule
December 4, 5:00 p.m. – Handel’s Messiah Concert
December 5, 9:15-11 a.m. and 12-1 p.m. – Alternative Giving Fair
Sundays in Advent (November 28; December 5, 12, 19)
8:15 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. -Traditional Worship
December 8, 7:30 p.m. – Christmas Handbell Concert
December 10, 7:30 p.m. – Festival of Lessons and Carols
December 12, 4:00 p.m. – Children’s Musical, “Light of the World”
Friday, December 24, Christmas Eve
5:30 p.m. Worship Service for Families
8:00 p.m. Candlelight Worship and Holy Communion
11:00 p.m. Candlelight Worship and Holy Communion
Saturday, December 25, Christmas Day
10:00 a.m. Informal Worship Service
*Childcare is available for all Sunday services, Messiah concert, handbell concert, children’s
musical, and the 5:30 and 8 p.m. Christmas Eve services*
Williamsburg United Methodist Church
500 Jamestown Road
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
(757) 229-1771
http://www.williamsburgumc.org/
Return to The Gift 2010 list of contributors
Like this:
Like Loading...
