Last week I wrote about how God takes “nobody’s” and makes them into “somebody’s.” The Inn-keeper in the Bible Story of Jesus’ birth is one of those and intrigues me. Not much is written about him. He leaves much to our imagination. With the census going on for the entire Roman World, you know his inn must have stayed jam-packed at 100 percent occupancy. He was truthful to Mary and Joseph.
He certainly wasn’t a mean man. In fact, I can sympathize with him. Guests checked out, then more guests with reservations checked in. He was trying his best to be hospitable by offering a stable/cave and manger out back.
Little did he know he was too busy and lacked room in his life for the Savior of the World’s birth. Ouch. Doesn’t that hit close to home?
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” –Luke 2:7 NIV
Anything of value in our lives requires us to make room.
We make room in our time schedules, our budgets, our hearts for a new relationship we value. Even for Christmas we make room, don’t we?
To bring in our new wonderful-smelling Christmas tree, we move over our comfy chairs, reading lamp, plants–whatever it takes. Box after box of Christmas decorations require us to move our year-round décor and replace with our valued Christmas festive decor.
In the Bible Story of Jesus’ birth, the Inn-Keeper had no room for Jesus. Mary and Joseph resorted to a hay-filled stable, along with the smelly animals. Our Savior of the World Jesus was born in a tiny manger. The tiny manger was plenty of room for the King of Kings and was truly the first King-Size Bed.
Even the favorite Christmas carol “Joy to the World” exclaims, “Let every heart prepare Him room.”
Pulitzer Prize nominated author and former pastor Frederick Buechner wrote from the InnKeeper’s perspective in “The Birth” chapter of his compiled book of sermons called Magnificent Defeat: “‘Later that night, when the Baby came, I was not there,’ the InnKeeper said…’I speak to you as men of the world. So when the Baby came, I was not around, and I saw none of it. As for what I heard–just at that moment of birth when nobody turns into somebody–I do not rightly know what I heard.’
‘But this I do know. My own true love. All your life long, you wait for your own true love to come–we all do–our destiny, our joy, our heart’s desire. So how am I to say it, gentlemen? When He came, I missed Him. Pray for me, brothers and sisters. Pray for the Inn-Keeper. Pray for me, and for us all, my own true love.'”
Wow. Powerful perspective.
The big question is: Do I make enough room in my heart, my schedule for Jesus? He wants our whole heart, my whole heart. So many times I don’t make enough room with my hurried schedule, my shortened quiet time, quick prayers.
Jesus is our only Way “In” to eternal life. He is the Door, the Gate. “Therefore Jesus said again. ‘I tell you the truth, I am the Gate for the sheep.” –John 10:7 NIV
We who believe are all “IN-Keepers.” Jesus loves us so much and wants to reside in our hearts for eternity.
How much room am I making in my schedule, my budget, my heart for Jesus, the Savior of the World, my Savior?
Please forgive me, Lord, for being too busy. For not making room for You. Take my whole heart, Lord. Lord Jesus, move everything else out to make all the room You want and need in my heart. You are the only way IN to eternal life. I desire to be a true “IN-Keeper.” In Jesus’ name, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“I’m prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” –Come Thy Fount of Every Blessing
Reflect:
–“Make room for us in your hearts.” –2 Corinthians 7:2a NIV
–“ ‘Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’” –Mark 14:14-15 NIV
Renew:
–How can I make more room in my heart, my schedule, my life for Jesus? Please comment.
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As we enjoy this Advent/Christmas season, it’s refreshing to know that the Bible is full of nobodys like me. God loves to make somebodys out of nobodys.
Four amazing “somebodys” I had never really noticed are only mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 2 story of Jesus’ birth– Simeon, Anna, the Shepherds and the Inn-Keeper. We will focus next week’s whole message on the Inn-Keeper.
Earlier in Luke 2, the Lord transformed “nobody shepherds” into “somebody shepherds” as they were the first witnesses of Jesus’ birth. They spread the word of seeing Jesus, “and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (Luke 2:18)
In Biblical times, the shepherds were considered outcasts. I love that God gave voices to the voiceless. He still does.
A few verses later, 40 days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple for His purification. Enter another nobody named Simeon…
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’ Luke 2:25-32
Go Simeon! What a courageous, anointed man! The passage goes on to say that Mary and Joseph marveled at what Simeon said about Jesus. These verses are the only time Simeon is mentioned. What an impact he made on God’s Kingdom.
Then another nobody named Anna enters the Luke 2 stage:
“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” –Luke 2: 36-38.
Wow, Anna! What an amazing example. What a leader. What a somebody.
It’s exciting to look at a few common traits, I believe, between the nobodys God transforms into somebodys–the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, and so many others in the Bible. All these “nobodys” wholeheartedly display that they are:
- Available to be used by God
- Attuned to the Holy Spirit
- Agile–Age is not an excuse
- Humble
Each one of these traits is a high calling. I pray to embody more of each. It’s a journey. I’m no expert. Here is what I believe to be true about each trait:
- Available to be used by God: God wants our availability, not our abilities. Like Simeon and Anna, they were in the temple waiting on baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Even the shepherds “hurried off” and found Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger. They were flexible and available. May we be ready for God’s service, saying, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10).
- Attuned to the Holy Spirit: Simeon was “righteous and devout.” Three times in slightly more than a verse the Bible mentions how the “Holy Spirit was upon him.” How do we get more attuned with the Holy Spirit? The short answer is to pray and fast, like Anna did; to spend time in God’s Word “listening” to God speak and answer us; worship regularly in a Christ-centered church; and to live a life of integrity. It seems like a tall order. That’s what grace is all about, at least in my life.
- Agile–Age is not an excuse: Whether you are five years old or “very old” like Anna, we can be used by God. Simeon was also older because the passage said the Holy Spirit said he wouldn’t die before seeing the Lord’s Christ. Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about spiritual retirement. Whatever your age, whatever God calls you to do, He will equip you. No excuses.
- Humble–Each effective person in the Bible and in today’s world who is the most effective leader embodies humility. Simeon prayed “now dismiss your servant in peace” (Luke 2:29b). Anna “gave thanks to God and spoke to all about the child” (Luke 2:38). They decreased as God increased (John 3:30). Please, Lord, I pray daily to decrease as You increase.
May we be encouraged that God can use each of us for His service. As the old Christian song says, “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about the Somebody who can save anybody.” Merry Christmas, Friend.
Reflect:
–Name other “nobodys” in the Bible and/or your life who God has transformed into “somebodys” for His glory. Please comment.
Renew:
–“…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” –Ephesians 4:1-2.
Recharge:
–Which of the four common traits will you focus on this week? You are a somebody.
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Happy December! I get so excited about the Christmas season.
I also get so excited about the Christmas story in Luke 2—the angel, the manger, the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, AND sweet baby Jesus’s birth. As we read Luke 2, I also love reading the inspiring story of Elizabeth and John the Baptist in Luke 1. I see a story of struggle and God’s miracle. The kind of story I love. The kind of story I live and can relate to.
Three of my favorite verses are found throughout this Luke 1 chapter. I never realized how much was in that chapter foretelling John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ birth.
Zechariah was a priest, and his wife Elizabeth had not been able to get pregnant. An angel appeared to Zechariah and told him not to be afraid (if I saw an angel I’d be afraid also), and that his prayer had been heard. I love that.
The angel told him he would have a son, name him John.
“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.” –Luke 1:14, 15.
Zechariah doubted the angel, asking:
“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” –Luke 1:18.
Ouch. How many times do I doubt God’s promises, God’s goodness, God’s faithfulness? My “soul holes” of doubt speak louder than my faith.
Because Zechariah doubted, he was struck silent for her whole pregnancy. People in the temple could tell he had seen a vision. He made signs with his hands but could not speak.
His sweet wife Elizabeth became pregnant and remained in seclusion for five months. Her response was,
“The Lord has done this for me.” –Luke 1:25.
Amen. What profound gratitude.
Six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel visits Elizabeth’s young relative Mary in a little town of Nazareth. The angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to a son named Jesus.
“He will be great and will be called Son of the most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David…His Kingdom will never end.” –Luke 1:32, 33b.
Mary asked the angel how it would happen since she was a virgin. The angel’s response is so encouraging.
“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” —Luke 1:36, 37.
AMEN! Mary’s response is one of my favorite in the entire Bible.
“’I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.” –Luke 1:38.
Can you imagine being 13 or 14 years old, as Mary was, and having the kind of Spirit-filled faith to be that obedient? She is such an inspiring testament of faith.
Then Mary went to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, the baby inside of her leaped, and Elizabeth was filled with the holy Spirit. Elizabeth encouraged Mary, saying in a LOUD voice:
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear!….” –Luke 1:42.
Elizabeth declared another one of my favorite verses:
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” –Luke 1:45.
Friend, what can we learn from this passage so full of miracles and wisdom?
1) God hears our prayers. The angel affirmed Zechariah first by saying his prayer had been heard. Every prayer is heard, no matter how short the prayers are and how desperately we cry out to God.
2)Whatever in our life seems “barren,” God provides life in that barren spot. Nothing is impossible with God. For me it’s my singleness. God fills my “barren spot” and heart’s desire for a husband. You may have a “barren” relationship or a yearning for a child. God fills that soul hole, even on days that are hard, especially at Christmas.
3) May we always give God the praise. Like Elizabeth who had prayed for years to be pregnant, “The Lord has done this for me.” All comes from Him.
4) May we have the humility and faith like Mary to be totally obedient. Not only did she say she was the Lord’s servant. She declared her total surrender. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Oh, I pray so for me and you also. Total surrender.
It was for Mary. It will be for us also if we surrender our will. May Thy will, not my will, be done.
Merry Christmas, friend.
Reflect:
–What seems “barren” in your life? What seems impossible? Please comment.
–What prayers do you want God to hear? Keep praying. He hears them all.
Renew:
“And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.” –Luke 1: 46-49.
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I love Thanksgiving. In 1863 during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the fourth Thursday of November as a holiday, proclaiming “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
On this Thanksgiving Week, a new Truth from a familiar verse jumped out during my quiet time.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat; this is my body.’” –Matthew 26:26.
From the first Lord’s Supper to today’s Lord’s Supper, the same sentiment is expressed in each sacrament. Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it away.
1. May we give thanks for everything we are given, for every person, every circumstance in our life. May we have an attitude of gratitude. It’s hard to grumble when you’re grateful. So often I/we complain over what we don’t have instead of thanking God for the many blessings we do have. I am guilty of this.
2. Jesus broke the bread before He gave it away. Although Jesus could, He does not use anything or anyone unless the item or person is broken.
The bread was/is broken, not whole.
The wine came/comes from smushed, fermented grapes.
Even His own body had to be broken on the cross to save all of us from our sins.
He broke Himself in order to give Himself away. May it be so of us as we live each day giving thanks. Thanks-LIVING.
Jesus only uses us when we are broken and available to Him. Recently I have felt so weak and inadequate. His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:10). Oh friend, I am desperately dependent on Him, and it’s so liberating.
God is a promise-keeping, miracle-working God. He wants us to rely on Him as we live each day with gratitude.
Thanks and Brokenness. Jesus both focused on gratitude and brokenness in life and in the sacrament of communion.
As we celebrate our national holiday of Thanksgiving, let’s use Jesus’ example to take and give thanks. Will you take on the challenge with me to turn this Thanksgiving into Thanks-LIVING? Not just one day of the year, but every day.
Happy Thanks-Living, dear friend. As a gift to you, please download this free 21-Day Gratitude Journal with different questions each day to prompt your gratitude. May we each have an Attitude of Gratitude.
Reflect:
- How will you transform Thanksgiving into Thanks-Living?
- For what, for whom are you thankful?
Renew:
- “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth.” –Psalm 98:7-9.
- “Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” –Psalm 100:4.
- “He must become greater; I must become less.” –John 3:30
- “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…for when I am weak, then I am strong.” –2 Corinthians 12:9a-10b.
Recharge:
- Let’s start our new Gratitude Journal this week and list blessings daily.
- Please let me know of some of your many blessings.
Resource:
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Autumn has begun in a whirlwind of activity. I pray as we serve the Lord daily for Him to give me rest on all sides, in every aspect of my life. Tall order? I agree. I pray that huge prayer for you as well.
Is rest on all sides even a remote possibility in the midst of so much activity? I see so much scriptural backing to it. Here are four examples from:
- Joshua 21:44
- 2 Samuel 7:1
- 1 Kings 5:4
- 2 Chronicles 20:30
In all four examples, it seems a battle had just been fought with enemies and won.
In the book of Joshua, after the Lord led Joshua and the Israelites into the land of Canaan, there was so much more land to possess. The disagreement had been over land. Land was then given to all twelve tribes of Israel.
“Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” –Joshua 21:43-45.
In 2 Samuel, the Lord made a covenant with David.
“Now when the king live in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells ‘in a tent.’ And Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” –2 Samuel 7:1
Merely four chapters later, David rested perhaps TOO much and committed adultery with Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 11, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful…”
David was supposed to be out in battle, “the time when kings go out to battle.” He sinned with so much idle time. Sometimes too much rest is a detriment and possibly a downfall to us. David repented, though. David was a man after God’s own heart.
When King David passed away, he had passed along instructions and wisdom to Solomon for building the temple. David had been in a battle with Saul and his enemies, and God protected him. Now Solomon has rest.
“Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ‘You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune…” –1 Kings 5:4
In the last example, In the lineage of kings of Judah and Israel, many were selfish and were not God-honoring. King Jehoshaphat was a refreshing, Spirit-filled King. He reigned in Judah and strengthened himself against Israel.
During battle, King Jehoshaphat prayed one of my favorite prayers in the Bible, one I say almost daily as a breath prayer.
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” –2 Chronicles 20:12
Then the Lord delivered a victory in Jerusalem.
“They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.” –2 Chronicles 20:28-30
Now we have seen four different vignettes of rest on all sides, four different battles. What lessons can we learn from these five examples as we pray for rest on all sides, all aspects of our life?
- Pray for God’s favor and protection
- Be teachable and not stubborn– Surrender your will
- Be humble, not prideful
- Be nimble to change plans as the Holy Spirit leads
- Pray for your enemies but be prepared for battle
Friend, these five steps are not easy. You are a leader. you can do it, friend.
Each takes surrender and guidance by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Rest on all sides is possible. May it be so in each of us. May it be so.
May we nestle, not wrestle with God.
Respond:
- Which of these five steps can you work on?
- Nestle, don’t wrestle with God.
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