Was the Innkeeper Really So Unwelcoming?

I've been "gifting" in my blogs the last few days AND gifting is what I’m doing at my dining room table. No food allowed on that table right now because it's loaded with wrapping paper, ribbon, scissors, tape, gift cards and gift items to wrap. I’m getting my Christmas gift list checked off, one-by-one.

Speaking of lists, this time of year stirs up memories from my Holy Lands bucket list trip in 2017. Celebrating Christmas in June in Bethlehem at the Church of the Nativity was awe-inspiring. Singing "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem", receiving Holy Communion and worshipping the King in the actual cave of His birth and the opportunity to go down to the grotto where a star is embedded in the floor that recognizes the actual birthplace of our Savior. We bent low to touch or kiss the star. It was a profoundly emotional and spiritual experience. Our guide said, "Say thank You, Jesus, for my salvation!" We did.

So what about that innkeeper? I've always thought he must have lived with regrets for turning down the “royal” family to stay in his inn. He appears to be cold-hearted. After all, he's the guy that shut the door on Joseph and Mary, right? I read this beautiful contradiction to that mindset by Jeff Taylor.

"I had never thought much about the innkeeper. He is depicted in Christmas stories and pageants generally in one of two ways. Either he closes his door in the faces of the couple, or he shows them around back to the stables with the animals. What is the truth about the innkeeper?

None of the biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus even mentions the innkeeper. In fact, the only reference to a manger or an inn is in the Book of Luke. “And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke.2:7). On the basis of that single sentence, we convict the innkeeper of shutting Jesus out. Perhaps we have been too hard on him.

I think the innkeeper is an improbable hero. He had no reason to know that the strangers at his door were about to bring the Messiah into the world. Had he known, perhaps he would have made room for them, but that would have meant that some other weary travelers would need to be displaced. Yet, rather than making excuses, the innkeeper was resourceful, and gave what he could give -- not a room or even a corner in his already crowded inn, but the stable (or cave) that demonstrates that the King of the world is at home with the humblest of the humble.

The arrival of the long-expected Messiah stood out in contrast to peoples’ expectations. He did not come in a manner befitting of a king. No pomp and circumstance, no great earthquake, no thunder and lightning, no burning bush, but anonymously and humbly. Jesus born in those surroundings would grow up to teach us to believe the unbelievable, to be prepared for the unexpected, and that the poor and meek will occupy a prominent place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Less prominent than even the lowly shepherds and animals, the innkeeper is neither mentioned by the writers of the Gospel nor placed in the crèches that adorn our mantels and tables during Christmastime. Rather, he was and is behind the scenes, humbly and anonymously playing a major part in God’s great plan. He serves as a reminder to us that God uses what we have. Perhaps we should be more like the innkeeper.

Dear God, please give me the compassion of the innkeeper. Even when circumstances indicate that I have used up everything I have to give, give me the courage to stand out in contrast to the status quo, and the awareness and the resourcefulness to make room for Christ. Amen."

On Your Mark -- Get Set...GO! It's Black Friday!! Let the Christmas Season Begin!

Thanksgiving day was everything I had hoped it would be -- worshiping God, hearing a beautiful message on "Instead of just Thanksgiving -- make it Thanks-Living" and then being able to serve blessed communion at church early morning. I headed home to go into hyper-speed mode to get the turkey cooking with all the fixin's for my family here in Frisco and my family coming in from Austin. It is so worth all the prep for the joys. This year I asked each family member to express their gratitude for one minute. Well, most of the adults couldn't keep to the one minute rule -- there's just too much to be thankful for. I loved the grandchildren and their precious words.

But today is the day AFTER Thanksgiving. Shopping is in full force this morning -- well, actually, it was in full force at 5 pm yesterday. Why is the day after Thanksgiving called "Black Friday"? I did a little research. Originally it was Black Friday because so many people went out to shop and it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence. The Philadelphia Police Department coined the phrase to describe the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrian and auto traffic in the downtown area.

No wonder retailers wanted to make the name "Black Friday" mean something positive. So they did. They used the name to reflect their success. Accountants use black to signify profit when recording each day's book entries. Red is used to mean loss. Therefore, Black Friday means PROFITABLE FRIDAY to retailing and to the economy.

Now you know a little more about BLACK FRIDAY. Indeed, it seems a bit negative to me because I see it as the ending of thanksgiving and gratitude, and the beginning of bedlam, hustle and bustle and all the joy of this new joyful season getting lost in the midst of the chaos. Clearly, the Thanksgiving holiday is over for another year. Yes, we'll be watching out for Christmas sales now. After all -- Christmas is only one month away and in the words of John Wayne, "Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight!"

But, as I posted earlier this week, Thanksgiving doesn't have to end when Black Friday indicates the start of the Christmas season. Christmas is too big for just one day and Thanksgiving is too important to only be reserved for one day. Thank God that President Lincoln in 1863 signed a proclamation calling for "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the Heavens…..." And, I’ll take that one step further, one day is just not enough to offer enough thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God for his goodness and mercy to us. Just think, if we carried over Thanksgiving right into the Christmas season and if we purposely live with an “attitude of gratitude”, maybe those frenzied shoppers wouldn't bug us so much when they almost run us over to get that "special".

God tells us to "enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise" (Psalms 100:4). Gratitude is that gate and doorway to God’s joy and peace, and praise is the key to His presence. Being aware of His presence may just be the key to having one of the best Christmas seasons EVER. Instead of today being "Black Friday" to us.....we could turn it into a "Good Friday", that becomes the doorway to the beautiful season of Advent which begins this Sunday -- that sacred, focused and deliberate time when we ponder the coming of our Lord from His heavenly throne to earth to become one of us. It really was a time of HEAVEN ON EARTH. Unlike the innkeeper who said, "No room in the inn", may we cross over from the hustle, bustle, stress and mess that can accompany this season and do our best to make room for Him..May this Black Friday become a Good Friday to YOU today!