CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

BY BISHOP SONNY E WILLIAMS

We focus our attention on a touching aspect of the nativity, as recorded by the gospel writer, Luke. He observed that Mary “brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manager, because there was no room in the inn” (Lk.2 :7).

Undoubtedly, Bethlehem’s inn was full as this little town’s population could have swollen due to the census. We often think of this unnamed innkeeper as terrible and heartless. This unmentioned innkeeper, however, could have been simply a business man making business decisions. A huge part of the problem was that the residents of Bethlehem and Israel were not looking for the promise of Micah 5:2 –{{more}}

“But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.”

The fact that there was no room for Christ in the inn was to be symbolic of who Christ was, what He would do and how the world would receive Him. In the fall of 1775, the manager of Baltimore’s largest hotel refused lodging to a man dressed as a farmer. The manager thought that his lowly appearance would discredit the inn. The man left and found a room in another place. Shortly thereafter, the manager discovered that the man he had refused lodging was no other than Thomas Jefferson, then Vice-President of the United States. Immediately he sent a note to Jefferson inviting him to return as a guest. Jefferson replied by instructing his messenger:

“Tell him I have already engaged a room. I value his good intentions highly, but if he has no place for a dirty American farmer, he has no place for the Vice-President of the United States.”

In much the same manner, when the Lord Jesus came into this world, there was no room at the inn. More than 2,000 years have passed yet nothing has changed. There are many “No vacancy” signs displayed in many a heart, homes, business places and other prominent place, because there is no room for Jesus.

When we fail to serve the poor, outcast, marginalized and the oppressed, that indicates that there is no room for Jesus. Jesus warns: “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

The story is told of a little boy who was chosen to play the innkeeper in the annual children’s play at his church. The little boy chosen to play the innkeeper had only one line. When Joseph knocked on the door, he was to open it and tell them there was no room in the inn. As the play progressed, it came the time for the innkeeper. Joseph knocked on the door. The young boy opened the door and saw Joseph and the very pregnant young girl. Something about the sight of Mary touched his heart and he blurted out

“There is no room left in the inn, but you can share my room.” The little boy later told the frustrated director of the play: “I just couldn’t send Jesus away. I had to find a place for Jesus.”

There was no room for the Lord Jesus in the inn that first Christmas. The question for us this day is: Can we make room for Him in our hearts, homes, schools, business houses, hospitals and Parliament, even if our calendar is full.

Let us remove Christ from the stable to the inner sanctum of our lives. Christ needs to be removed from the periphery of our social, religious, political and business life to occupy a place of centrality and control.

The Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies, St Vincent and the Grenadines District, wishes all a Christ-centered Christmas and New Year.