{"id":1479,"date":"2012-12-16T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-16T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2012-12-16T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2012-12-16T15:02:09","slug":"no-room-in-the-inn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1479","title":{"rendered":"No Room in the Inn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of my favorite Christmas cartoons is of two men looking at a humble Mary, pregnant with the Christ child, on a donkey being led by Joseph. The caption reads, \u201cJust another couple of homeless people. Try to ignore them.\u201d In a way that sums up how many people view Christ at Christmastime. They go through the Christmas holidays trying to ignore Christ, the very reason for the season.<\/p>\n

Signs read, \u201c10 days \u2018til Christmas.\u201d Homes are a buzz with Christmas preparations. People are shopping for gifts, wrapping the presents, trimming the tree, decking the halls, hanging the mistletoe, lighting the candles, writing the cards, mailing the packages, baking the cookies, practicing for the pageant, dropping a quarter in the Salvation Army bucket, drinking the eggnog, singing the carols, having a party, and watching \u201cMiracle on 34th Street\u201d never realizing that the real miracle has nothing to do with a man who believes he is Santa Claus. The real miracle is the birth of Jesus Christ. Without Christ there is no Christmas.<\/p>\n

Where do people think the name \u201cChristmas\u201d comes from? Christ…mass…get it? Many don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The story of Jesus\u2019 birth is not just a story. It really happened. \u201cAnd it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed…And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d (Luke 2:1-7)<\/p>\n

Mary was \u201cgreat\u201d with the Christ child and there was no room for them in the inn. Isn\u2019t that ironic? Today households worldwide celebrate the birth of Christ but there is no room for Christ in their homes, either. No room in their \u201cinns\u201d for Jesus Christ. How sad!<\/p>\n

It reminds me of a Chicken Soup story I read once called Trouble at the Inn. It was time for the second graders to have their annual Christmas pageant. Ralph was to be the innkeeper. Ralph had been held back a year or so and was \u201cbig, awkward, slow-moving, and slow- thinking.\u201d Ralph wasn\u2019t thrilled about his assignment. He wanted to be a shepherd but he finally agreed to play the part of the innkeeper. Rehearsal went okay and the much-anticipated night of the performance came.<\/p>\n

When Joseph and Mary arrived at the innkeeper\u2019s door, Ralph was reluctant to say his lines but as Joseph kept asking to come in, Ralph rose to the occasion. \u201cLook elsewhere!\u201d he said. \u201cThe inn is full! There is no room for you. Begone!\u201d As Mary and Joseph turned to leave, Ralph\u2019s eyes filled with tears. \u201cPlease, don\u2019t go,\u201d he said. Pause. Dead silence. Then Ralph smiled and spoke. \u201cYou can have my room!\u201d That was quite possibly the best Christmas pageant those people ever saw.<\/p>\n

Is there room in our \u201cinn\u201d for Jesus at Christmastime? When He knocks do we say, \u201cCome on in. Glad to see ya! You can have my room. Thank you for bringing salvation to us. Help us celebrate your birth.\u201d Or do we get embarrassed, look away, and say, \u201cJust another homeless person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my favorite Christmas cartoons is of two men looking at a humble Mary, pregnant with the Christ child, on a donkey being led by Joseph. The caption reads, \u201cJust another couple of homeless people. Try to ignore them.\u201d … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}