Sermon Central
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No Room In The Inn
Contributed by Jerry Flury on Mar 10, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: OUR TEXT STATES THAT THERE WAS NO ROOM IN THE INN. THE SCRIPTURES DO NOT TELL US WHY THERE WAS NO ROOM. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
NO ROOM IN THE INN
OUR TEXT STATES THAT THERE WAS NO ROOM IN THE INN. THE SCRIPTURES DO NOT TELL US WHY THERE WAS NO ROOM.
I. The Natural Reason there was no room for Christ in the Inn.
A. The reasons why there was no room in the inn.
1. Undoubtedly Bethlehem’s inn was full because of the census. The little town?s population had swelled many times its normal population.
2. Perhaps a garrison of soldiers took up all the available rooms.
3. Often we think how terrible the heartlessness of the unnamed and unmentioned innkeeper.
4. The innkeeper in Bethlehem was not acting out of malice when he told Joseph and Mary there was no room. He was simply a businessman making business decisions.
5. Part of the problem was that the residents of Bethlehem and Israel were not looking for the promise of Micah 5:2.
6. Micah 5:2 "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 of old, from everlasting."
B. The people had an ignorant indifference toward the events of that night ? in their mind, there was no reason to believe anything special about this couple let alone that Jesus was the Messiah.
C. The people were carnal minded ? That is they were merely concerned with the every day cares of this life.
D. Psalms 10:4 states concerning natural man that ".... God is not in all his thoughts."
III. God had a Spiritual Purpose for there being no room in that inn.
A. 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.
B. Every detail was part of God’s deliberate plan.
C. Even as Christ was an outcast, God has a special heart for the outcast and downtrodden.
1. I want you to know that God cares for people who don’t fit in, who have nowhere to turn.
2. He loves the outcast so much; He became one of them.
3. Consider the words of Christ in Matthew 9:12-13 "But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. [13] But go ye and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
4. Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
5. G. K. Chesterton - All men matter. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe.
E. While He had no room, Jesus came to make room for us.
1. John 14:2-3 "In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
2. He is the Door to that room ? John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
3. The Price paid for the room was dear - Romans 5:8 "But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
4. How fitting that the Lamb would be born in a stable.
5. John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
II. Let me ask you ?Do you have any room for Christ today??
A. The Barna Research Group poll conducted for the Lutheran Hour Ministries found that 37% of adults in the national survey (88% of whom identified themselves as Christian) said the birth of Jesus is the most important aspect of Christmas. More than 75% of evangelical Christians placed Jesus’ birth as of first importance on Christmas. Only 32% of those who identified themselves as fundamentalists gave that answer. Only 29% of Catholics placed Jesus’ birth first. Only 24% of theological liberals said the birth of Christ made Christmas important for them. Some 44% of the respondents said family time is the most important part of one of the three most sacred days (along with Good Friday and Easter) on the calendar. Of respondents ages 18 to 34, 26%, said the birth of Jesus was the most important aspect of Christmas. Among respondents, 65 and older, 39% said the same thing.
