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The Gift of the Stranger
Scripture Reading: She gave birth to her first Son, wrapped him in cloths
and laid him in a manger – there was no room for them to stay in the inn. (Luke 2:7)
Meditation:
It was my first night as a
volunteer at the new Salvation Army shelter, opened to address the growing
needs of homeless men in downtown Phoenix.
I had never worked with homeless people before, so I sat nervously at
the registration table asking each man a few questions as he signed in. As I got more and more into the flow of the
job, I became more mechanical in my duties, soon failing to look up before
asking the next man in line his name. As I crouched over my clipboard, I called
out for the name of the next person in line.
A voice quietly said, “My name is Joseph.” Continuing to stare at my clipboard, I
asked, “And your occupation?” Joseph
quietly answered, “I am a carpenter,” and then he disappeared into the crowd
heading through the shelter door.
At
that moment, just a few days before Christmas, I was jolted out of the
complacency of my “official” role. I
realized I could not ignore these men. I could not fail to give them the simple
dignity of looking them in the eye. If Joseph were there, could Jesus be there
also? And what if I missed the
opportunity to grasp God’s outstretched hand and His invitation to journey with
Him in service to the world?
The
Bible does not tell us why the innkeeper felt compelled to find a place for
Joseph and Mary to sleep that night.
Perhaps it was the fact that it was clear that Mary was close to giving
birth that moved him to compassion, but why had none of the other innkeepers
felt so moved? Maybe it was because the
innkeeper had access to the cave where Jesus was born and no one else did, or
perhaps it was simply a chance to make a little more money from the travelers
visiting Bethlehem to pay their taxes. Or, just maybe, it was because by
looking into the eyes of Mary and Joseph the innkeeper caught a glimpse of
God’s love and chose to be a part of His plan for revealing that love to
mankind.
We
will have to wait until we get to heaven to get the answer to that question,
but what we do know is that the birthplace of Jesus is an important part of the
revelation of God’s story. Through His humble
birth, Jesus was connected to the world of the broken, and through that was
able to teach us about compassion and grace and hope. As Thomas Merton reminds us:
Into this world, this demented inn, in
which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come
uninvited. But because He cannot be at
home in it, because He is out of place in it, His place is with those others
for whom there is no room. His place is
with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are
regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of
person, who are tortured, bombed, and exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ
is present in the world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there
seems to be nothing but the world at its worst… It is in these that He hides
Himself, for whom there is no room.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the innkeeper who chose to be a part of God’s plan for the world. Help us to be aware of those around us who need to find room in the inn – be it a place of physical rest or spiritual hope. Amen.
For additional information about our Advent devotions and their authors, click here.
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By Tabernacle Baptist Church
5
11 ratings
Scripture Reading: She gave birth to her first Son, wrapped him in cloths
and laid him in a manger – there was no room for them to stay in the inn. (Luke 2:7)
Meditation:
It was my first night as a
volunteer at the new Salvation Army shelter, opened to address the growing
needs of homeless men in downtown Phoenix.
I had never worked with homeless people before, so I sat nervously at
the registration table asking each man a few questions as he signed in. As I got more and more into the flow of the
job, I became more mechanical in my duties, soon failing to look up before
asking the next man in line his name. As I crouched over my clipboard, I called
out for the name of the next person in line.
A voice quietly said, “My name is Joseph.” Continuing to stare at my clipboard, I
asked, “And your occupation?” Joseph
quietly answered, “I am a carpenter,” and then he disappeared into the crowd
heading through the shelter door.
At
that moment, just a few days before Christmas, I was jolted out of the
complacency of my “official” role. I
realized I could not ignore these men. I could not fail to give them the simple
dignity of looking them in the eye. If Joseph were there, could Jesus be there
also? And what if I missed the
opportunity to grasp God’s outstretched hand and His invitation to journey with
Him in service to the world?
The
Bible does not tell us why the innkeeper felt compelled to find a place for
Joseph and Mary to sleep that night.
Perhaps it was the fact that it was clear that Mary was close to giving
birth that moved him to compassion, but why had none of the other innkeepers
felt so moved? Maybe it was because the
innkeeper had access to the cave where Jesus was born and no one else did, or
perhaps it was simply a chance to make a little more money from the travelers
visiting Bethlehem to pay their taxes. Or, just maybe, it was because by
looking into the eyes of Mary and Joseph the innkeeper caught a glimpse of
God’s love and chose to be a part of His plan for revealing that love to
mankind.
We
will have to wait until we get to heaven to get the answer to that question,
but what we do know is that the birthplace of Jesus is an important part of the
revelation of God’s story. Through His humble
birth, Jesus was connected to the world of the broken, and through that was
able to teach us about compassion and grace and hope. As Thomas Merton reminds us:
Into this world, this demented inn, in
which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come
uninvited. But because He cannot be at
home in it, because He is out of place in it, His place is with those others
for whom there is no room. His place is
with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are
regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of
person, who are tortured, bombed, and exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ
is present in the world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there
seems to be nothing but the world at its worst… It is in these that He hides
Himself, for whom there is no room.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the innkeeper who chose to be a part of God’s plan for the world. Help us to be aware of those around us who need to find room in the inn – be it a place of physical rest or spiritual hope. Amen.
For additional information about our Advent devotions and their authors, click here.