Rev. David Holwick Christmas Eve 2004
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey [Borrows from 1991 sermon of same name]
December 24, 2004
Luke 2:7
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I. No vacancies.
A. Bates Motel.
Vacation years ago, driving through Missouri late at night.
Dad too cheap to stop in regular motels.
He would stop at some no-name dive, check the prices, and get
back it the car.
Eventually any kind of motel ceased.
The hours dragged by. It was raining.
Finally Mom says, "Let's stop anywhere. The kids are exhausted!"
I vividly remember the final motel.
It looked like the one in the "Psycho" movie.
Gothic embellishments, gabled roof.
At least we lived to tell about it.
B. Mary and Joseph didn't even have the benefit of the Bates Motel.
1) Early tradition (Justin Martyr): the stable was not a barn,
but a cave near Bethlehem.
An ancient church is built over the traditional site, and you
go underneath the altar into what looks like a wine cellar.
Gold and silver candle holders hang from every nook and cranny.
Glittering icons adorn the walls.
And in a worn stone trough in one corner, a silver star marks
the spot where Jesus was supposed to be born.
2) Young, pregnant, and dirt poor. No one would take them in.
a) He even created the world, and he was born the lowest of
the low.
b) He was to be the Savior of the world, and he was born in
a trough.
3) Irony: we try to embellish the simple truth.
a) Humble beginnings for Jesus are not good enough for us.
b) But they were good enough for God.
c) This is great news, because many people feel others have
no room for them.
II. Feeling that there is no room for us.
A. Pruitt family and total loss of home this week due to fire.
1) Where do you go? What do you wear? What do you do?
2) Family and friends help out.
a) But many people today don't have these bonds.
B. Loneliness is one of the most widespread experiences in modern
life.
1) We have an abundance of material goods, but few seem to
care for us.
2) We are too busy to enjoy relationships.
3) Even when we try to get to know people, we may feel shut out.
III. The reason there was no room in the inn.
A. It was all part of God's deliberate plan.
1) God has a special heart for the outcast, people who don't
fit in, who have nowhere to turn.
2) He loves the outcast so much, he became one of them.
B. Jesus came to make room for us.
1) The whole story of Jesus' life is how he reached out to
those who were rejected by everyone else.
2) Jesus healed lepers, befriended prostitutes and gave food
to the hungry.
a) Those who were healthy and self-contented despised Jesus.
b) His message wasn't meant for them. Matt 9:11-13
3) In the end he gave the outcasts something even better:
eternal salvation. (Death on the cross)
IV. Our attitude during Christmas may reveal the condition of our hearts.
Norman Vincent Peale told about two men who were standing on Fifth
Avenue at 57th Street in New York City.
It was during the Christmas rush and they were waiting for a red
light.
One of them was irritated by the traffic.
"This town is totally disorganized," he growled.
"Look at this traffic! It's terrible!
Something ought to be done about it."
[Similar to holiday gridlock at Ledgewood Mall.
Celeste actually abandoned her car near Red Lobster and
walked home.]
The other man was more philosophical.
"You know, it's astounding, the romance of it.
There was a baby born of peasant parents in a little out-of-the-way
place halfway around the world from here.
The parents had no money or social standing, yet two thousand years
later that little baby creates a traffic jam on Fifth Avenue,
one of the most sophisticated streets in the world.
This irritates you.
Instead it should fascinate you."
#1662
V. When we know Jesus, we make room for others.
A. Seek out those who need God's encouragement, and give it to them.
1) Many calls and emails about how we can help the Pruitts.
2) Last night a woman came to the parsonage asking for help.
She really needed someone to listen to her sadness.
3) This morning a man asked me for a motel room.
It would be too tense for him to stay with friends.
B. He has room for us - for always.
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian
Department of Education to teach morals and ethics in the
public schools.
They were also invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire
and police departments and a large orphanage.
The orphanage had about 100 boys and girls who had been abused,
abandoned, and left in the care of the government-run institution.
Near the end of the holiday season the Americans had an opportunity
to tell these orphans, for the first time, the traditional
story of Christmas.
They told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.
Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the
baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.
Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in
amazement as they listened.
Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.
Completing the story, the Americans gave the children three small
pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.
Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins
one of the Americans had brought with him.
No colored paper was available in the city.
Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully
laid strips in the manger for straw.
Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown, were used
for the baby's blanket.
A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt they had brought from the
United States.
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as the Americans
walked among them to see if they needed any help.
All went well until one of the Americans, Will Fish, got to a table
where little Misha sat.
He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project.
As Will looked at the little boy's manger, he was startled to see
not one, but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, he called for the translator to ask the boy why there were
two babies in the manger.
Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed
manger scene, Misha began to repeat the story very seriously.
For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once,
he related the events accurately until he came to the part where
Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.
Then Misha started to ad-lib.
"And when Mary laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and
asked me if I had a place to stay.
I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any
place to stay.
Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him.
But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give
Him like everybody else did.
But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what
I had that maybe I could use for a gift.
I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift.
"So I asked Jesus, 'If I keep You warm, will that be a good enough
gift?'
Jesus told me, 'If you keep Me warm, that will be the best gift
anybody ever gave Me.'
I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me
I could stay with Him - for always."
As little Misha finished his story, his tears splashed down his
young cheeks.
Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and
his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.
The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon him.
Someone who would stay with him - for always! #17192
VI. Have you made room for Jesus in your heart?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1662 "The Greatest Good News Of All," Norman Vincent Peale,
"The Wonderful Excitement Of Christmas," December 1984, quoted
in Dynamic Preaching (www.sermons.com) Fall 1991.
#17192 "Two Babies In A Manger," unknown author but sometimes attributed
to Will Fish, from email submitted by Mike Conroy of Ledgewood
Baptist Church, New Jersey; May 19, 2002.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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