The Inn-

Most of us have heard the story of Jesus and how he was born in a manger. A tale that we hear in Christmas music and from podiums around the world. There is no lack of stories which speak of the inn which was full and so they had to spend their night in the stable. I guess when we think of Jesus we like to think of God. We realize that God sent His son to die for us but few of us really understand the joy there was in his life. A child was born to us Isaiah said. Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

What joy there is in the angelic announcement "Fear not for I bring you tidings of great joy..." A child is born. But he was unlike any child that you or I have ever seen. Now that sounds odd perhaps for was he not human looking and human like? He was. A simple child but one who was given to us as God on earth. How can such things be? How can he be God and man and a child born in a stable with angels who spoke to shepherds and kings who wanted to worship him and others who wanted to kill him before his time? What manner of child is this?

I guess we live in a world that is busy. We have tended to commercialize Christmas and we excel in keeping it a busy time of year buying gifts for others. Yet there was a gift given to us. I don't speak of the gift of salvation for Jesus brought that to us later on. But the gift of life. We don't speak of life much. Pain, sorrow, suffering were things we shared with Christ. He bore our sorrows and he bore our pain but there in that manger Jesus bore something even greater for us.

Luke 2:7 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.

How can that be that he bore something greater for us? He bore the love of a father to earth. There is something in each of us that cries out "Abba, Father"

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

 A cry? We often hear that Jesus never cried as a baby. Maybe its tradition but I like to think he did cry once in a while. After all he was bore in a world filled with pain. Children were killed by Herod simply because Jesus was born. But he came with a gift called the fathers love. But not only did he come with a gift called love but with a cry of the heart saying "Abba, Father."

What is so special about that love is the cry of Gods heart. The cry that longed for fellowship with mankind. A restoration that was broken in the garden of Eden. A restoration that Satan longed to keep separated with sin and death and all the sorrows that accompanied them. Yet how can we be Gods children? We spent a lifetime believing our sin was impossible to overcome, that God was dead, that life was over because the world was filled with so much ugliness. But somehow God overcame all of Satan's lies and traps and dark methods and He sent His only son.

How can this be? How can we not see that Jesus wasn't the shining star but the star shone for him never the less. He came and was humbled and humiliated and thrashed and yet he did not toss stones back at us in our moments of weakness. Instead he had us lift up our eyes and he had us look to his father.

I know that speaks of later days during his public ministry but there are few moments I treasure more in the year then Christmas eve and Christmas day. I am one of the few around me to listen to Christmas music year round as a remembrance of this special time of the year. I hold his birth precious beyond understanding and I would fight for it as I would fight Satan and his lies as the liar tries to trash this special time when Jesus was born.

 There are times we hold some truths evident, but there is one truth that holds justice and hope and joy and that is the light of his star that shone that time. When the angels trumpeted the cause of one humble child, the son of God but also the son of Mary and Joseph. Two parents who loved him dearly and two who struggled to protect him from the sin of his age. We don't think of that often but its true. They might have died with their son if they had not heeded their dreams and fled to Egypt. God had a place prepared for them which in a way is ironic considering there was no room for them in the Inn.

Often that is the way God works. We end up spending a night in the stable, fleeing to Egypt, yet fulfilling scripture at every turn. Yet the marks of that night are twofold. First is the promise the prophets held dear was fulfilled that night. One they spoke of with joy and wonder. A wait of 400 plus years which is a long time. But the other thing as mentioned was they spent that night in the stable. At least one night we know of. Why is this so special? What is so wonderful about spending a night in a stable?

As I ponder these things tonight, Christmas Eve, I wonder, 'What if..." What if I were in their place. Pulled in directions they did not wish to go. All the world had to be taxed and Mary was taxed with a child and Joseph was taxed with finding them a place to sleep. A burden beyond understanding for two parents who knew not fully that within Mary slept a child named Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus. How could these things be? Why didn't God provide them a room in the inn? Why was their every move forward thwarted by circumstances that seemed so out of control?

The answer is simple to those who listen and to those who want to understand. Joseph and Mary wanted the best perhaps but there was a lesson to be learned in the stable. We don't know if there were other families there. There may have been. But we do know one thing. That God saw. God knew and God was watching. And in that watching we have a miracle. A miracle that is hard for us to see in our daily walk today. A miracle of birth. A miracle of life. A miracle of joy. For Jesus was born in a stable, a manger, a crib. A place where cattle ate from. A place where hay was laid. A place of food for the animals. A place that perhaps wasn't suited for anyone let alone a child of God. It was a humble, very humble place to be born.

And that speaks volumes even though it may mean little to most of you. Humbleness was the key word. It wasn't about providing his son with the very finest maids and servants but providing the world with someone born of humble surroundings. A child named Jesus. A child who didn't know how to fight, argue, spin a tale or lie.

He came purified, holy, righteous and he came freely by the will of the father. And the father watched as his son was born of a virgin woman. And in that is another miracle. A righteous story that carries with it an awe that I cannot escape. A story I long to share with you. One I've known since I was a child. A gift I was given. Life. Freedom. Escape from death and a promise of life yet to come. There are a thousand tales I could share and a thousand nights you would listen and wonder, like me, why it happened. Why there could be love so great and so mighty from a father we call God. I know that someday all the reasons will be known but in the reasoning we shall find further wonders and further joys. As did the prophets of old. And as I do today.

Merry Christmas to all and to you may Gods love shine fully so your life may be filled with His joy.

yours truly

Joel Akin

2005