Is There Room for Jesus?

"She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."
-Luke 2:7
     Earlier today I studied Luke 2 at the weekly group Bible study I attend. You know Christmas is right around the corner when churches begin studying the beginning chapters of Luke's gospel. Luke chapter two describes the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. Caesar Augustus orders a census to be taken, forcing Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary to travel to Bethlehem. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophecy in Micah 5:2.
     When Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem, they are unable to find a room in an inn. What they end up doing is staying in what we can assume is a barn. Jesus is born in a manger, which is a box that animals ate from. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus was and is the Savior of the world. A manger is the last place people would have expected a savior to be born. The Jews were probably expecting their Messiah, or Savior, to be a powerful leader who would liberate them from the Romans. As a result, no one came to Jesus in the manger until an angel appeared to some shepherds, but we'll address that later in the post.
     While studying this part of the passage, the Bible study leader asked a convicting question: is there room for Jesus in your heart? Everyone had pushed Jesus aside, by refusing Mary and Joseph a room to stay in. Isn't that exactly what we do in our hearts? We so easily push Jesus aside because He's not the Savior that we want. Just like the Jews, we want Jesus to liberate us from the circumstances around us. For the Jews, it was the Roman government. For us, it can be a lack of finances, poor working conditions, hard exams, or the people around us.
     What the Jews didn't understand is that Jesus didn't come to save them from the Romans. Jesus came to save them from themselves. What does this mean? Even though the Jews were God's people, they were still sinners, just like us. They needed saving from their sin. They didn't need to be saved from the circumstances surrounding them, they needed to be saved from the sin within them. Jesus in a manger is so hard for us to accept because even though He's the savior we need, He's not the savior we want.
     Later in the passage we read that an angel appears to shepherds who were keeping watch over sheep at night. Another question that was raised in the Bible study is why angels appeared to shepherds. Shepherds were not high on the social ladder, and were probably ignored for the most part. If God were to announce the coming of the Messiah, we would expect God to announce it to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. We definitely would not expect God to announce the birthing of Jesus to lowly shepherds.
     So why was the birth of Jesus first announced to shepherds? I cannot give a definite answer since it is not recorded in the Scripture and I am not God. However, I believe that there are three possible reasons the angel approached shepherds. The shepherds were ready, receptive, and responsive.
     First, they were ready. If you read the passage, you will see that the shepherds were tending their flocks late at night. This means that they were awake when no one else was. Everyone else was busy or tired from travelling for the census. The shepherds were faithfully doing their job, which required that they were awake at night. What we can learn from the shepherds' readiness is that sometimes all God wants is for us to be ready. We don't have to be perfect or sinless, we just need to be ready for Jesus.
     Second, the shepherds were receptive. If Jesus' birth was announced to the Pharisees and teaches of the law, I don't think they would be receptive to the news. They would probably question why the Messiah was born in a barn rather than in a palace. The Jewish elite would assume that there was nothing a baby in a manger could do for them. On the other hand, the shepherds were ignored by society. Perhaps their low status positioned their hearts to be receptive of a savior born in a manger. It's important to ask ourselves if we are too proud to accept Jesus as our Savior.
     Third, they were responsive. After the shepherds met Jesus, they praised God. They didn't simply return to their flocks, they praised and glorified God. I made the point while teaching some youth group kids that worship is the proper response to God (recorded by Grace in Journey Through Life). The shepherds not only were ready and receptive of Jesus' birth, they responded with worship. Jesus' birth should lead us to respond in worship.
     Christmas time is often very busy and distracting. The world tells us that Christmas time is all about shopping and spending time with family and friends. While neither of these are bad in themselves, they are not the point of Christmas. Christmas is a time to celebrate Jesus' birth. I admit that I am often busy and distracted during Christmas and forget the whole point. I am often busy rather than ready. I am often distracted rather than receptive. I am often passive rather than receptive.
     I don't want my life to be so filled with meaningless things that I find no room for Jesus in my heart. I don't want to be like the inn that turned away Jesus because there was no longer any room. This might mean that I have to get rid of some things to make space for Jesus, but it's worth it because He's the Savior that I need. How about you? Is there room for Jesus?
-Smart