Recently I had someone I wanted to try and meet up with and they couldn’t. It got me thinking about how much we max out our lives and then can’t find time for people. So as not to confuse you that this was a one time ask and during the end of the year, I was asking this person back in August for a get together they couldn’t make until January.
I had another person recently tell me; “You want us to be friends, but we just aren’t.” Ouch. That one stung. Hard.
As I jump into the holiday season of busy schedules and with more excess but not enough bandwidth I was reminded of another person who possibly was so busy, (even serving people) that he failed to see what really matters. The person I am talking about is the inn keeper in the Christmas story. I believe not having room, is one of our generations biggest struggles. So as I thought on this I did a study. What I found was fascinating.
I knew that in Jewish culture hospitality is one of the utmost and highly important aspects of their lives. I had always been in awe of how the children’s version of this story shows a mean person shouting “no room!” at poor pregnant Mary. How could someone do this to a pregnant woman? Most especially someone who is from such a culture of hospitality.
I personally would have offered her my own bed. I would have! And then I got to thinking about last years Thanksgiving where I housed 17 people in my home for four straight days. I had air mattress everywhere and we had blow ups literally in closets. I spent so much money on food we had to cut back for three months after that. Then I hosted an extended family potluck gathering on the Friday after thanksgiving for over 32 people. Whew! I was so busy I failed to really see anything past what was physically right in front of me. I also didn’t really get to enjoy it either. Is this how the inn keeper was when Mary and Joseph arrived?
It was census time, so he was already hosting and probably had been for a while. The scripture clearly states there was no room. I wonder if there was just emotionally no more room. Tired, exhausted, and in need himself his capacity for one more thing was not possible. One more thing was just not in his wheel house.
Luke 2:7:
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
I found out that the Greek word, used here is kataluma, which means “lodging place”not “inn”. For example, in Mark 14:14, Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples in an “kataluma”.
Joseph wasn’t turned away necessarily however, the “inn” was probably someones home more than it was a hotel. The inn keeper’s upper room was already full. I don’t believe this person was being mean on purpose. They just didn’t have any more physical or emotional space. Oh my, does this speak to our “first world” problems!
How true is this during the holiday season. We have room for stuffing and turkey and Christmas presents but have no capacity to help feed the forty-million people who die annually from starvation and malnutrition, (roughly 7 Jewish holocausts).+
Who in your life is begging for room in your heart and you are already so busy and so full that you can’t see it? A question I often give to my clients when they are looking for mentors is:
“Do they have the time and energy to invest in you?”
It might sound harsh but so many people do not have the capacity anymore, whether by choice or circumstance. Sickness, trauma, and job loss are all circumstance that steal our time from relationships. But so does watching six different TV shows, keeping up with social media platforms, online shopping for things we do not need, and playing gaming systems for hours on end. In this dilemma we find many of us are missing out on something really extraordinary when it comes to relationships. Our capacity to love and to see need is being COMPLETELY wiped out.
Back to the story we find something else. There wasn’t any space in the upper room. But what about the family room? What about where the inn keeper slept? Did this person even ask the other guests if they minded sitting on the pillow cushions in the main room for a little while so the woman could deliver her baby? My guess is no.
Mary ended up giving birth in the “garage area,” of the then Jewish home. This is where people kept their animals. The Savior of the world was right in front of this particular individual and due to being so maxed out, exhausted, and full of his own life he fails to see. The feeding trough in those day’s was not the pretty little baby bassinets we make in our manger scene these days. They were dug out dirt holes in the center. The feeding area that was built into the floor of his home ended up holding his King. The very king this inn keeper and his ancestors have been praying for, for generations was lying in his personal dirt hole for his animals.
Who are you giving the bottom hole in your home too? The last dirt and grimy place you have? Jesus was born in the middle of lowly, busy, hectic, everyday life and that is so very beautiful! But, what isn’t beautiful is the detail of who missed it. The irony is not lost on me. Are you and I missing the real life people in front of us because we have allowed ourselves to have no room?
An exert from our book An Exceptional Romance
“When we are spinning out of control like this we will never have the bandwidth for what God has laid out for us as the greatest gift…“
My husband and I say it often when we speak.
“Busyness will ALWAYS be the death of romance.” – Kate Dahlin
We are missing out on the biggest romantic story in all of eternity when we are so full we fail to see God’s people right in front of us. As we step into the holidays my question is…
Do you have room?
+ statistics found in book by Jen Hatmaker
Creating Exceptional 