Christmas Eve 2012   Now a Good Word for the Innkeeper                             
 The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

 Now for a good word for the innkeeper.  Did I get your attention? After all we have heard these words  “no room in the inn”  Christmas after Christmas.  We have had generations of sermons that have emphasized the surface meaning of the story.  We have been called upon to open our closed hearts, to prepare  room for the heart of love.  We have been asked to birth a generous spirit.  Of course, there is truth to this metaphor.

However, there are more life shattering meanings to this story of inns, births, shepherds and messengers.  When we dig deeper into the story, to move it from sentimental images, Christmas can be an explosive season.  For there is a disruptive element to this birthing.  For birthing redefines and transforms our world.  Nothing remains the same.
 
The line that says they had to find an inn tells us not all is right with this situation.  Normally, the hospitality rule requires kinsfolk to care for the traveler.  The story says it is his hometown, so there would have been some family there to take them in.  Yet here they are at the inn. This tells us they must have been dishonoured, outsiders to their community

Now here comes that misunderstood innkeeper - note how one translation says there was no space for them.When read this way we see an innkeeper who does his best to provide shelter from the storm. Rather than being hard hearted, the innkeeper was sensitive to all his guests. 
Inns in that time were not even up to the standard of those motels that charge by the hour.  What you had was one big room full of those who had no honour.  To have Mary in such a place would make her unclean and Joseph dishonoured.  For a birth to happen in such a place would lead to be exclusion from their community.  Further, those men in the inn would be double unclean, not only from their professions of solders and shepherds, but because Mary giving birth in their space.  For those who had no home their burden would have been increased.

So the innkeeper is a double sign of hospitality.  He cared for the needs of all - Mary and those who slept in the inn.  He had compassion and provided a warm place - the stable.  This metaphor suggest that God’s home is in the muck and smell of the stable - the world.  There the dishonoured and shameful are made whole.  Earthiness is the place where we practice hospitality. This is not simply a narrative of past events, it is a story that speaks of God presence with us, in this world of ours.  The story begins with a birth that speaks of the “scandal of particularity.”  

God’s love comes crashing into reality, and in this story history is a profoundly moral story in which each of us, however small, has a part to play well or badly.  The story tells us we are not left alone in an empty universe, for the whole creation resounds with the music of God.  All existence sings songs of joy.  It is a birthing unlike other births, for it leads to the overturning of the status quo, a crucifixion and a resurrection.  Through this story we can interpret our own struggles, victories, sufferings, and hope.

So let us return to the story and examine all the characters, for they give us a fuller understanding of Luke’s intentions.   He is reminding us of the continuous theme of the Bible - hosting and carnality.

We are invited to jump into life, to taste it, to have the enjoyment of our bodies.  The God we celebrate loves the flesh and blood of life, and it is in this flesh and blood that we meet deep spirituality.  True spirituality takes us deeper into our world, to love it and move it to more beauty. Hosting is about nitty-gritty reality, hosting others with our hearts pounding with expectation. When we wander through this Christmas story and reread it in its historical context, we see the writers were using stories of great births in our messy history.  It is a story about hosting and that can help us see ourselves as natural hosts. 

The different characters remind us how serious and rewarding hosting is.  They remind us that it takes time to welcome a different reality, guest who present themselves without our invitation.  For hospitality brings its burdens and inconveniences.

Joseph, as Leonard Cohen put it, some Joseph slouching toward Bethlehem.  Our story is full of unhappy campers - Joseph being one.  He had to come to terms with the demand placed on him.    He didn’t ask for this.  He is dishonoured, his family dishonoured, yet God is asking him to provide blanket protection - to host this discredited woman.

Then the shepherds. Their job made them unclean and dishonoured  - they were the cowboys of their time - hanging out in all the wrong places. For them to be the honoured witnesses is to reinforce the idea that God hosts this world in all its brokenness and seeks to bring healing.  From the edge of society comes the announcement of here is a King - unlike the other kings.

When we are open, we too can hear the angel voices - see the glory of God in everyday events.

We gather at the table to be hosted by God, to rehearse the joy of hospitality.  This is a table where all are welcome, a place to find healing and forgiveness.  And after tasting the bread and wine of God, we go to host this world of ours.  Having claimed our inner sense of beauty we go out to create more beauty in our wold.  We birth a new way of being - we go out singing and embracing a way of life that is inclusive, caring, sharing of burdens.  Affirm the light of God that lights up this dark night of our soul - remember again - God is born in us tonight.