No Place

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7

No place for them? 

I find this story perhaps most surprising of all in the Christmas narrative. How could this be, among a culture known for its hospitality to strangers and family alike? How could a people who always have room for one more not have room? Especially for one of their own, one of the house and family line of David?

These were folks who kept records of their genealogy all the way back to the 12 tribes of Israel. Understanding their identity was important and even had legal implications (for example, there were numerous distinct laws that applied only to the tribe of Levi.) The Jewish people knew who they were and who their people were. The whole reason Joseph was taking his pregnant wife back to Bethlehem was because of his family line, but there was no place for him once he got there.

The little town of Bethlehem was jam-packed with people, all returning for the required census. Although inconvenient for some weary travelers, I imagine it was also a time of joyful reunion and warm hospitality. 

There has to be something we Western readers are missing, something invisible to us but clear as day to people from the honor-shame worldview. 

I love to read this story with them at Christmastime. The reaction is always loud and everyone talks at once. I’ll try to paraphrase what our brothers and sisters explained as they tsk-tsked and finger-wagged, all the while nodding their heads with grave understanding.

Poor Mary! Sent to a dirty stable! 

You can be sure word got back to relatives in Bethlehem about Mary’s disgrace and Joseph’s decision to break the law and remain with her. Word spreads fast! 

In our culture, we don’t tell you directly that you aren’t welcome. We still try to honor you, even in our rejection. 

(Laughter and agreement all around.)

Of course the innkeeper told them there was no room! He had a reputation to uphold in the community and an inn full of honorable, paying guests.

(Wisened old lady in the corner, mother to seven and grandmother to 16): 

It was the innkeeper’s wife! She was the one who offered the stable secretly! A woman would have had pity on another woman in Mary’s condition.

(Heads nodding in agreement.)

“No room in the inn” sounds much better than, “Shame on you; you are not welcome here!”

We would never say that. But we would give an honorable excuse to cover shame.

When you look at the Christmas story through eyes of honor and shame, shame is suddenly everywhere. It’s like those night goggles soldiers wear to identify what they cannot see with the naked eye in the darkness. 

Jesus’ rejection on the night of his birth was just the beginning of the journey of the One “not accepted in his hometown” (see Luke 4:24).

But shame had no power over Jesus that night or any other night of His life.

You see, Jesus knew who He was and why He came. Unlike many humans when we encounter shame, Jesus never believed shame’s lie, You are bad. His identity was secure. In time, He would defeat shame for every person bound by its lies.

Jesus did not need a watertight genealogy to prove He belonged (though for the sake of His people, He had one: see Matthew 1:1-17).

The angels shouted His identity from the heavens; the shepherds rushed to worship Him as Christ the Lord. 

Shame could not stop God’s glory. Shame could not hide the Christmas story.

Shame does not have to hide your story either this Christmas. Have you been rejected? Do you feel unwelcome among your own people? Or are you like the innkeeper, making polite excuses to avoid entertaining outcasts?

Christmas is uncomfortable. It exposes our hearts. It reveals the Messiah who came to break down barriers of #shame that keep us from community, from healing, from knowing we are loved. #Christmas #insteadofshamehonor Click To Tweet

The Savior understands rejection and displacement. He knows what it means to be unwelcome. He comforts the outcast and tenderly invites the innkeeper to step outside his comfort zone and open his heart.

No matter what side of the door you are on, the message of Christmas is for you. The Baby became a Man and bore all our shame and sin on the cross. We are loved. We are welcome in God’s family. The One for whom there was no place is preparing a place for us. Let us join the angels in declaring who He is to the world this Christmas.

Lord, thank You for Your humility, for exchanging the honor of heaven for the shame of earth to save us. Amen.

@audreycfrank