View from the Vicarage
Vicar’s December message
Making Space at Christmas
Sometimes the old ones are the best. Mary and Joseph arrive at Bethlehem and ask the innkeeper if he has any space. “No, I haven’t,” he says. And Joseph says, “But my wife is about to have a baby!” “Well, that’s not my fault,” says the Innkeeper. “No,” says Joseph, “and it’s not my fault either!”
You could say that the whole message of Christmas is about making space, about a God who didn’t just sit safely in heaven and watch his people make a mess of things, but who had room for them in his heart. But when he came among us, his people didn’t have room for him. Joseph did – he made space for a child who was not his own. Mary did too – she gave birth to a child she hadn’t looked for or expected. And the shepherds did – they made space in their lives to go and find out what the “Good News” the Angel brought them was all about. But the holy people, the powerful people and the busy people didn’t have room for God at all.
What about us? We live in a world where the sound of doors closing, walls being built, foreigners being driven out, refugees turned away, drowns out everything else. And what about you and me? How good are we at making space for other people? It’s not easy: to make space for anyone – a husband or wife, a child or parent, a friend, a pet, a nextdoor neighbour, let alone a stranger. It always involves changing your plans, reordering your own emotional furniture.
The life of Jesus, from his birth is full of moments when he stopped and made space for people no one else bothered with. And not just people: he noticed sparrows, lilies, salt, donkeys, and much else too. There was always room in his inn, even though as a baby he didn’t find space in someone else’s. But then on the other hand: think of those who are giving up their Christmas in your neighbourhood to cook a meal for people who would otherwise be on their own; or doctors and nurses across the world who freely choose to spend their holiday time caring for others. And think of the people who’ve made space in their lives for you. Will you make space for God, and the stranger this Christmas? If the old jokes are sometimes the best, so are the old songs. Let me end with two. The first is a famous hymn:
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy Kingly crown when thou
camest to earth for me… O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there
is room in my heart for thee.
The other, if you are old enough to remember it, is a popular song Merry Christmas Everybody.
May I, with the rock band Slade, echo their message to you all: Merry Christmas Everybody.
Blessings
Reverend Paul