In the birth and birthplace of Jesus there is something which corresponds beautifully with his personal biography as well as the fortunes of his Gospel.

Two thousand years on, he still comes waiting to find room. And there is scant room for him.

The reason why Jesus can't find room for his Gospel – which he embodied in his person at his first coming – is closely analogous to that which he encountered in his birth – namely that people's hearts are preoccupied. They are filled to the brim with their own agendas already. And we, who are his followers, so poorly represent the worth and largeness of Christ and his Gospel. Preoccupied with the presenting and controverted issues of the day, we lack the inspiration he offers, and we end up giving him the stable, when we should be giving him the inn. Instead of putting him at the centre of our living, thinking and planning, we leave him at the margins.

A story is told by a Jewish Rabbi of a town which was given three days' warning of the arrival of a hurricane. A Roman Catholic priest called all the Catholics together and impressed on them the need to go to confession. An Anglican vicar gathered his congregation and told them to ask forgiveness from those they had wronged, and to make amends.

The Rabbi met the Jewish community in the synagogue and told them, "You have three days in which to learn how to live under water".

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Christmas • Parish Ministry • Preaching / Homiletics • * Theology • Christology

1. The Lakeland Two wrote: The two best parts of this sermon were that we don’t tend to count on what God can do and that we don’t make room for Jesus in our lives.  The Jews in the story have the mindset that God will provide whatever we need even teach us to live underwater.  We don’t cultivate that mindset enough.  God can move in any environment. The second part of this that is profound is that we don’t make room for Him. For a lot of believers, they are the sun and everthing else are planets and moons in their own orbits, sometimes clashing or influencing the orbit of the other satellites.  Many see God as being just a part of the sky in our lives.  For a person to be reliant on God, he or she must let God be the sun - the center- and then everthing else is in balance in their proper place.  So, the analogy of not making room in our hearts for Christ as there was no room for Him at the inn follows the same concept.  I thnk when we try to model ourselves in His image, we get glimpes of God.  I want to make room for Him in my heart rather than keeping Him out or limiting what He can do. December 25, 2:18 pm | [comment link]

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