In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38 NIV
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
Luke 2:1-21
It's a beautiful story of how the birth of Jesus came to be. The part I'd like to focus on is that there was no room for Joseph and Mary at the inn. The town was busy, the census ordered by the government meant everyone was forced to return to their home town and be registered. Bethlehem was a small town but over the years many who had been born and raised there had to return because of the census. This means that whatever few places the town had to house visitors were full. The owners of these places were busy taking in all those paying guests and counting their profits, upon seeing a young man and very pregnant woman who may have been already having labor pains they more than likely turned them away telling them they had no room because they didn't want to deal with all the things that come with child birth. They turned away Jesus because they had no room for Him. If I'm honest, Jesus is forced to compete with all the other things I've got going on, on a daily basis. If I'm honest, on many days I have no room for Jesus. I turn Him away because I'm too busy making money, or because I'm too tired, sad or angry. I turn Him away due to being busy and even at times when I'm willfully committing sin. Let's renew our commitment today to not only make room for Him but also to make Him lord of our lives. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts to the new born King. This is where we get the idea to give gifts, not so we can glorify ourselves but so that we can glorify God. It can be easy to get lost in the busyness of the season, the over commercialization of it all and even the gatherings if we don't intentionally stop and take time to thank God for sending His Son, the tiny, new born baby King, to save us. So let's do that now...