The Innkeeper....Turning Away

One of the great joys of each Christmas season is spending time with friends and family…being close to the ones you love. But, often that joy is pushed to the limits due to the hassle of getting to our separate and often distant locations….on time and in good spirits.

What if you traveled for days and when you finally reached your destination, you were told there was no place for you to stay…not a single room to be found….ANYWHERE! You would be highly bummed out and probably a little on the cranky side…but what if you were the bearer of those bad tidings …and what if the couple you turned away were expecting a child and were in desperate need of shelter and warmth….how would you feel? Just think for a moment of that very first trip of the very first Christmas family …
Our next character of Christmas is not officially listed in the program, but in every child-like play of the Christmas story, he has the toughest part, even though he speaks but one line…."I’m sorry but I have no room in the inn."

Here’s the rest of his story…and please, if you identify with the innkeeper, then

May God Bless You as You Open Your Heart to the Babe in the Straw…..


NO ROOM IN THE INN

I was tired, weary; it had been a long, long day
When came the knock at the door; I turned to walk away,
But peering out the window, there on the dusty street
A young man, his pregnant wife…stood shuffling their feet.

He knocked again upon my door and pleaded to let him in.
I opened the door to tell him, “There’s no room in this Inn.”
“Please, dear sir,” I heard him beg, “don’t turn us away,
We’ve been traveling for so long; my wife needs a place to lay.”

“Be gone,” was my curt reply, “there’s no room in this place;
You should have made better plans; your steps you should retrace.
Go back to where you come from; this small town is filled to its brim.
There’s not a room to be found in this little village of Bethlehem.”

“I can’t go back” came the reply, “I must follow Caesar’s decree,
I’ve returned to my ancestral home…my wife and our child to be.”
I closed the door and turned to go; there was much that must be done,
With guests to feed and beds to make before the setting of the sun.

But walking down the hallway of my busy, bustling inn
I thought of that young family and how I spoken then;
Sorrow filled my heavy heart … how I wished that I was able
To give them shelter for the night. Wait! What about the stable?

So turning on my heel, I raced to open the closed door
To catch a fleeting glimpse of this young family once more.
“Come my son,” I said to him, “I think I have some room
Out of the dust and dirt; away from the despair and gloom.”

“It isn’t what I would want for you; but, maybe it will meet your need.
It’s warm, dry and quiet…it’s where the cattle feed.”
So there Joseph and sweet Mary, safe from the city’s danger
Began to prepare their baby’s bed …a lowly cattle’s manger.

The time grew late but this was the night that she would deliver
In swaddling clothes she wrapped her son so he wouldn’t shiver.
The sky had such a wondrous glow…darkness gave way to light
I knew not why, but my heart was warmed on that special, glorious night.

For in my haste and weariness, I almost missed His birth
The night the Holy Son of God came down to live on earth.
My life was full; my heart was cold…there was no room for Him then
I turned away God’s most precious gift for there was no room in the Inn.

Oh, don’t be too busy…too filled with life’s chores
To turn away the Savior from behind a closed door
Just let his love envelop you and know beyond all reason
To celebrate His birth each year is the greatest gift of this season.


W. Patrick Queen
December 2007