She wrapped him and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7b)

Like you, my life has been especially punctuated by scenes and lines from the Christmas story these last few weeks. The manger birth has attracted me, and taken on a new meaning.

Most of us have heard the sermon on the meanness of the innkeeper for turning away Mary and Joseph. Some may have heard a more gentle interpretation, in which the innkeeper offered the best alternative for a bad situation. But I have never heard an interpretation which raises the question: Where were the kinfolk of Mary and Joseph?

Bethlehem was the town of their families of origin. It was also less than 100 miles from Nazareth. Granted, that was a good distance by foot (and tortuous for a woman nine months pregnant). But it was not an insurmountable distance. Surely Mary and Joseph had kinfolks in Bethlehem, and there must have been at least sporadic communication with them. Why did Mary and Joseph look for lodging in a public inn?

Is it possible that the scandal was too much for aunts and uncles? Had they already been turned away by extended family—or did they not even bother to ask? Remember, Mary was a teenager with an unbelievable story. Luke tells us that Mary left Nazareth right after the angel’s announcement (Luke 1:38-39). And that she spent three months with her senior relatives Elizabeth and Zechariah in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:56). Is this a hint at how tense things had become? Did Mary “run away” from home, or was she thrown out, or sent away?

I don’t pretend to have answers to those questions. But for me they underscore the lack of hospitality which met the Christ. In fact, it set the pattern for the entire life of Jesus Christ. Throughout his life he was a wanderer with no permanent home. In the end, that lack of hospitality turned to violent expulsion with the crucifixion.

In contrast, Jesus extended hospitality to others in offensive ways. He invited both zealots and tax collectors to join him. He seemed to have no discrimination at table fellowship. On occasion he explained himself: I have come to seek and save…come unto me…. Christ is the extension of God’s hospitality to a hostile humanity.

True, it is an invitation which requires an R.S.V.P. But it remains God’s gracious invitation.

The only appropriate response is gratitude (e.g. 2 Corinthians 9:15). But there is more than that. We are exhorted to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9), even to entertain strangers (Hebrews 13:2)

Here comes the final piece, from a sermon I heard Sunday. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and member of God’s household…. (Ephesians 2:10) Hospitality is not only the “glue” of community, it is the very lifeblood of the church. This passage suggests that hospitality precedes everything else in the church. Without hospitality, we cannot be “built up in Christ.” Without hospitality, we cannot learn from the Apostles. Without hospitality, we cannot become “a holy temple in the Lord.”

Now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near…He himself is our peace…It is the mystery of God’s grace.

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