No Room For Christ, Yet Room For Us # 2

No Room For Christ, Yet Room For Us # 2

With all the modern cries of tolerance, too many show the bigotry of Bethlehem. There is still "no room" for Christ's love; else why would this generation bleed its best power away in a second World War? "No room" for His humility; else why would half of this earth hear Him say, "Blessed are the peacemakers" but be forced to follow Nietzsche as he cries out in contradiction. "Blessed are the war makers"? "No room" for His holy Word in modern culture, where experts would train our children without reverence for God and faith in His Bible! "No room" for our Lord's creed of self-denial, when certain modern magazines feature page after page, picture after picture, paragraph after paragraph of profanity and indecency, but not a single sentence regarding this ageless message, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!" "No room" for the promise of His Cross and His blood, when more Americans reject Him than ever before; when theological professors, contradicting the holy angel's anthem, "He shall save His people from their sins" deny that the Child in the manger is our Immanuel, our God-with-us; when many American churches do not once open their doors on Christmas Day! "No room" for the Nativity mercy, which promises us that we are saved through humble, penitent, trusting faith in the Babe of Bethlehem as our Lord and our Redeemer, while great religious bodies deny this center and climax of our faith, "By grace are ye saved!"

A pointed, personal issue confronts you: Jesus, the Christ Child of Christmas, in this moment seeks entrance into your heart. Will you turn away from Him because your soul is saturated with the driving desire for money? Fresh in our minds is the account of a merchant-marine sailor who had secured a thousand dollars, perhaps more money than he had ever owned in his life, a sum so impressive that his heart was closely attached to this treasure, carefully stored in his locker. His ship was torpedoed, and after he was rescued, he admitted that in those perilous hours he had never even thought of his thousand dollars. In the crisis moments of life, if you have rejected Jesus, you have lost more than money can ever buy. You have sacrificed your soul's salvation. This is Christ's warning, "He that believeth not shall be damned." The Christmas appeal, above eating and drinking, giving and receiving, visiting and being visited, lighting and decorating, the plea that comes from the very manger of the Christ Child, asks you: "Make room for Jesus! Grant Him entrance into your heart! Welcome Him into your home!"

II. THE SINLESS CHRIST CHILD ALWAYS WELCOMES SINFUL MEN

Although "there was no room" for Christ at Bethlehem's inn, "yet there was room" as the second part of our festival text explains room for you in His heart of love, in His Kingdom of Grace, in His Father's heavenly mansions. At His manger crib "there is room" for every sinner, especially the desperate and downtrodden, including those of you who write me tear-stained letters declaring that the transgressions of the past rise up to disturb you, waking or sleeping. When you come to Jesus in faith and He comes to you in His mercy, He removes the curse of your sin. He washes away its stain. The fire of His devotion burns away your iniquity. The power of His presence purifies your heart and strengthens your life. Take courage and believe on this Christmas day that nothing can keep you from Bethlehem and the forgiveness in the newborn Saviour but your own impenitence, your refusal to accept the Christ Child's promise of full, free and final pardon!

At the manger there was room for all, regardless of race restrictions or color classifications. "There is room" aplenty for friend and foe, since the Infant Jesus is the world's Saviour. He was born and He died so that all men, regardless of how completely they be segregated into opposing groups, might be saved. During the First World War, Christmas came to a Russian war prison camp in Siberia. Up to that time it had been the scene of homesickness, misery, hatred, and despair. Suicide had been frequent. But when the prisoners and their guards gathered in half-underground barracks for the Christmas celebration, the leader arose to say, "There is one song all can sing tonight, "Silent Night, Holy Night." They sang it, both the guards and the prisoners, each man in his own language. When they finished, the Russian commander eyes filled with tears as he told the captives, "Tonight is the first time in more than a year that I have been able to forget you and I are supposed to be enemies." If you, too, will acclaim Bethlehem's Babe in faith and trust, your hatred will shrivel away, and in new joy you will be able to worship the Saviour who commanded, "Love your enemies!"

"There is room" at Bethlehem for the poor, unnoticed, unacclaimed, just as the Saviour's birth was first announced to the shepherds, lowly laborers. Joseph Mohr, who wrote the beloved lines of Silent Night, Holy Night, lived a humble, unpretentious life. He died within twelve miles of the palace where he was born; yet his Christmas carol has sung its way around the world. And the Christ whose "strength is made perfect in weakness" can likewise save you for important purposes, no matter how little attention the world pays you. Indeed, the plain and underprivileged have always been especially welcomed by His mercy.

~Walter A. Maier~

(continued with # 3)