In July 2021, when we adopted our daughters, I left my pastorate to focus on their transition into our family. I took a job that following August as a night auditor at the local Hilton property.
This has been a great gift for our family. As my wife’s career began to really take off, it became apparent there were more advantages to staying put rather than me finding pastoral work elsewhere. While I still get to speak and preach across the country, during the week you can find me running the overnight shift at a local hotel as a night auditor.
Rob Lee
I turn the day over and make sure the accounts are balanced. I check in guests and make sure they are happy with their accommodations. The worst lot will often fall to me to tell folks we are at capacity and sold out. That gives me a certain proximity and empathy with the silent innkeeper in Luke’s Gospel.
While there are some who refuse to read between Scripture’s lines, it can be inferred that Joseph and Mary discovered there was no room for them in the inn because they were told that by someone on staff at the Bethlehem inn. And even though we have assigned lines to the innkeeper in pageants such as the famous rendition of the role by Charlie Brown’s Pigpen, the conversation is now lost to time and history.
Using scriptural imagination, let’s envision the modern contextual reality. Minus the salvation of the world being held in one’s body, I’ve seen this play out time and time again.
Joseph and Mary come to Bethlehem from Nazareth, with Mary being in the final stages of her pregnancy. As the crow flies, from Nazareth to Bethlehem is 70 or so miles. We also know that probably wasn’t the most conventional route at the time. This means their route was both long and arduous. As they pulled into the breezeway of the inn, Mary probably chose to wait with the donkey, if they were lucky enough to have that make financial sense. Joseph heard the words “We’re sold out, I’m so sorry” and met them with pleading for any possible solution because of their scenario.
If the innkeeper was anything like me, his heart broke as he knew there was no possible place he could squeeze them in. You can’t make rooms appear out of thin air. You can’t make vacancies happen because you want to.
As Joseph sulked out of the hotel’s lobby, he saw Mary. She probably smiled thinking they had a room, only to find the best they could do was a barn in the back. I can’t even begin to imagine the courage and tenacity of Mary, the mother of our Lord. Her resolve in the face of that which would crush most of us is both commendable and admirable.
“In the kingdom of God there is always vacancy.”
But right now, my mind is still back on that scripturally silent innkeeper. Knowing how the ever-circling years run their course, we recognize that innkeeper in Bethlehem would one day find Jesus again as his life was completed. This time the roles would be reversed. In the kingdom of God there is always a vacancy.
Here’s the good news: There’s always more room with Jesus. The table is never crowded enough for another chair.
Here’s the bad news: We’ve done such a good job of skewing that message the world has moved on to other stories. With how most Christians act, we might wonder why anyone would sit at the table we’ve prepared. We’ve sat at an elite table and claim to worship the Lord whose specialty was overturning tables.
Yet the innkeeper’s silent lack of vacancy in Luke chapter 2 is both telling and instructive. While we may not have room in the inn, it’s our duty to find room. Call the Hampton Inn down the street, or phone the Fairfield Inn and Suites across town. If all else fails, bring out a cot in the conference center.
We dare not be found lacking when the Savior comes this time around, because Jesus desires crowded spaces with lots of room.
Robert W. Lee is a pastor working at the intersection of faith and public life. He’s the author of four books and has preached in contexts across the world. A graduate of Appalachian State University, Duke University and Pacific School of Religion, Rob lives in Statesville, N.C., with his wife, two daughters and two dogs.