CHRISTMAS 2022

Traditionally, we have spoken about this grave incident of the King of Kings being born in a manger as a symbol of ruthlessness, insensitivity, and a terrible disrespect of a human being, let alone a king. We often forget that Jews still believe that Messiah is yet to come. We must recognize that when Mary and Joseph showed up at the Inn, they did not have around their heads shining aureoles as we see this depicted in the image of Mary and Jesus in the Catholic church places. I am very sure that when they presented their identification cards at the front desk, nothing suggested that, this young couple was about to birth a king of Israel. We have rushed in judging harshly all the people of Bethlehem as inhospitable and undoubtedly, the Manager of that Inn is on the list of bad guys. Discussing with a specialist in Hotels and Hospitality Industry, I have received another insight about the events that occurred in Bethlehem, Israel more than two thousand years ago. Here is what comes to my mind: 1. A very important event was taking place in town. All the hotels were fully booked. In Nairobi, Kenya back in early 2000’s a big crusade was taking place in town and I remember that it was a nightmare for me to get a room in any hotel in Nairobi! This was the case in January 2009 at Washington, DC, during the time of inauguration of President Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America. Rooms were simply not there in many hotels around Washington, DC area. 2. The way this couple was so humble, from a humble place, suggests that they did not have resources to afford a room in that already expensive commercial season! Of course, with the conditions of Mary, one could have given away a room even for free in these circumstances but the Bible is very clear here: there was no room at all! The Inn was fully booked. The manager could simply say “no”. 3. The manager did not say “no”, he went instead extra miles to manage a place for this tired couple. He was able to set up a place in the stable and when Jesus was born, he was laid in the manger! Yes, the manger is not a crib but think about it: it is well curved that it surely protected baby Jesus from cold. How about the swaddling clothes with which Mary wrapped in the baby? Did they bring them from Nazareth or the Inn staff, and people around may have stepped on the plate and did a good job! As I share from the Word, I must recognize a spirit of creativity in the manager of the Inn in Bethlehem. This manager was placed in front of an impossible situation. He had guests who badly needed accommodation but there was no room left. You will tell me that he/she could kick out one of the guests and secure a room for Jesus. Do you think that Jesus would appreciate the action of injustice done on one guest just to get a room for Him? Yes, if the manager knew that he was a King, we know the rest: much pressure could be applied to him and one of the “less important” guests could spend night in the cold in spite of his payment even as an early bird! Well, the Manager did something creative: all those who had paid for rooms, remained in their rooms. No injustice on anyone. It is said that: “when we focus on what we don’t have, we see that we are poor, miserable; but when we focus on what we have, we are surprised to see how we are blessed and have all what we need”. This was the positive attitude of the Manager. Instead of complaining that his Inn is too small to the point that a pitiful couple cannot find a place, he immediately managed to setup something in the stable. Let us remember that about 2000 years ago, Inns did not have a parking space as we have it in the real of the hotels and sometimes a couple of levels underground. Guests arrived on donkeys, horses and the stable can be compared to today’s parking space and gas station! Yes, gas station too, because in order to travel, those donkeys needed to eat! With a little bit of work, the manager was able to get a place for this couple in the stable. In our contemporary lifestyle we can even sympathize more with this visionary Front Desk Manager. He really went extra miles and took risk. I am sure the Inn did not have insurance covering injury sustained in the property! Yet, the presence of a woman already in labour on the property, and subsequent accommodation in a stable of both the mother and the baby is something of concern. This Manager took really risk and went extra miles. What lesson do we learn from this Manager more than 2000 years later? First of all, we learn to find solutions of our challenges where we are, instead of sitting waiting for outsiders to come to our rescue. This is particularly true in Africa (and elsewhere) where we have too long waited for help, which arrived sometimes too late, and what was possible to be done remained undone. The Manager at Bethlehem challenges us to use what we have first and only then wait for gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Secondly, we learn now, only now after events that the Manager did the right thing: justice and fairness. It could have been heartbreaking for Jesus if he was to learn later on that someone lost his room, spent night on the street, and who knows may have caught the cold because Jesus took his room. Remember, by his own choice, he decided to own nothing including his life so that you and I may have everything we need including everlasting life. Indeed, he was made nobody so that you and I may be somebody. Thirdly we learn that we should not always expect fairness in this world. In all our literature, I never heard any credit given to the Inn Manager at Bethlehem! People may judge us the way they want. This is particularly true these days when the media decides the bad guys to get rid of and the good guys whom we should hang out with. Good guys can be labelled such because they are indeed good people, honest, with integrity. But they can also be made good guys because of different interests: economic, geopolitical, strategic, ext. The good news is that God is the ultimate Judge. Finally, as we celebrate the humble coming of Jesus into this world, we must not loose sight of His second coming, but this time in glory. I pray that one day, you will get the following message: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was stranger and you took me in…Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”.