Making Room at the Inn

Laura Digan December 25, 2025 1 1

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Luke 2: 1-7 (NIVUK)

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

A number of years ago a friend and I spent the night at the stables to raise funds for the Guild projects. It was cold, it was smelly and it was uncomfortable. It really highlighted to me the reality that the baby Jesus, God with us, was born into. There was no room at the inn, no place prepared for Mary and Joseph, so Jesus was placed in a manger, the feeding trough for the animals. God did not wait for comfort or status to make his dwelling, he entered the world in the margins. He came where there was space, no matter how humble. 

The manger reminds us that God’s table is open to everyone, there are no walls, there are no reservations. There is space for all of us at his table. 

And that baby laid among the animals would grow up to welcome sinners, strangers and the forgotten; showing us that belonging is not earned but given. Making room at the inn means understanding that God meets us in the overlooked places and invites us to do the same. No one is turned away from Christ’s table; there is room for the weary, the doubting and the hopeful. God always makes space.

Prayer:

Loving God, open my heart to make room where I once saw none.

Help me welcome others as you welcome us all at your table

May Your love teach me that there is always space for grace.

Amen