The Wrangell sentinel., 1954-12-24

 WRANGELL CHURCHES CHRISTMAS MESSAGES
THE CHRIST BARRED29 By the Rev. Paul F. Evans First Presbyterian Church

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 "There was no room for them in the inn" St Luke 2;7.
 Late at night we see two figures coming into Bethlehem town. As they near a light. we see that tired young woman is riding on a donkey, and nearby comely man, making this journey as comfortable as h. can for her They near the inn. which is located near the cen Ter oI town. They both are very weary from their journey and as the woman stays on the DaeN oI al crude donkey, the man makes his way to the inn door.
 He raps. but there is no answer. He raps again, even louder. and alter a few moments of silence, the door opens. What do you want Il it's rooms you are looking for, they are all taken. l even have people sleeping in the hall up- stairs" But, says the man, my wife is in travail and she is about to give birth to a child. :" I'm sor- ny l haven't any room," and as ne k about to close the door, Mary cries with the pain of travail, Sir please! Pleasei l must have some where to lay my child"
 You shouldn't have made the journey if you knew such a thing was going to happen. Go to the other side of the inn and there you will find a stable. Ii is warm there, make yourself as comfortable as you can. But man, where was your head when you brought woman here in that condition? Go Go! There is no room for you in the inn"
 Of course. Mary on account Of her condition, should have received more tender consideration. But the innkeeper was a business man, and was not running his establishment on the lines of a benevolent organ ization and business was IusIness with him. Anyhow the inn was crowded and there was no room for Mary and Joseph. fernap there were some social reasons why the innkeeper should not trouble much with folks such as they.
 When we look at the beautiful picture of the Madonna and her child, by Raphael or Correggie with the delicate beauty of Mary's face and the unforgettable colors of her robes. we wonder how the innkeaper could turn her away. Yes. but Mary did not look like that to the Bethlehem innkeeper. He saw only a drab-robed peasant woman with a carpenter by her side. Nevertheless, the stark and naked fact that confronts us is, that the mother of Jesus and her expected Babe were shut out of the inn, so that the Son of God was born in a stable.
 In a sense we are glad that it happened this way, that Christ should have a humble birth. For it makes his identity with humanity more deep and striking.
 Now about our own day. Where does Jesus Christ and add He stands for come in? What place do we give Him in our social life, in our business transactions, in our poli- ties. in our national aims? Just where does He come in?
 But what I am asking and it is my business as Christian minister to ask it l. is, Are we finding any room for the Christ? Are We making any room in the inns of our hearts for the Christ of Christmas?
 What was it that the Bethlehem innkeeper shut out when he closed the door on the birth of the Christ?
 First of all HE CLOSED OUT HUMILITY. He despised the most beautiful and precious of human virtues. Of all the corruption and degeneracy of manners, that wo- man of virtue and honor should be treated so barbarously. If there had been any common humanity among them. they would not have turned woman in travail into a stable The birth of Christ was itself a part of His humiliation. For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, hum- bled Himself and was found in the likeness of man." Philippians g.: 6-7)
 There is a rap at the door of your heart, would you like the inn keeper, turn away the Christ, or would you receive Him in deep humility? The thought always struck me that the innkeeper could have given Mary his bed for the