I wonder if you could consider with me for a moment a different telling of the Christmas story—hinging on one word in Luke’s Gospel we just heard. The Greek word is kataluma, and it is often translated to mean: the inn. As in, “because there was not place for them in the inn.” This word is the reason our pageants often portray an inn-keeper shaking his head: no, no room here.
But that’s not the only translation of the word.
The word can also be translated as guest room.
And given that Joseph was returning to Bethlehem to be registered with the rest of his extended family, and given that this story would have taken place long before hotels became the thriving business they are today, a guest room sounds like a very plausible translation.
How does this change our understanding of the story?
I can imagine Mary, in a crowded house of her in-laws, heavy with child. Perhaps the guest room was not available to her because someone more vulnerable needed it—a sick aunt or uncle. Perhaps it was unavailable because someone more important needed it—after all, Joseph came from the kingly line of David. Perhaps it was unavailable because Joseph’s family disapproved of his choice to marry this woman who had become pregnant. Or perhaps the guest room was full of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and Mary preferred the privacy of the room where the animals stayed indoors at night.
Have you ever been in a room full of people, but felt so alone?
That’s how I imagine Mary feeling in this telling of the Gospel.
It’s how some of us may feel, too, when we carry our sometimes hidden feelings of grief, fear, worry, confusion, weakness while walking through a season of cheerful chaos and joyful togetherness. We hold the hope and the sadness together, but we don’t want to bring others down, so we keep parts of ourselves to ourselves.
If that is you tonight, know that you are not alone.
The words that we heard from the prophet Isaiah are precisely the words that Jesus chose to read aloud at synagogue when his ministry began. Because Jesus comes to the oppressed. Jesus comes to the brokenhearted. Jesus comes to those who feel trapped. Jesus comes to those who mourn. Jesus comes to you.
Amen.
lauren laughs 