Which part of "The Nativity Story" touched you most deeply? Why?
From this coming Sunday's sermon:
One scene in particular that had a tremendous impact on me was Joseph and Mary’s arrival in Bethlehem. Mary’s labor pains are urgent, and Joseph desperately runs from house to house, banging on doors, asking for a room. After many refusals, finally a man directs Joseph toward the cave where the livestock is kept. “It’s the best I can offer you,” he says.
We’re told in Luke 2 verse 7 tells us that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” We tend to view that anonymous innkeeper with a degree of fondness, because it seems he at least provided some kind of shelter for the birth of the Lord when no one else would. But an old preacher opened my eyes to something about that innkeeper. Mary was great with child. The innkeeper could see what was going on, and yet he sent them to the stable with the animals, declaring he had no room available. But if you really think about it, he really could have given this pregnant woman in labor a room rather than a barn. He said there were no rooms, but there was at least one he could have given them: He could have given them his own room. He could have seen the pitiful picture of a teenaged girl, panting and groaning with each contraction, and he could have said, “Use my room. I’ll bed down out back tonight.” But he didn’t do that. He could see the desperate need unfolding in front of his very eyes, yet he would not surrender his own comfort. And as I watched that film and saw the old innkeeper jerk his thumb in the direction of the livestock cave and say, “It’s the best I can do for you,” I realized that far too often, I’m just like Him. In the quietness of my bed in the dark of night, as I linger in my thoughts before sleep, I consider how many times and in how many ways the King of Kings has come to me, and instead of receiving him into the home of my heart, I have instead callously relegated him to an outbuilding, saying, “It’s the best I can do for you.”
2 comments:
I think one of the parts that touched me was the choosing of Joseph for Mary. I could see how she didn't love him but did obey. As she saw his commitment to her and the baby Jesus her love grew as did his.
I also never thought of the horrible journey they had to make and all they must have had to endure. We are so very blessed and don't even know it or acknowledge it.
That was an excellent point you made on the inn keeper. That is true he could of given them his room. Kind of sounds like us at times. Too busy or don't want to be put out so we ignore or give as little as possible.
To actually see the hay and baby Jesus laying there also spoke to me. Would I even put my baby in a pile of hay with no padding to protect him from the stubble. How that must of felt on his precious tiny body. How He came into the world and how He left this world, what love our heavenly Father has for us.
The movie really made the characters 'real' for me. I was especially drawn to the fact of the complete submission to the Lord's will by Mary & Joseph. Even though they didn't completely understand, and they realized they would be the target of scorn, they submitted to God. Also, the path of obedience was hard after the initial act of submission. I think sometimes we get the wrong idea that once we submit to the Lord, the path will be smooth for us. Not so! But they had made the choice to obey and didn't cave in when things got tough. What an encouragement to me!
Tha movie was very well done and it you haven't seen it yet, GO!
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