Making Room for God in Your Life
Pastor Tan Thai · Dec 25, 2016
This Christmas sermon, based on Luke 2:6-7, explores the theological significance of there being no room in the inn for Jesus at His birth. The pastor calls the congregation to examine whether their own lives truly have room for Jesus Christ amid the busyness of material and fleshly pursuits.
The sermon opens with a vivid illustration of being stranded at an airport during a snowstorm, with thousands of passengers unable to find lodging for the night. This image leads into the Christmas narrative from Luke 2:6-7, where Mary and Joseph found no room in the inn when Jesus was born. The pastor asserts this was no accident but the deliberate plan of God, foretold with specific detail some 700 years in advance.
The sermon builds a strong theological foundation regarding the person of Jesus Christ, drawing on the historical debate between Athanasius and Arius at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to affirm that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word made flesh. Because Jesus is God, every person must make room for Him in their life. The dark and lowly stable is used as a symbol of the humble heart that acknowledges its own sinfulness, while the inn crowded with guests represents lives so filled with worldly busyness that there is no room left for God.
The pastor identifies three things necessary to make room for Christ. First, one must listen and set right priorities, since the many voices of the world — wealth, fame, romantic love — drown out the voice of God. Second, making room for Christ requires genuine sacrifice, as Mary and Joseph accepted hardship and suffering in obedience to God's word. Third and most importantly, it requires humility, because Christ came into the world humbly and for those who have humble hearts that recognize the darkness within themselves and their need to be cleansed.
The sermon highlights the Christmas characters — Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men from the East — as examples of people who truly made room for God in their lives despite fear and sacrifice. The pastor uses the image of a house with many rooms to ask the congregation whether any room in their life is reserved for God, or whether a sign reading 'no room for Christ' still hangs at the door of their heart.
The sermon closes with a sincere call to action: for those who have never believed, to open their hearts so that Jesus may be born within them; for those who have believed but allowed material and fleshly pursuits to rule their lives, to repent and invite Christ to be Lord completely. The pastor recalls the angel's words in Luke 2 — 'I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people' — and prays that the congregation will experience the light of peace and hope throughout this Christmas season.