Making Room for the Lord
Pastor Tan Thai · Dec 24, 2014
This Christmas sermon calls each person to reflect on the meaning of Jesus Christ's birth and ask whether they have made room for Him in their heart. The image of the inn with no vacancy in Bethlehem serves as a mirror for hearts too busy with material life to leave any space for God.
This sermon, delivered on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2014, opens by establishing the identity of Jesus Christ: He is God Himself, the Creator of the universe and of all humanity. The preacher cites the prophecies of Isaiah 9:6 and Micah 5:2, written approximately 700 years before Christ's birth, as evidence that God's plan of salvation was determined long before history unfolded. The birth of Jesus was so significant that it divided all of human history into before and after His coming.
The preacher sketches the historical backdrop of the first Christmas night: Emperor Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census, setting all the world in motion to comply with the command of an earthly king. Yet while everyone was consumed by this urgent imperial order, the King of Heaven was born quietly in a lowly stable in Bethlehem because there was no room at the inn. This contrast is not accidental but carries a message: when people are too busy chasing the demands of this world, they inadvertently leave no room for God in their lives.
The images of the stable and the inn are then applied as metaphors for the human heart. The stable represents the sinful, unclean heart of a person — yet it is precisely into such a heart that the King of Heaven is willing to enter. The inn represents lives so full and so busy that there is simply no room for Christ. The preacher uses the illustration of a large house with many rooms — rooms for work, study, relationships, entertainment — to show how when earthly priorities crowd the heart, Jesus ends up pushed into a forgotten corner.
The preacher quotes the Christmas song "Ngôi Hai Xuống Đời" (The Second Person Descended to Earth) by composer Hùng Lân as a call to stillness and reflection on Christ's immeasurable sacrifice: He left heavenly glory, took on a fragile human body, and dwelt in a manger — all to demonstrate God's boundless love for humanity. The sermon closes with an invitation for each listener to quietly meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation and to open their heart to receive Christ as Lord on that Christmas night.