…because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2: 7 ESV)
Surprising Profits
An innkeeper is not actually mentioned in Luke’s gospel. But where there are inns, there are innkeepers, and thus thousands of young actors got a role in Nativity plays.
That innkeeper was having a good day. His inn was full. He was so full, in fact, that he housed Mary and Joseph in an extra location. A place not usually used as a room for rent.
The extra business was probably due to the census demanded by Rome. The extra business was also probably due to a religious feast that brought travelers. The extra business was also due to the sovereignty of God.
He wanted Jesus born in that manger.
And so the innkeeper profited.
But of course, the innkeeper had an opportunity to profit even more!
Because that baby not only gained the innkeeper some coins, that baby also was born to provide salvation.
We do not know if the innkeeper ended up believing in that Messiah-child. I hope he did.
I also hope he learned that every single thing that happens has one purpose: to bring the Messiah.
The money he made that night was nice. But the incarnation was so much more.
Everything happens for that single purpose.
Including everything that happens to us, today. Profits and loss occur in God’s plan to bring us closer to Jesus. Success and failure occur in God’s economy to bring us closer to Jesus. The mundane and the spectacular are present to bring us closer to Jesus.
So let’s pay attention!