Pastor Ralph Douglas West - The Inn Keeper: The Man Who Missed The Moment | Luke 2:1-7

0:15 While you're standing, open God's word to Luke chapter 2. While you're doing that, I want to recognize this morning and celebrate our brother Kenny Shashan, who finished his Master of Divinity in seminary on Friday. We appreciate that. delighted to have Pastor William Watson. Well, nephew, there he is. Normally, anyway, we're glad to have you on campus all the way from Tennessee, from Memphis with us today. The pastor, First Baptist Church, and we're glad to have him with us worshiping.

1:10 Typically, he would preach on this Sunday. I told him we're in a series, so next year we're going to give him the, you preach on Elizabeth next year. So that's what we're going to do. Luke chapter 2, commencing at verse 1. In this series of Luke looking at Christmas, hear God's word about this unlikely person and the story commencing at verse 1 In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree

1:54 that a census should be taken on the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quiranius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem, the town of David because he belonged to the house of the line of David He went out of register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available to them.

2:56 This is the word of God. You may be seated. Let me tag this text this morning. The innkeeper, the man who misses his moment. you can be in the company of greatness and not know it.

3:17 Ann Wilson supported that claim in her biography on Queen Victoria. She recounts for the reader an event that took place when she and her German consort, Prince Albert, was walking the grounds of one of the palaces.

3:45 On an afternoon stroll, a thunderstorm, a torrent of rain that forced she and Albert to run for shelter. They found it at an adjoining piece of property belonging to a hermit, and she knocked at the door. When the hermit opened the door, he didn't recognize the monarch of England, the most venerated person in his world, came into his house, sat down, he gave her a cup of tea, allowed her to collect herself, dry off and the queen and the prince walked away undetected, incognito that this hermit didn't know that greatness had come into its midst.

4:50 You can be in the middle of greatness and not even know that it's there. this happened to me some years ago I was out on the Jack Nicholas signature course in Texas and I was working on my chip game that's part of your short game balls were flying to the left and right and over the mound for those of you that are not aware how golf is played what I just described is not how you chip a shot.

5:28 A gentleman seeing me in my struggle asked if he could show me some pointers. I said, sure, it couldn't get worse. And he did. He talked about my height and then he talked about my body movement, my hand placement, my swings, and then how I might want to position myself based off of what he saw just out of the corner of his eye while the head of my club would hit at a particular spot. I said, thank you. He said, tried, I did, and immediately my chip shots improved 90%. He walked away. I told him thank you. When a man on the court says, do you know who that is? I said, no, but apparently he knows how to play golf.

6:27 And so he said, you may want to turn around and look at his bag. And I did. And it was a young man named K.J. Choi, one of the PGA pros and winners on tour. All I know is, is that he helped my game. But what I didn't know is that greatness was right in my midst, and I didn't know it. If you're not careful, one greater than a Choi, greater than a Queen Victoria, can be in your midst. God can come in your midst, work with you, and he can go unrecognized. You wonder how many times that has happened to us that God is coming to our midst and we not even know that he was there. I hear what you're saying.

7:30 I hear you. Not me. You may not, Pastor West, have the insight to interpret when greatness is around you. But not me. No greatness has ever come around me, and I not recognize it. That's a pretty bold claim for you to make, particularly when I hear the writer of Hebrews say to us in his sermon, be careful, brothers and sisters, when you enter into God's presence, for there have been men and women who have entertained angels unaware. Sometimes God's greatness does not come shrouded in greatness. Many times God's greatness come to us in those incognito moments. It happened really at the beginning of what we call Christmas, the season of Advent, where the world held its breath in anticipation for the fulfillment of prophetic literature to come to pass.

8:39 when we come and celebrate this time. I love all the commerciality of it, by the way. But beyond that, we celebrate something that had been prophetically predicted seven, 800 years, 3,000 years before it ever came to pass. These are the passages that we read about throughout the scripture and how God comes to us in those specific moments. And if you're not careful, If you're not attentive, God can come and go unaware. I heard you a second time. I heard you. You ought to be nicer because I heard you. I heard you say it in your head. Greatness may come to you, Pastor Wes. You may not be the brightest bulb in the tree, but greatness will never come to me, and I never recognize it.

9:35 Strange that you would say that, that there were people who were more in tune than I or you, and he had these words said about them. And the word became flesh and dwelt among them. And they beheld the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then right after that, these words. but he came to his own and his own received him not. Isn't it amazing that God can come to the most least likely people and they might pick up God quicker than those of us who have scriptures and hymns and prayers and psalms and poetry and read about him. This is a word, a caveat that says, be on tiptoe now during the season of Christmas.

10:34 You know so much. You know the songs. And if you're not careful, you'll miss this God who comes to us. God can come and go. God can be in our midst and not recognize him. This happened to Peter the Great, you know. Peter the Great wanted to know in the 17th century how did the European culture function. He wanted to know about its technology, its culture, its militarism. And Peter the Great shrouded himself in the garb of common people in Russia. He went down to the shipyards, took ship, and he worked among people, ate among the commoners, shared beer with them. They talked and they exchanged ideas. He wanted to know how did they feel about being where they lived and they told him.

11:32 And he became a better leader, he says. He says of his famous quip that he could conquer the world, he just couldn't conquer himself. This Christmas, while you're conquering your career and conquering your job and conquering relationships, allow God to conquer you so that you can be the person that God is calling you to be. Preach, Pastor West. Go on and preach, man. You're doing it. You may come and go. Greatness may come and go and you not be aware of it. That happened to the silent Joseph and the submissive Mary. during this moment in world history when a census was to be taken and all of the citizens from a particular geography was to go and register so that they could be on the list.

12:32 Don't run away from the next census. Census means something. You change how the lines are drawn when you register for the census. And so they, Mary and Joseph, made the journey, the hard journey, to go and register. And on the way, on the journey, in this season, which would really be probably around August, she gives indication that I think the Savior of the world is on its way. We need a place to go. There were no holiday inns. They wanted one. And you remember when Holiday Inn made its arrival in America, Holiday Inn was a place for travelers going backwards and forward along the way. But there were no Holiday Inns.

13:28 There were no Day Inns. Some of you remember Days Inns is founded by a Christian family. The Days. And it served the same kind of opportunity that Holiday Inn was to do at a lesser price. And so there were no inns there. There were no bed and breakfasts there. And so Mary, the submissive, and Joseph the Silent, this almost forgotten man of Christmas, makes his way to a little inn. Now, one of the things that you and I don't have to do, and I noticed that this happens with a lot of preachers, we feel like we got to rescue everybody in the story. This is just a tendency, I guess, about preachers. Wake up now. That's the first time I've ever said that in 37 years, but I worked too hard on this point for you not to get it.

14:25 I'm not just on my feet talking. I worked on this. I want you to get this. and yeah I want you to get I want you to miss this you know I don't want you to get because that's what I mean you you can hear these stories so much that you think you know everything about and so there were no ends but but preachers and church folk we think we got to rescue these people from from the from these stories and uh and here is a man here is a man that many times we are very hard on him. Now I'm not trying to rescue him, but I will put him in context. He was not the owner of a holiday inn. He was not the owner of a day's inn. He's not the owner of a village inn. This is not a bed and breakfast. This is no highbrow point. He doesn't have 5,000 square feet of real estate, 100 or 200 rooms that he can rent out. He just has a little house with a couple of rooms, and they're occupied when Mary and Joseph, Mary the submissive, Joseph the silent, get there.

15:33 There's no room for them. I wonder what rearrangements he would have made had he known who was coming to the doorsteps of his inn. I wonder would he have made some rearrangements and the best he could do is he said, I got a garage out back. You can use that and without complaint. Joseph takes his wife, his betrothed, he takes her there so that the Savior of the world could be born for her heater. All she had was some sheep and there was the stench and the heat of dung and oxen around them and then a little trough would be born and that's all he had. They're born in the back door The back door of the house What happened?

16:30 Is that this man missed his moment Christ on his doorstep Knocking at the door And he missed his moment Church, that's all I want to tell you this morning That is, don't become so familiar with God's grace that when it knocks at your door, you miss your moment. I want to say that again to somebody. I want to say it to somebody here this morning. And I mean this, and I want you to hear me tell, I want you to hear, don't you become so familiar at assuming that next week is going to come to you that you miss your moment today where God is saying, I'm here knocking at your door right now. Hear my voice. Hear my voice.

17:23 I'm done with the sermon. That's about as long as it got to give you. That's it. He missed his moment. He missed his moment. But let me tell you, just to dig down into that. That is, don't miss your defining moment. That's what he missed. Let me ask you, do you think that he knew 2,000 years ago that this was a defining moment for him? I don't think he knew it. I think that he too possessed the same conscience that I possessed and you possessed that I'm going to have another opportunity. Or he's insensitive. if he is so committed to his career, so committed to his job, so committed to his employment, that he overlooks what's happening to him at that very moment. Let me tell you for a second time, don't miss your moment, but don't miss your defining moment. You said how, what I mean by defining you know exactly what I mean. 2,000 years have passed and he had no idea that we would move away from Bethlehem to be talking about him in Houston on Queenston Road in 2024 about not missing your defining moment. This was a defining moment for him. This is a moment in which if he had opened that door, made room in his inn, the story would be different. This story would be different.

19:02 Imagine then, have you ever done that? What difference would have been made had he said, Mary, come in. Joseph, come in. I don't have room in the traditional rooms, but I do have room that I can make room in the great room, in the fire room, in the library room. I can make room. Can you imagine what may have happened at that defining moment? At that defining moment, she may have said to him what she had already said previously to Elizabeth. She may have said, thank you for letting me in. My soul magnifies the Lord. You don't know. Now don't be the person that leave here man. Don't be the person leave here woman.

19:56 Don't you be the person that leave here person. Get in your car, walking next to somebody and say, Pastor West trying to scare us. No, I'm just testifying that everybody has a moment and how you handle that moment makes it whether it's a defining moment or not. Can I dig one, just one more time? Don't miss your moment. Don't miss your defining moment. Don't miss your redemptive moment. This could have been a moment of redemption for this end and not just the end keeper but everybody who's occupying the rules. if he would have made room for Christ. Now, you don't have to feel sorry for the endkeeper because every week Christ is trying to get you to make room for him.

20:59 You don't have to worry about the endkeeper. The question is when Christ knocks at your door, will you open the door and make room for him? For years, I had marveled and mused over Holman Hunt's painting, Christ at the Door. It's entitled, Jesus, the Light of the World. You've seen this painting. But several years ago, when I was at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, as well as the Carver College in Oxford, I got a chance to see the series of oil paintings that Holman Hunt is painting to describe Jesus, the Light of the World. I'm no art critic, but I picked up immediately what he was getting to. It's the setting of the sun, and the family is all in the home, and they're settling down to eat at a table.

21:58 The fire is burning in the place. The hearth of the home has been warmed. And outside the door, Jesus is standing. Hunt chapters Jesus with his hand and fist raised with the image of knocking at the door. So you see him at the door, but you also see the family in the house. and then you look at the knob and wonder why Jesus won't turn it and just enter in because there is no latch on the outside carefully painted there's no latch, no lock on the outside but then when you look inside there is the lock and the latch and as Jesus is knocking at the door the only way he can get in is that those on the inside let him in.

23:08 That picture is painted and it's frozen in the moment. To leave those who observe that painting to question, I wonder, did that family get up from the table and open the door? We don't know because Hunt does not give us another painting of Jesus sitting at the table. But you don't have to wonder this morning whether or not that family got up and unlocked the door. You have a door and you have a latch and nobody can let Christ in but you. And the question is, when Christ knocks at your door, will you unlock that door and let him in? I can tell by some of your faces that that doesn't register with you because you say, I've let Jesus in.

24:10 That's all you've done is let him in? Let me quote the verse then that Holman Hunt is painting. It's Revelation 3.20. It's not just a painting. He is putting face to behold I stand at the door and knock. And if any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him. That's King James. I'll come in and sup with him. That's King James. I'll come in and eat with him. That's other translations. I'll come in and I'll sit down at the dinner table with them and they with me. You see, you have to be careful when you start talking about I let Jesus in. Because if Jesus is still guest, he's on the outside of the door.

25:08 He's only been let in when he becomes the host of your life. He's no longer guest. He's the host. Priest Pastor West. So all this stuff about Christianity, brothers, being soft and timid, you ain't never encountered the real line of the tribe of Judah. Because if you have, you know when you let Christ in your life, he changes everything around. He rearranges your career, rearranges your future, changes your direction.

25:48 Is there anything that ever moves you to a point of tears when it comes to Christianity? It does for me. I sat year before last. I can't remember. now I was the guest for the Corporate Baptist Fellowship to speak.

26:10 And then there's a period in the service where young people who have made a decision to be missionaries don't always get bored about this. This is your heritage. This is your spiritual heritage. This is what you committed to. when you signed up to follow Jesus this is what you signed up to and I watched them young people on the stage they were not young people that didn't have anything to do these were young men and women who were CEOs of their companies stepping down, professionals medical doctors, attorneys who walk away from that job to learn a language, to relocate their families to different parts of the world to take the gospel.

27:13 To take the gospel. And here we are this morning, Christ can knock at our door and says, All I'm trying to do is give you a salvation that these people are signing up to take around the world. And we're afraid to get up and just walk in his direction. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I'll come in. and I'll sup with you, I'll eat with you, I'll live with you, I'll be in your home with you. But just know this, when I come in, I may walk in as a guest, but when I get in, I become the owner of that house. I'm the Lord of your life.

28:09 And when I think of those young people who walk away from it all to put that confidence in Jesus. That's what you give when we say it's mission time. It's time to give the missions. You're giving to a group of people who have walked away from it all to take Christ into backwater places that you're not going and I'm not going either. what we can do we can help support those who are taking the gospel that we say we love to the utmost parts of the earth and when you get on your knees and you're asking God for a blessing and that raise that you want why don't you say it this way Lord I want a raise but I want to be able to give to support your kingdom in the world give God a reason to bless you Thank you.

29:05 A redemptive moment. I'm done now. Jesus didn't have to do it but he did he didn't have to come from way up there to down here he didn't have to do it he didn't have to step out of eternity into time he didn't have to choose submissive Mary and silent Joseph he could have come by the way if he wanted to through power Athens was available he could have come by the way of the acme of intellectual power he could have come by the way of the apogee of military and political power in Rome he could have come through the citadel of power of religiosity but he said that's not how I'm going to come I'm gonna show up with the most the least likely folk that I can find and I'm gonna show up in a garage, a back door. I'm going to come so that when people know that I've arrived, they know that power has come. That's why you're able to say, and when you receive power, yeah, I'm done now.

30:30 Christ came that way. And here we are joining our voices now with millions and millions of other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ saying that we are here because Christ has come to us and now that he has come to us we now make the declaration that we will take him to where others are. and when Jesus shows up he gives us doesn't he a story and a song blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine and of salvation purchased of God born of his spirit washed in his blood this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long nobody ought to have to stir you to praise him do you have a story then you got a song has God done anything for you you got a song.

31:56 It may not have been written yet but you got a song. You can thank the Lord for what he's done and what God continues to do. God has given to you a story and a song. I'm grateful for that. That God has given us a story. And can anybody tell your story like you can tell. I won't ask you to tell it right now, but in this season, you ought to say that God has given me an opportunity and I don't want to miss my moment. I want to tell my story. I want to sing my song, but I can't sing. I didn't ask you that. you have a story and you have a song.

32:54 And both of them have been given to you not to keep to yourself, but to tell somebody else. Amen. Amen. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank you. For our story and our song. Help us in the ordinary moments of life when you come close to us to recognize your presence. whether it be in some hungry soul, some broken life, some sick person, somebody in jail, prison, that we recognize that you are involved in all aspects of life.

34:01 May we never miss our moment. May we not miss our defining moment, the moments in which you have created for us to be or to become more of what you want us to be. And then help us not to miss our redemptive moment,

34:22 those moments that change the world around us. In the strong name of Jesus, we pray, even for those who are here this morning.