Was it Really the Innkeeper’s Fault?
by M Ryan Taylor
Copyright © 2008 M Ryan Taylor

Was it really the innkeepers fault?
Did he post a sign that said, “NO ROOM"?
Did he meet each weary traveler at the door only to tell them that they had to go away?

Or, did he look upon a woman great with child and say, “Wait a moment,” and then go within the inn to see if anyone would be willing to give up their place?
Did he tell the travelers that there was a woman in great need without?
Did he say, “Will anyone please give up their place for this poor woman? Her time is come; she is about to be delivered."?

If so, he must have been met with a mighty silence, the crowd unwilling to give up their comfort for one in distress.

It is hard to imagine, but they might have said in their hearts, or even aloud:
“I was here first.”
“They should have started out sooner.”
“Let them buy my place from me if they are so desperate.”
“I’m too tired to deal with this.”
“I can’t bring my family out into the cold, they might get sick.”
“It’s their own fault, let them sleep in the street.”
“I have trouble of my own.”
Do any of these arguments sound familier to us?
Have we harbored such thoughts ourselves?

Regardless of what they said or thought, no one volunteered.
The innkeeper may have gone to back to the door and said, “I’m sorry. There’s no room.”

But what of the residents of Bethlehem?
Didn’t any of them sit by the door or look out of their window and see a woman in pain, afflicted, in need of shelter?
If they did they did not offer to help.

Did they feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task at hand? This massive influx of people returning to the home of their fathers; was there too much suffering for them to deal with?
Did they lock their doors and shutter their windows and hide, ignoring what was going on outside?
Did they think, “I am safe here with my family, all is well, all is right."?

Are we any different today?
Was it really the innkeepers fault?

“And she brought forth her firstborn son . . . and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”