Prepare Him room

Joy to the world – the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room….  –Isaac Watts, 1719

My wife and I are “empty nesters”. Our four children have grown up, moved away, and begun having children of their own. With fewer occupants in our home (and fewer people to keep up with chores), we decided to downsize about five years ago. I wanted fewer rooms and more land; my wife didn’t care about overall room count or lot size, as long as she had enough bedrooms for ALL the kids to come home, with their spouses and the grandkids. (I mentioned we had four, right?) To make a long story just a little shorter, we compromised: my wife got exactly what she wanted. All the bedrooms and half the yard of the house we’d moved out of.

Someday I’ll tell you how our dog discussions ended up. Here’s a hint: I didn’t think we needed one. My point in telling you the house story is we have multiple rooms in our home that are used a handful of times per year and hardly ever all at once. So here’s what happens: The doors stay closed and those rooms don’t get cleaned regularly. They accumulate stuff that doesn’t have a place or is infrequently used. They get dusty and musty and the bed linens get “stale”.

When company is coming, we scramble to get everything cleaned up, freshened up, and the junk put away. We had room. We expected people to visit – sort of, eventually. But in the in-between waiting times, the room becomes dusty and cluttered with other things.

And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  –Luke 2:6-7 (KJV)

I think that’s what happened to God’s people. Messiah was promised. They were oppressed but they held out hope. They needed their champion, their deliverer to arrive and save the day. They had room, what was taking so long? Over time, many lost hope. The room was dark – no one went in there anymore. Many of those who held on created an image of Messiah in their own imaginations that was so far removed from the promise that they failed to recognize the Savior once the promise was fulfilled.

One of the challenges of Advent is to make room. Mary did. Joseph did. The innkeeper finally did, but it didn’t look the way anyone would’ve expected, which is probably fitting. We have a promise of our own, that of a second Advent. And the wait for its fulfillment has been long, at least by human reckoning. But the wonder is still wonderful if we allow it to be. Emmanuel – our God is with us. So clear out the clutter, sweep out the dust, freshen up the manger – prepare Him room.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  –Revelation 3:20 (KJV)