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 and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:4-7, NIV

It’s the night before Christmas and two people, Mary and Joe, become stranded in a Colorado blizzard on their way from New York to California. The caveat is that Mary is pregnant and begins going into labor in the car while trying to find a hotel to stay in for the night. She begs Joe to pull over at the next house because traffic is super slow and there’s no way she’s having her baby in the car. So Joe obliges and humbly pulls into your driveway, walks up to your door and rings the doorbell.

You and your family and friends are right in the middle of your Christmas Eve traditions and are a little surprised to hear the doorbell ring. You go to the door and in front of you stands a man who you have never seen before in your life, babbling about his wife in the car and having a baby, no place to go, can’t get into a hospital, etc. etc. You’re not entirely certain what’s really going on so you follow the man to his car and low and behold in the passengers seat is a woman, clearly in labor. Your house is so full of people that you wonder where on earth this couple can be, but as your wondering the woman in the midst of a very strong contraction belts out a scream disrupting your thought. It’s clear that you need to get her inside so you help the man pull his wife out of the car and begin assisting her into your house. There are children already asleep in the guest bedroom so you quickly convert your dinning room into a makeshift delivery room complete with lots of towels, hot water, and pillows.

Joe is kind of embarrassed about the situation and worries about the cream colored carpet that Mary is laying on, but the baby is coming and the thought is quickly replaced by the pain of Mary squeezing his hand. Mary is a modest woman and there is little privacy offered in the dinning room as you and your spouse run around gathering blankets, pillows, towels, and other things, bringing them into her.

Within a very short time the baby comes. All the people in the house are very excited and Mary can hear them clapping as you announce the news…the birth went well and it’s a boy! Mary and Joe are left alone with their new baby for a bit and marvel at what has just occurred.

There are a couple of elements to this situation that really strike me. One – could I let a stranger into my home, lay them down on my cream colored carpet, knowing that what’s about to happen will more than likely stain my carpets? And, two – could I, if I were in Mary and Joe’s shoes, be brave and humble enough to ask complete strangers for help? Of course, when a baby is about to be birthed I’m not going to be worry about my carpets and if I were having a baby I probably wouldn’t care too much about who’s around me while I’m giving birth. But what if the situation didn’t involve babies? What if it was that secret that you’ve held onto for a very long time because you feel so shameful about it? Or what if someone comes to you and says that they have a very dark and shameful thing that they are finally ready to share with someone and wonders if you would be willing to listen?

When I was growing up it was considered taboo to speak to anyone outside of your family about what happened at home. When I was in seventh grade my oldest sister tried to kill herself and I was the first one home that evening and happened to find her. She was conscious, and had all ready called someone who had in turn called 911, but I will never forget that day it had a huge impact on me. I felt scared as I road in the back of the ambulance with my sister laying on the gurney. I felt scared as I held her hand in the emergency room waiting for my mom to arrive. I felt scared as she began throwing up from the charcoal the doctor’s had given to her. The fear I felt in that moment and the sadness I felt over the next week as she stayed in the hospital under suicide watch was immense, and yet no one, not one person ever reached out to me during that time. The same shame that kept people from reaching out to me, also kept me from asking for help. I did not talk about it to anyone for it was a shameful thing that had happened and it was not to be discussed. I’m sure that each of us has a story like this, a situation where we needed something and we did not seek help or maybe you saw someone who needed help and because you didn’t think it was ‘your place’ to ‘get involved’ you did not offer help.

In this third week of advent, through the story of the innkeeper, we are offered a window into what things might have looked like leading up to the birth of Jesus and during the birth…what it might look like to stay in and fight when everything in us and around us tells us that we should run if we’re the innkeeper, or freeze if we’re Mary and Joe. Neither chose those options though. The innkeeper chose not to turn his back and run from the ‘problem’ that stood before him, but rather to stay in it and fight. Mary and Joe didn’t not freeze they kept moving forward, willing to put their stuff out there and seek help. They both chose to step into the situation and fight.

Take just a moment to reflect and consider this question, which applies to whatever role you find yourself in either as the innkeeper or as Mary and Joseph, “God, this advent season, what do I need your help stepping into rather than stepping away from?”