The Spirit of Christmas

Yesterday morning, at our church's weekly prayer meeting for our military, one of the men, who probably wouldn't want me to use his name, told a wonderful story.

(This guy is pretty wonderful himself. He was a Marine in World War II, part of the invasion of Iwo Jima 62 years ago,and still going strong.)

Here's the story. I think it's a great picture of the Christmas spirit, the spirit Jesus came to bring us.

Some years ago a church was putting on a Sunday School Christmas pageant. Everybody got a part: a girl would play Mary, a boy would play Joseph, others would be shepherds and angels and wise men. One little boy - we'll call him Johnny - had what we nowadays would call a learning disability. But he wanted to have a part in the pageant, and everybody wanted him to have a part.

They decided the easiest role for Johnny to play was the innkeeper. All he had to say was one line: "There's no room in the inn." Five words. They figured Johnny could handle that.

The night of the pageant came and Johnny was there, resplendent in his costume and his excitement. The director and the teachers and even the other kids kept going over Johnny's line with him, just to be sure he knew it. "There's no room in the inn. There's no room in the inn."

Finally the pageant began. Gabriel appeared to Mary. Another angel appeared to Joseph. A Roman soldier announced the census. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem.

It was time for Johnny.

The boy playing Joseph knocked on the door. Johnny said his line perfectly: "There's no room in the inn." Joseph and Mary turned away, giving a convincing portrayal of sadness and desperation. That's when Johnny called out: "Wait, don't go! You can have my room!"