One fine afternoon, after taking a bath, I found my wife down-hearted in front of our laptop.

“Why are you sad?” I asked her. She looked at me straight in the eye and said, “I don’t like people using Merry Xmas! That is taking Jesus out of Christmas.” I shot back and said, “Eh, we as Christians cannot be so fanatic. If we condemn them for banning A***h, then we shouldn’t criticize on using the word “X’mas”?” Immediately, her long face morphed into a beady-eyed long face and the debate began.

Fully Booked
Needless to say, I regretted my respond to her as I never intended it to develop into a debate. But what we debated upon stayed in my mind the following days. I even googled “Xmas” to find it roots. Apparently, nobody knows whether it started out as a short-form for quick texting or a deliberate removal of the true reason of Christmas. Nonetheless, the truth remains – Christ was left out.

It was during GMC’s 2015 Christmas service sermon that hit me. Reverend Lenita started by explaining that most Christians do not know the correct Christmas story. We picture Mary on a donkey with Joseph  by her side, looking distressed in front of the innkeeper who said “No room”. “What does the bible really say?” she asked the congregation. I immediately turned to Luke 2:7 that said, “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

“It was fully booked,” I said to myself. It was perfectly logical for Jesus to be born in a manger because maybe, his parents were late in their travels for the census (there were no online booking then), resulting in all the rooms to be taken by other travelers. After 5 seconds, my eyes widened and I sat straight up, “Are we so fully booked that Jesus have to be kept outside?”

Making Room
Have you ever been to a birthday party that was so packed with guests that the birthday boy had to be left outside? Have you ever been so busy with Chinese New Year preparations that you stressed out everyone around you (even anger them) while knowing full well that Chinese New Year is about the reunion of family members and relatives?

I admit that at times I am preoccupied with making my boss happy and actually what I should be doing is to do a good job. I also admit that I snap at my parents when they ask me to mop the floor when I am so tired after work, not remembering that my responsibility as a son is to honor my parents. During this New Year, let us be reminded that we must make room for what is REALLY important even when we are very busy with our lives, just as Christ made room for us in His salvation plan even when we were busy attending our guests.

Leonard Lu, Grace Methodist Church, Miri