Mark 1: 1-5 - 1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Imagine the scene. Jesus has come home for a while. I guess I never realized that he came home for a visit with his family but apparently he did. I imagine his mom and dad are glad to see him. However, shortly after he gets home the doorbell rings. Maybe Joseph went to answer the door and was taken aback by what he saw. Maybe he called out "Mary, you need to come see this!" Apparently there were dozens upon dozens, who knows maybe there were hundreds who showed up once they heard Jesus was back home. We don't know exactly how many other than there were so many that there was no room inside or outside the house. Imagine the sights, sounds and smells; there were probably farmers, shepherds, carpenters, sick, crippled, poor, men, women, children and on and on. We have no idea what Mary thought but I wonder if she was worried that the house was getting messed up with all of these people coming in tracking dirt, mud, grass, sheep poo and who knows what else. And on top of that some men had the audacity to cut a hole in the roof and lower someone into the living room! Talk about a mess! They dug through the roof. It was probably a clay and straw mixture that required them to hack away at it to get through. I feel sure there was dirt, straw, and dust everywhere! And besides that, who was going to pay to have the roof fixed?!
I may have embellished a little more than I should but I am trying to make a point with all of this. My point is don't make more about the mess than you do about the message. What Christ had to say and what he was doing for these people was far more important than the mess these people made in Mary and Joseph's house. There is another passage that makes a similar point.
Luke 10: 38-42 - 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
If God has given you a home, use it for his glory. Don't make more of the mess than you do the message.
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