Ever feel like there's no room for people like you? Like you're standing outside looking at a closed door? What if the Christmas story we learned—the cold stable, the heartless innkeeper—isn't quite right?

In this final part of our Nativity series, Matt Edmundson unpacks the real context of the Christmas story. Through the Greek word 'kataluma', Palestinian home layouts, and Middle Eastern hospitality culture, we discover something surprising: this isn't a story about rejection. It's a story about making room.

[02:30 ] The Story We Think We Know

Mary and Joseph arrive exhausted. No room anywhere. A grumpy innkeeper. Jesus born in a stable. It's in every Christmas card and school play. But the word translated 'inn' actually means 'guest room'—the same word Luke uses for the upper room at the Last Supper.

"The nativity isn't a story about no room. It's a story about making room."

What we discover:

• Why first-century readers understood this completely differently
• How Palestinian homes were actually arranged
• Why turning away David's descendant would have shamed the whole village
• The community that gathered to help, not reject

Key takeaway: Jesus was born into a crowded family home where people squeezed up to make space—not cold rejection.

[11:00 ] The Shepherds and the Open Door

The shepherds weren't romantic figures—they were social outcasts. Many rabbis considered them unclean. Yet they were the first invited to meet Jesus.

"They didn't wait in the fields hoping someone would come find them. They didn't assume the invitation wasn't really for people like them. They went to Bethlehem. They knocked on the door. And when they arrived? The door opened."

What we explore:

• Why the 'wrong' people got the first invitation
• What the shepherds did that we often don't
• How wonder and curiosity open doors

Key takeaway: The invitation was real, even for people who had every reason to doubt it.

[14:00 ] The Problem of Preemptive Rejection

Matt shares his own story of wandering away when football teams were being picked, pretending he wasn't feeling well, making sure he was never standing there waiting to be last.

"You can't build real relationships on a lie. The acceptance was never for the real me. It was for a version of me that never existed."

What resonates:

• Why self-protection becomes self-fulfilling prophecy
• How we pre-decide our own rejection
• The exhausting work of performing for acceptance
• What happens when we drop the act

Key takeaway: By protecting ourselves from rejection, we guarantee we'll never belong.

[21:00 ] What Happens When You Knock

Matt reflects on the community in North Carolina who welcomed him when he first explored faith—people who opened their homes and made room at their tables.

"Jesus made room for us by taking our place. The cross is where rejection landed on him, not on us."

The hope offered:

• A God who makes room for us
• Welcome that cost Jesus everything
• From tolerated guests to friends
• An open door waiting for anyone who knocks

Key takeaway: The door is open—not because we've earned it, but because Jesus paid the price to keep it open.

Your Next Step

• Stop wandering away - Notice when you're removing yourself before anyone can include you
• Start simple - Tell God you're curious. Ask him to show you if any of this is real
• Find a table - Is there a community where you could stop hovering at the edges?
• Drop the performance - What would it mean to show up as yourself?

For more info, please visit https://crowd.church/talks/the-nativitys-open-door