"Do Not Be Afraid"-The Message of Christmas

Zechariah was a priest on duty burning incense in the temple when an angel of the Lord appeared before him to tell him his wife would give birth to John the Baptist.  He was "gripped with fear."

The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you."  Mary was "greatly troubled at his words."

The shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks at night and an angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and "they were terrified."

Gripped with fear.  Troubled.  Terrified.  These are not the words we focus on in the Christmas story.  We fashion our Christmas songs and tidings around the words "joy," "peace," "glory," and "good news."  In our Christmas pageants and retelling of the story from so long ago, we tend to breeze over this common theme of fear among the main characters.  As I read Luke Chapters 1 and 2, I found myself troubled by the response of Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds.  Why were they afraid?

Certainly if a stranger appeared to me out of nowhere, I would be frightened.  It seems they reacted naturally, but at the time, I wrestled with the idea of their fear in the presence of God's angel.   Perhaps it is because we are so often encouraged to seek comfort and peace from God, that I could not reason why an angel of the Lord would evoke fear.  The shepherds were terrified at the glory of the Lord.  I was reading the Christmas story to prepare my heart for the magic of this season and I was left with unrest.  The words "terrified," "troubled," and "afraid" played over and over in my head.

I recalled an old co-worker of mine who once told me that if she were to enter a church the whole place would go up in flames.  Though she said it with a laugh, I know that she felt there was some truth to it.  She felt an unworthiness.  She knew that if she entered a church she would feel the weight of her sins that much more.  They are easier to carry around with us in a world that expects and accepts our faults.  But in the presence of God, in His church, suddenly we feel exposed.  

Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds were afraid with good reason.  They knew they stood before a pure, holy, and just God who revealed their sin.  Adam and Eve ran and covered themselves with fig leaves after disobeying God.  They hid in the garden because they were afraid.  They knew that God had the right to deal with them justly and they feared what He might do.  Don't we all?  Isn't this what has kept us running our whole life; hiding behind lifestyles and lies and decisions that lead us anywhere but to a God that we have wronged?  We fear what He might do because we know what we deserve.  We have denied you, God.  How can we stand before you without fear?

Now what I am about to tell you was such a revelation to me, I cried last night.  They were tears of release, of joy, of gratefulness.  I hope that I can capture that moment for you, so that you might feel what I felt in reading these words.  Do you know what the angel said every single time, to each he visited?  "Do not be afraid."  He said it to Zechariah, then to Mary, then to the shepherds.  Do not be afraid!  And it occurred to me that this is the message of Christmas.  We do not have to be afraid before our God.  The angel stood before them and said there was nothing to fear any more, because God was making it all right again.  That baby in the manger was wiping away the fears of this world.  We were running from God, so He came to us in the form of a precious, non-threatening BABY.  He was declaring His love for us, crying, "Do not be afraid!  Come, and worship me.  I will make you whole again."

1 John 4:18-19 says, "There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because He first loved us."  God is calling you to be made perfect in His love.  He wants to drive out that fear that you are not worthy, have not earned it, that He will change His mind, that you will lose His favor.  We can love Him, only because He first loved us.  He so loved us that He sent His one and only son to be offered up as a sacrifice so we no longer had to fear the bondage of sin we have found ourself in.  

This Christmas do not be afraid to come before your God, exposed and vulnerable and ladened with sin and doubt, because His message is that you can come before Him fearlessly carrying all of that baggage and lay it at His feet.  "Fear not!" He cries, "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."  It is the message of perfect love, driving out fear, hand-delivered by a God who loves you.