Monday 21 December 2020

Christmas Fears

I recently gave the reflection below to a group of college & university students, some of whom are in their first year.  Many of these students finished up their last year of high school strictly online in COVID conditions, and sadly their first year of college and/or university has been entirely online also.  This is not at all how they imagined beginning life after high school.    

I want to reflect on a major theme of the Christmas story.  It's not one you hear a lot about. 

Almost all of the main characters in the Christmas story have a similar response when they first hear the announcement of the birth of Jesus:  FEAR.

Luke 1:12-13

Zechariah is a priest and it is his shift to serve in the temple.  He’s been trained for this; He’s done this before; but suddenly the unexpected happens.  And angel appears to him in the temple and Zechariah is “troubled” and “fear fell upon him”.  

The angel then tells him, “do not be afraid”, God is answering yours and Elizabeth’s prayers. You will have a son who will announce the Messiah and prepare his way. 

What are Zechariah's fears?  Perhaps fear of experiencing God working in ways he is not used to, in unexpected and new ways.  He also doubts the reality of what Gabriel tells him; he fears that this might not really happen (a fear reminiscent of that of Abraham and Sarah when God promised them a son born in their old age).  Eventually Zechariah’s fear turns to praise when God's words are fulfilled, their son is born, and Zechariah's tongue is loosed.

Matthew 1:20

Joseph finds out that the young woman he is engaged to is pregnant.  He is a faithful Jewish man so he knows he should not marry a woman who has not kept herself for her future husband, but he is kindhearted and he doesn’t want to shame Mary publicly.  

But an angel comes to him and says, “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife because the baby in her is conceived from God.  You shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

What might be Joseph’s fears?  Fear of losing his reputation as an obedient and righteous man according to the Mosaic law.  He very likely might fear what people will think of him marrying a woman who is already pregnant - perhaps they will think Mary slept with another man, or perhaps they will think that Joseph gave in to temptation and couldn't wait for marriage.  Certainly he would fear the uncertainty of the whole situation.  But Joseph obeys the angel and from the little we know of him in the gospels (early chapters of Matthew), he regularly and faithfully obeys God’s leading.

Luke 1:26-30

The same angel - Gabriel - that spoke to Zechariah now comes to a teen aged girl, Mary.  She is a virgin, betrothed to Joseph the carpenter.  Gabriel greets her and says she is favoured by God.  She is greatly troubled because she doesn’t know what this is all about.  

Gabriel says, “Do not be afraid Mary, because you have found favour with God.”  He tells her she will conceive a baby by the power of the Holy Spirit and her boy will be the Messiah, God’s chosen king and saviour.

Mary responds, “I’m God’s servant; let it be to me according to what you’ve said.”  Her life is about to turn upside down.  She really has no idea what this will mean for her.  But she receives God's word to her and accepts his plan for her. 

What could Mary’s fears be?  Like Joseph, she likely fears for her reputation – what will people think of her, pregnant before marriage.  And as with both Zechariah and Joseph, God's announcement to her means huge uncertainty, with the attendant fear of the unknown.  After all, how does one be mother to the Messiah?  She may fear all the unknown ways her life will change from what she thought it would be, married to a carpenter, and now mother of Israel’s true king and Messiah.  But her fear turns to praise.

Luke 2:9-10

Tax time - thanks Caesar.  Government policies have always been inconvenient.  Joseph takes Mary and they travel to Bethlehem.  She’s nine months pregnant – should she really be making this journey?  She doesn’t have to go with Joseph, so why does she?  Probably they are afraid the baby will come when Joseph is away and they want to be together.  Mary is an unwed young mother who may not have many people willing to support her.  So she and Joseph make this difficult and inconvenient journey together. 

When they arrive in Bethlehem, there’s no place for them to stay.  But the baby isn’t waiting for them to find a place – Mary's water breaks and she goes into labour.  When the baby boy is born, they swaddle him and lay him in an animal feed trough. 

There are shepherds near by, watching their sheep on a dark, chilly night.  Suddenly an angel appears to them and a bright light shines all around them.  The shepherds are “filled with fear”.  No kidding.  Two seconds ago it was just another ordinary night in the fields - probably cold, tired, hungry - doing a thankless job.  Suddenly there's a blazing heavenly messenger standing before them.

I sometimes wonder if angels enjoy showing up suddenly and surprising people half to death.  That is certainly the context for the fear of Zechariah and Mary - one minute they are alone and the next minute an angelic messenger suddenly appears and speaks.  I can picture the angels gathering around to hear Gabriel recount his mission to Zechariah - "so, I waited until he had reached over to grab some more incense and then when he turned back around I was standing there..." --Hahahaha-- "you should have seen his face!"

But the angel tells the shepherds, “Fear not!”  Why fear not?  Because, the angel says, “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.  Unto you is born right now in Bethlehem a Saviour, Christ the Lord.”  The angel announces the good news – the gospel – to the shepherds: the Messiah has been born.  And it is good news for all people. 

Then a whole host of angels appears praising God and saying, “glory to God”.  The shepherds were awestruck.  They rush into town to see Jesus, and everyone they meet is filled with wonder when they hear the shepherd's report about the angels and the baby Messiah.  And eventually the shepherds fear turns to praise.  They return to their flocks glorifying God, and the night is a bit less chilly and much less dark.

 

All these character’s fear turned to praise and joy when they heard the announcement that a saviour, a king, the Messiah was to be born.

But there are some other characters who, when they heard the news, were also troubled and fearful, but it did not turn to joy and praise.

When the wise men came from the east, they asked around in Jerusalem where they could find this king of the Jews whose sign they saw in the sky.  When King Herod heard this, he was troubledthe same word used for Zechariah and Mary – and all Jerusalem with him.  Herod gathers all the religious leaders together and asks them where this Messiah was to be born.

What does Herod fear?  A potential challenge to his power.  Like many selfish, power-hungry, political leaders, Herod would do anything to cling to power.  We know from history that he had some of his own wives and sons murdered when he suspected them of plotting against him.

And the religious leaders were troubled also.  Look at their response to the wise men. They know their Bibles: they can tell Herod and the wise men exactly where the Messiah would be born, but they don’t go to welcome him. 

Herod’s trouble and fear turns to wrath and murder and he wipes out all baby boys up to two years old near Bethlehem to prevent a challenge to his power.  The religious leaders' fear turns to complacency: none of them go with the wise men to visit this Messiah. What a terrible response to finding out their Messiah is to be born.

We never hear of the wise being afraid.  They just faithfully search out the Messiah, give him their gifts, and fall down before him in worship.


The good news of Christmas is the same now as it was when the angels first announced it: Jesus is born for you.  He came to save people from their sins.  To reconcile us to God and to bring peace between people. 

But Jesus is also Lord.  He calls us to follow him wherever he leads us. And he seldom lets us know very far in advance where he will lead us. 

That can be a fearful thing: if you surrender your life to God’s control, like Mary did, you don’t know where he might lead you or what it might cost you. 

But if you welcome Jesus, your fear will turn to joy and praise, even when you follow Jesus through uncertain seasons or God does unpredictable things in your life. 

That’s all.  I just want to encourage any of you who are feeling fearful or troubled, feeling uncertain, that your response to Jesus makes all the difference.  

God calls you to receive Jesus, to accept his leading in your life.  Christ calls you to follow him in faith and hope, and he never guarantees smooth sailing or comfort or predictability.  But if you receive Jesus' guidance in your life, if you take up your cross and follow him, although a sword will pierce your soul too (Luke 2:35), Jesus will prove a faithful Lord, a loving master, whose Spirit will makes Christ's yoke easy and his burden light.  And as you receive Jesus as Mary did, in utter trust despite her fears, God will turn your fear to joy and praise. 


If anyone reading this feels like they could use a little more hope this Christmas, I would encourage you to check out an Advent & Christmas service series that our church, St. John's Vancouver, is doing.  The series, Held by Hope can be found here.

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