Christmas Eve 2022
The Christmas You May Have Missed: Do Not Be Afraid
Texts: Luke 1:26-33, Matthew 1:18-21, Luke 1:1-20
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, UT
December 24, 2022 Christmas Eve
Christmases have come and gone. Over the years we have put up decorations, opened a slew of gifts, listened to some music, maybe heard a reading from the Gospel of Luke. While we may have experienced many Christmases we may actually have missed much of Christmas. While we may have seen many Christmas programs and pageants, even heard parts of the Christmas story, we may have missed much of the background, events, and meaning when Christ was born.
In our sermons on the Sundays during Advent leading up to tonight we have heard how the Old Testament is the backdrop against which the coming of Christ is set, and how Jesus is the fulfillment of all that took place in that time. We have heard how the Holy Spirit was at work in all that happened in the events of Christ’s birth. We have heard how angels are not the commercialized little darlings that have been given to us but are mighty messengers of God who do his bidding. And we have heard of the radical trust Joseph had to have in his role as the earthly father of Jesus.
Yes, there is much in Christmas many people have never noticed or thought about. They’ve missed it.
Another part of Christmas is fear. “Fear?” you say. “I thought Christmas was about peace, hope, joy and love.” It is. But the first Christmas, the one people of the Lord celebrate, had some fear.
When Gabriel is sent from God to tell Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son who will be John the Baptist, Gabriel has to tell Zechariah, “Do not be afraid.”
When Gabriel goes to Mary to announce to her that she will give birth to the Son of God he tells her, “Do not be afraid.” Rightly so. She is pregnant, unmarried, has not been with a man, and poor.
When an angel goes to Joseph he tells Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. He has to be told this because Joseph knows the woman he is to marry is pregnant and it isn’t by him.
When an angel of the Lord appeared to those shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone around them, the angel said, “Do not be afraid.”
After Jesus was born, King Herod went on a killing spree of infants in Bethlehem. Joseph was afraid for his child. Who wouldn’t be? When Joseph brought the family back to Israel after Herod’s death, he heard that the new king, Archelaus, was just as bad as his father. And it says he was afraid to go to Judea so he took the family to Galilee. That is where Jesus was raised. In some ways, Jesus being raised in Nazareth was the result of fear.[1]
Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.
There is a lot of fear in what we call the Christmas story.
Yes, Christmas is about the birth of a child. But it’s also a story about world rulers who get upset and go on rampages, common people who get caught in the circumstances of power, taxes, people who have to flee and become refugees, senseless mass killings, and deep hope for better things to come. Any of that sound familiar?
I think it gives us permission to be afraid. God knows this about our existence. We get afraid.
Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds weren’t the first ones in the Bible to be afraid. Listen to this list of people who also were told, “Do not be afraid.”
Abraham, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the entire nation of Israel, Joshua, Elijah, King Jehoshaphat, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the women at the tomb, Paul, John, just to name some.
So, if you feel afraid at times, you are in good company. I read that “do not be afraid” is said 365 times in the Bible. That is one for each day of the year. I didn’t count and but it’s an interesting thought.
Whenever God or an angel speaks these words, it isn’t as a rebuke. God is not telling the person they should not be afraid. God says it because fear is real. Rather the words, “do not be afraid” are spoken more as encouragement. It is said more with compassion, the way a loving parent would say it to a troubled child in his or her lap. The Lord said “do not be afraid” to the people in the Bible because he knew they were afraid. It is as if to say, “I know what you feel. Be calm. Things are going to be OK. It may get hairy. But there is more going on than you see. God is up to something.”
“Do not be afraid” is often a flag that is waved for the person to watch for the Lord. God wanted to do something in the person’s life. God was on the move. He was going to bring deliverance, or bring a blessing, or make something happen.
For Mary, it was bearing a child who would be the Son of God. For Joseph it would be God protecting his family in a horrendous time. For the shepherds it was a message of good news of great joy they needed to receive and share.
“Do not be afraid” is often spoken in the Bible to say, “God is present. God is at work, inspite of what looks terrifying.”
When Israel was to go against its enemies they were told “do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.”[2]
As Abraham waited for the child promised to he and Sarah, and wrestled with God’s timing, he was told, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”[3]
When God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet and tells him it won’t be easy, he says “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”[4]
When the women go to Jesus’ tomb and find his body gone they are told, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.”[5] They were in the right place and doing the right thing. They needed to know God was up to something beyond their imagining.
When the Apostle Paul got fearful about preaching in Corinth, the “sin city” of that day, God said to him “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”[6]
Often when someone in the Bible is told “do not be afraid” it is followed by the reassurance of God’s presence. And that is the great truth of Christmas. God has come to be with us. Jesus is Emmanuel, and Emmanuel means “God with us.”
The presence of another person in the scariest of times can often be a great comfort and help. We read Psalm 23 when someone dies. Doesn’t it say, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not fear for you are with me”? Is that an affirmation we will actually live by? That God is with us even when we face the shadow of death?
I wonder how much of our fear comes from thinking God is absent.
One person took the word fear and made it into an acronym. F is for False. E is for Evidence. A is for Appearing. R is for Real. Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.[7]
Sometimes we are afraid because our imaginations are running wild. We anticipate all the problems and assume the worst, things that aren’t even there.
Maybe you’ve heard the story of the salesman, driving on a lonely country road one dark and rainy night had a flat. He opened the trunk—no lug wrench. The light from a farmhouse could be seen dimly up the road. He set out on foot through the driving rain. Surely the farmer would have a lug wrench he could borrow, he thought. Of course, it was late at night—the farmer would be asleep in his warm, dry bed. Maybe he wouldn’t answer the door. And even if he did, he’d be angry at being awakened in the middle of the night
The salesman, picking his way blindly in the dark, stumbled on. By now his shoes and clothing were soaked. Even if the farmer did answer his knock, he would probably shout something like, “What’s the big idea waking me up at this hour!”
This thought made the salesman angry. What right did that farmer have to refuse him the loan of a lug wrench? After all, here he was stranded in the middle of nowhere, soaked to the skin. The farmer was a selfish clod—no doubt about that
The salesman finally reached the house, and banged loudly on the door. A light went on inside, and a window opened above. “Who is it?” a voice called out. “You know darn will who it is,” yelled the salesman, his face white with anger. “It’s me! You can keep your blasted lug wrench. I wouldn’t borrow it now if you had the last one on earth!”
Being afraid can also make us a bit irrational.
I’ve spoken before of Tomas Halik. He was a Catholic priest in the underground church in Czechoslovakia in the days of the Iron Curtain. The church had to be secret because of the Communist regime. His mother didn’t even know he was a priest.
There were many reasons to be a Christian leader and be afraid in the days of the Soviet Union. One day someone came and told him a fellow priest had been found dead in a pool of blood and that there was reason to believe the KGB had been responsible. The friend asked Halik if he was scared. He admitted that he was. But Halik said that it is his conviction “that it’s not a matter of not being afraid but of not allowing fear to govern us and determine our behavior. We must never let fear take the helm of our lives.”[8]
Tomas Halik said that how we confront the fear we experience has everything to do with what it will do to us. Being able to see our fear, but also being able to see God as greater than our fear is key. And being able to see how big and great God is, his magnificence and power, can neutralize how we think about what makes us afraid.
I think Mary had a massive view of the Lord. When she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” she could see the greatness of God and could serve him despite her fears.
What’s making you afraid right now? Health concerns? Family problems? Job insecurity? Financial stress? Losing independence? Social breakdown?
Uncertainty makes us afraid. We fear the unknown. What’s going to happen? When is it going to happen? How will it happen? What discomfort awaits me? I’ll bet Zechariah and Mary and Joseph and those shepherds thought about this.
Henri Nouwen, the late Christian devotional writer, stated, “When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my steps, I can let go of my anxious need to know how tomorrow will look, or what will happen next month or next year. I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God’s love within me and around me.”
Despite what the advertisements and cards tell us, Christmas is not a time to make everything in life perfect. Maybe Christmas is a good reminder that life isn’t perfect. It wasn’t perfect in Bethlehem. Like Mary and Joseph and others in Christmas events we find that life is complicated. There are conflicts, uncertainties, and things that cause anxiety. But Christmas is a time to remember that in all of these things God is with us.
God doesn’t separate himself from our messy, fear-filled lives. He doesn’t say, “Get your life together then give me a call.” No, he comes to us whether we are good or bad. He comes to us because he loves us.
Christmas is a time of peace. Jesus said to his disciples before he died:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”[9]
There it is. Do not be afraid. “I give you my peace. It is not the peace you will find in a book, through meditation, therapy, medicine, or a nice vacation. It is a peace that belongs to me. And you will receive it by trusting me, looking to me, living with me.”
So, “peace on earth and good will toward all”? Absolutely. But also “do not be afraid.” Because life can be scary. But then there’s the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He holds life and death in his hands. And God is with us. That’s what we find in Jesus. God is working. And whatever comes we can trust his love.
Prayer: Lord, in all our fears, help us to hear your words, “do not be afraid.” Thank you that you know us. Thank you that you come to us in our weakness. In our fear enable us to come to you, the God who is with us. Amen.
[1] Matthew 2:22
[2] Deuteronomy 20:1
[3] Genesis 15:1
[4] Jeremiah 1:8
[5] Matthew 28:5
[6] Acts 18:9-10
[7] Attributed to Richard Rohr
[8] I Want You To Be, p.128
[9] John 14:27
