Fear Not

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” -Luke 2:34

Is fear the most common and prevalent of human emotions? If you had said as much, I would be hard put to argue with you. It has long been a companion of mine, anyway. I remember as a pre-schooler watching a house burn in full ferocity and sensing the fear of fire in my young soul and, indeed, in all those around me. I later learned to fear trips to the doctor and sharp needles. Much later, I learned the fear of predatory peers and any kind of public exposure. And no matter what stage of life I found myself, I discovered that I had outgrown one set of fears only to discover another. The fear of marriage gave way to the fear of sudden injuries to my children which in turn gave way to the fear of injured grandchildren. We are riddled with fears of both life and death, success and failure, want or prosperity. Fear haunts all of us either high or low, rich or poor, strong or weak in some way or another. It is part of our frayed humanity that knows that in the end we do not control our own fates.

What better picture of mankind and its fears could we find than that of the shepherds sitting around their small fire, alone in the night, guarding a hard won existence against the unknown beasts of the wild. Man has always found himself gathering together in small clans trying to eke out his living among the hostile elements. And in a sea of darkness that surround them, men cling close to the small fires of hope in cheap gods or false ideologies.

But along comes pure light that splits the night of the shepherds’ blissful ignorance wide open. It is almost more than they can bear. And the very first words of the heavenly heralds of the Christ, the Son of God in the world, are first and foremost, “Fear not.” It is as if God knows and remembers how terrifying it can be living outside the gates of Eden. And truly, these words come at a most terrible time and place in history when Israel lies under the heel of a Roman army and a collaborating ego-maniac of a King. We could say more about the lack of health care, dental science, or any social safety net. It was a hard time to be alive by any chronological standard. But into that human meat-grinder of an age, God shouts His coming with, “Fear not.” Was God mocking our condition or sending a powerful message? I think the latter.

I can identify with poor shepherds living somewhere on the edge of a meager existence against a backdrop of a night of a thousand fears. The fears are real, not imagined. I still need God to break through my dimly lit world and say, “Fear not.” Somehow He is greater than any Caesar, cancerous disease, deranged shooter, or crushing beast of the unknown. Somehow He makes all the difference just by His coming and His presence and breaks the very power of fear. It was good news then. It is good news now. God came into our stable and straw lives and soon put into words the hope He raised: “He that would save his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.” In so doing, He raised our lives to a level of existence that no fear, real or imagined, can touch.

Most folks love Christmas for its beauty and charm. I am finding I need Christmas. It calms my fears and gives me hope. May it do so afresh for you and yours.