Do Not Be Afraid

FEAR and the CHRISTMAS STORY coexist.  It’s true.  Dread possesses Mary when an angel announces her selection as the mother of the Messiah.  Caring for a baby out of wedlock makes Joseph apprehensive.  News of Jesus’ nativity shakes up King Herod.  Devious Herod gives Three Wise Men “the creeps.”  With their sudden appearance, the heavenly choir causes panic among the shepherds in the field.  A town lives in fear when Herod starts killing 2 year old males.  Holding her baby, Mary and Joseph leave the country.  In Egypt, they face the fear of their immigrant status and the possibility of never returning home.  Above, Mary, Joseph, King Herod, the Three Wise Men and the shepherds deal with worrisome and frightening dilemmas.  Many of them are not of their own choosing, e.g., motherhood, marriage, the coming of a King, the displacement of another and the request to visit the babe in Bethlehem.  Before the cast of characters blow their situation out of proportion, God offers a life giving word Do Not Be Afraid.  God’s word does not eliminate fear completely.  Rather, “God says trust me; we’ll get through this.” It happens in the Christmas Story.  Mary has her baby.  Joseph marries his sweetheart.  The Wise Men and the shepherds see Jesus.  As is Nazareth when they return home, Mary and Joseph find Egypt to be a welcoming place.    

 

The angelic admonition “Do Not Be Afraid” has continual relevance as Christmas 2009 approaches.  Here and around the world, we fear the worst.  And we spread it like wind.  The church is no exception.  Too often, we adopt and live out the mentality of Chicken Little.  In this famous childhood fable, an acorn falls on the head of Chicken Little.  Absolutely convinced that the sky was falling because a piece of it fell on her head, Chicken Little convinces all who will listen.  On her word alone, Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, Turkey Lurkey, Gander Pander and Goosey Loosey move into crisis mode.   Subsequently, Chicken Little and the cast of characters discover that the sky is not falling.  Hence, fearing the worst is not the best approach to present or future tribulation.  

 

I have no wish to diminish or downplay the harsh realities of global warming, swine flu, the health care crisis, unemployment, the ailing global economy, aging, evaporating nest eggs for retirement, the skittish Stock Market, credit card debt, being the church and a host of other problems pushing our panic buttons.  They are real.  They hurt, injure and/or cause death.  Yet, the Christmas Story declares that fear does not have the last WORD.  Faith does.  The late Helen Keller says it best, “Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into light.” Again, it is Mary’s, Joseph’s, Three Wise Men’s and the shepherd’s faith that enables them to overcome their fears and live out God’s will for their lives.  What about our children?  Do they live into our fears?  Below is one response.  It is a narrative of my childhood fears around Christmas presents.      

 

As a child, I found out that FEAR and CHRISTMAS DAY go together.  Virtually, everything I learned about Christmas Day from radio, television, newspapers, and storefront window ads suggested that a lot of presents awaited me under the Christmas tree.  Some of my classmates reinforced this notion.  Only one prerequisite stood in the way of this bonanza.  I had to be “good.”  Relatively speaking, “I was good.”  But no avalanche of presents ever followed.  At best, it was scarcely a trickle.  What I feared most were the questions of my classmates and friends.  Invariably they asked, “What did you get for Christmas?”  Answering that question caused even more trauma.  The disparity between “presents hoped for” and “presents received” opened up a Pandora’s Box of questions in my childish mind.  Unable to explain, too afraid to ask my mother or grandmother why my presents were so few, I pondered these things in my heart.  Sometimes, those meanderings were accompanied by “the triplets” of let down, dashed hopes and thwarted dreams.  Mostly, I just “sucked it up.”  Nevertheless, my fears were real and realized.  

 

How’d my mother and late grandmother get around my fears?  Perhaps, they created a strong sense of family.  Or, they made sure we knew the Christmas Story.  Maybe, they kept us super busy on purpose.  Perhaps, they believed in two powerful words made flesh in Hebrews 11, i.e., by faith.  By faith, my mother and grandmother convinced me to rejoice over Jesus’ nativity when the lack of presents disappointed me.  In a paper I wrote about Christmas at age 14, my joy and dis-ease are revealed.   “Christmas at our house is a joyous occasion.  We wake up in the morning expecting to find gifts and things we have given each other.  My sisters and brothers discover their toys and shout with the loudest glee.”  Then, I shared this affirmation of faith.  “Christmas is a time of rejoicing because Jesus Christ is born.”  Somehow, God’s “Do Not Be Afraid” delivered by angels overcame childhood fears stealing my Christmas Joy.  Is that why I still sing “Joy to the World” with such elation?  And is this why some words from “O Little Town of Bethlehem” awake in me comfort and joy?  I know not. But I am sure Phillips Brooks is right, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight!”    

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The Keatons

By: Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton On 12/1/2009
Topics: Bishop