Wednesday, December 15, 2021
by Reverend Dan on December 15, 2021We live in a scary world. Natural disasters. Terrorism. Social unrest. Political upheaval. Open defiance of the rule of law. Nations on the brink of war. Mass shootings everywhere: malls, schools, workplaces, churches. It seems nowhere is safe. And in the midst of all this, here we are celebrating “peace on earth, goodwill to men.” Seems counterintuitive . . . ironic at best, blasphemous at worst.
That’s why I always try to remind myself during this Christmas season that of all the things the angel could have said when announcing the birth of the Savior of the world, the words and message that were chosen were: “Fear not.” It’s as if God knew exactly what it was like down here when He sent His Son, and how it always would be.
“Fear not” or some variation of it (i.e., “do not be afraid”, etc.) appears in the Bible 365 times. Once for every day of the year, it seems. And if it appears that many times, God must sense a real and continuous issue with fear among his children. So, in response, on that very first Christmas so long ago, He decided to shed His robe of righteousness and put on human skin. He chose to leave the streets of gold for a dusty little backwoods’ hamlet called Bethlehem. And he sent one message to the world upon the arrival of His Son. “Fear not.”
We do indeed live in a scary world. But that fear doesn’t need to live in us. We have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest.
backThat’s why I always try to remind myself during this Christmas season that of all the things the angel could have said when announcing the birth of the Savior of the world, the words and message that were chosen were: “Fear not.” It’s as if God knew exactly what it was like down here when He sent His Son, and how it always would be.
“Fear not” or some variation of it (i.e., “do not be afraid”, etc.) appears in the Bible 365 times. Once for every day of the year, it seems. And if it appears that many times, God must sense a real and continuous issue with fear among his children. So, in response, on that very first Christmas so long ago, He decided to shed His robe of righteousness and put on human skin. He chose to leave the streets of gold for a dusty little backwoods’ hamlet called Bethlehem. And he sent one message to the world upon the arrival of His Son. “Fear not.”
We do indeed live in a scary world. But that fear doesn’t need to live in us. We have a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest.
