Do not fear

Exactly a year ago yesterday I was invited to preach to the residents of Covenant village which is a senior living complex. I was unsure of what to share as what can I say to them that they do not already know? How many Advents and Decembers have they experienced that the familiar story of God breaking into the human world in the form of another human is so known to them that nothing new could be told? The text for the day was from the gospel of Luke and I was specifically looking at vv26-38, the moment when God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. Gabriel's job was to go to a young woman (also known as a virgin) that was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph. Luke gives us a detail about Joseph - he is a descendant of David. David was a king some few hundred years back, his story being chronicled in the Old Testament books of the Kings and the Chronicles.

Gabriel came to the young woman, whose name was Mary and he said these words to her: "Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). Now to us who know the end of the story, and the gist of what is going to happen with the child that she will carry in the next few weeks, months and years, these words are great words. Who would not want to know that they are highly favored and not only that, but the Lord is with me? Sounds like the sort of thing I am really longing to hear now please. However Mary's response to what she saw and heard was the following;  

"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be."

If an angel appeared to me telling me such marvelous things I might respond in a similar way in my "greatly troubled-ness." That is to say that I would be completely freaked out of my wits and most likely tell him to go and talk to someone else much more deserving than me and leave me alone.  The gospel writer Luke, being a doctor, has a "doctor-like" matter of fact way of telling the story. He is a detailed person and so wants to get the facts out and was probably a little less concerned with Mary's reaction of amazement and utter terrifiedness.  So Gabriel is sensitive to put Mary at her ease as is possible for an angel to do, given the circumstances so he talks gently to her:

"Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God . You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:30-33).

The words that stand out for me are these; "Do not be afraid." This is not the first time Gabriel has said these words to a human being. Mary's cousin, Elizabeth is married to Zechariah. Both are "well along in years," so too old in human terms to have a baby, but with God, nothing is impossible and Gabriel says as much to the man. Gabriel also told Zechariah, "Do not be afraid..." Zechariah's reaction to this visit from the angel was to be "gripped with fear;" much more afraid than Mary, who was merely troubled!

How many of us are or have been at some point afraid? From the number of times that the command not to be afraid is in some shape or form mentioned throughout both the Old and the New Testaments to people like you and me means that being afraid was a common thing to be. Of all the commands in the Bible,  the most frequent command is to not be afraid. That is what we are called to do when there is every reason to be afraid. When we are not sure what we are going to hear when we make routine or not visit to the doctor, or are with people waiting to hear results of scans. We are not to fear when we have no idea how we are to pay for the latest drip through the ceiling into the first floor because we are already living on the edge of our resources. We are not to be afraid when we can't see the road ahead of us, either because there seem to be few viable options or the options available to us are will cause other issues that will ensue more fear.

Yet here it is, as clear as day: "Do not be afraid..." Neither Mary nor Joseph, not Zechariah or his wife, Elizabeth knew what the next few years would bring. Both mothers would see their children suffer and die. One would give birth to the one who was God's way of redeeming the world to himself and the other's son would be the one that went before him even though he was before him (John 1:15). All they both knew at this point is that they would give birth to baby boys. The rest would be too much for them to take in at this point.

Are we able in this advent season to not be afraid, no matter how many unknowns there are in the coming days? It is not easy, but the command is clear; "Do not be afraid.......do not fear....."

"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him..."