Do Not Be Afraid

12-24-23

Hoonah-Hadley

Luke 2:1-14

Call to Worship Titus 2:11-14

Daily Verse Luke 2:10

These verses in Luke chapter 2 are like a magnet to metal, no matter how hard we try otherwise, regardless of our wants or desires, we are pulled back to the angel, good tidings, great joy and the birth of “a Savior”. It seems we can no more elude these verses than we can “A Charlie Brown Christmas” where Linus explains the true meaning of Christmas. Charlie Brown, being heckled by his friends for his poor choice of a Christmas tree, cries out, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” To which Linus replies, “Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” Herein we have one of humanities classic scenes, Linus recites Luke 2:8-14, and then concludes that reading with this quote, “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.” It’s hard to say whether Linus’s part ranks him higher than Jimmy Stewart in “It’s A Wonderful Life”, but surely the true meaning of Christmas “is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  We may catch the Charlie Brown story from time to time, or Jimmy Stewarts classic, but there is no getting around Luke chapter 2 and God’s word that describes for us the greatest birthday there ever was. Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler of Israel, Whose going forth are from of old, from everlasting.”  Promise maker, promise keeper, the Alpha and the Omega… the First and the Last.  (Rev. 22:13)

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Vs. 8 “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.”  

There are several things going on here, in standard fashion it is prudent to read “around” our lesson to understand the context. There really is no greater place that we might find ourselves than meditating on His word. The penman for this gospel is given to Luke and it is common knowledge that he was a physician. By nature, this profession is deliberate, intentional, and thorough in its investigation. The fact that there are 80 verses in chapter 1 is a testimony to that fact. Chapter 2 gives us many details, hard facts if you will of the times as evidence to the legitimacy of the events themselves. It is not our cause to prove or argue the truth of the matter but simply to show you that Luke does a fine job satisfying the skeptics. Decree, Caesar Augustus, registered, census, Quirinius, Joseph, Galilee, Nazareth, Judea, Bethlehem, lineage of David, registered with Mary, etc. more than sufficient evidence for any investigative reporter, a proven political history of the times.

“Now there were in the same country shepherds…”  Shepherds were despised because their work kept them from keeping the ceremonial laws, they were dirty. Their transient nature had them regarded as thieves. They were considered unreliable and were not allowed to give evidence in the courts. They worked the midnight shift. Luke concerns himself with people most writers neglect, women, children and the poor, those marginalized during that time. He demonstrates Jesus’ concern for these specifically. Vs. 9 “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them…”  This is God’s economy. If you look at the lineage of Christ, of those called by God, we have murderers, liars, thieves, prostitutes, adulterers, and shepherds. This is God’s way.

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“And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them…”  There is a reoccurring theme throughout scripture that combines some form of manifestation of Deity with fear.  We don’t get far in the creation story as Adam is rolling along in the garden when things take a turn for the worse. (For thousands of years) He no sooner touches the fruit, finds himself naked and hides.  Gen. 3:10 “So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid…and I hid myself.’” C.H. Spurgeon, “Sin makes miserable cowards of us all.  See the man who once could hold delightful converse with his Maker, now dreading to hear his Maker’s voice and skulking in the grove like a felon, who knows his guilt, and is afraid to meet the officers of justice.” 

John 3:20 “Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”  It’s no secret that most dreadful things occur long after the setting sun.  Luke 8:17 “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”  It is not by choice but by grand design that the hour of darkness is upon us, indeed within us. Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”  Scripture diagnoses sin as a universal deformity of human nature, found at every point in every person. (1 King 8:46; Rom. 3:9-23, 7:18; 1 John 1:8-10, NKJV) In the subject to opinion movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”  Jordan Rivers and the Soggy Bottom Boys sing the not so famous song, “I Am a Man Of Constant Sorrow”, a song that finds it’s roots in Isaiah 53:3 “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Actually, if we read and had ears to hear this entire chapter in Isaiah, we could give the benediction, sing “O Holy Night” and part in peace.

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Luke 2:9-10 continues: “…and they were sore afraid.  Then the angel said to them.  ‘Do not be afraid…”  There is an overwhelming theme throughout scripture that corresponds to our nature today and the words we hear far too often in our conversations, “I’m afraid…” or the commonly used phrase, “I worry…” God addresses this fear specifically because He knew it would be an issue with us. We associate God’s manifestation to us with wrath, death, there is even a verse that tells us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31) Judges 13:22 “Then Manoah said…we shall surely die, because we have seen God.” John 3:16 is famous but it is not complete without vs. 17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” 

We have in our lesson this morning, that “giving”, that “sending” by way of a babe, a Son, a Savior, in a manger, in Bethlehem. God removes the hedge, the wall, the offense, the division, the separation in this, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God removes this dreaded fear by sending an angel to announce the birth of His Son, the end of all fear. Our fallen, sinful nature has us trembling in fear, and rightfully so, but the remedy has arrived to save us from this evil nightmare. Prov. 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The fear here is not the dreadful wrath of God, but the awesome wonder of His amazing grace born on the wings of His descending love, in our likeness, that we might be saved from the wrath to come. Before we can get to the announcement, the good tidings of great joy, we’ve got to secure the angels command, “Do Not Be Afraid.” The Light of the world has appeared to all, “For there is born to you this day…a Savior.”  Did you hear that? “To you…a Savior”?

Christ was born to save. He is the cure, the remedy, the end of all fear.

Amen.