And so we gather in the stillness of the night to celebrate God coming into the world. We gather at the darkest time of the year to celebrate God's faithfulness to us. We gather to celebrate the light coming into the world, the birth of Emmanuel, God with us.
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“Do not be afraid.”
As is often the case when we are addressed by the divine, God’s messengers greet the shepherds with the admonition to not be fearful. Here in the first two chapters of the gospel of Luke, we get this a lot.
- The angel’s first words to Zechariah when he is told his wife Elizabeth will bear a son are “Do not be afraid.”
- When the angel likewise visits with Mary a few months later, the angel offers a greeting and then says, “Do not be afraid.”
- After the birth of Jesus, when the angel appears to the shepherds tending their flocks, the angel greets them with these words -- “Do not be afraid.”
Maybe some of us have trouble understanding this greeting. Why would they be afraid at the sight of the angels? We have this image of angels in our popular imagination with pale skin, flowing hair, blindingly white robes, and wings like doves. The images we see tend toward a certain ideal of beauty and perfection. Who wouldn’t want to be greeted by one like this? Why would anyone be afraid at their appearance?
On the other hand, we must contend with not just the physical appearance of the angels but what their appearance suggests. The word angel comes from the Greek word ἄγγελος (angelos), meaning messenger. In this case, this is a messenger from God. Filled with divine power and energy, delivering a message directly from God, a fearful response becomes a bit easier to understand.
When we sense that we are in God’s presence, we ourselves are often filled with a sense of fear and trembling. God is so far beyond our comprehension that it is hard not to be in awe. Who are we that God takes notice of us? At the same time, the visit of a holy messenger suggests that God has in fact taken notice. How overwhelming to know that God has taken notice of one’s such as us, creatures of such lowly estate.
In addition, those approached would have had a sense of other divine visitors from their holy texts. The news delivered by these messengers was always important, but the prospects for the one being given the message and being asked to act upon it were not always good. The prophets heard from God, and yet their lives were rarely easy. A divine messenger may mean things are about to get personally difficult even as it may mean good things for the rest of the world.
And so, often when we are faced with the divine, we come with fear, afraid of what we will see and afraid of what we will hear and perhaps afraid of what we might lose. We want the reassurance that God has heard our cries. We want the reassurance that God is coming into the world to bring about peace. But maybe we would like it to happen over there somewhere else so we don’t have to lose what we have.
And so the angel appears to the shepherds in the fields.
“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10, NRSV).
The good news, literally, of all of these appearances is that the messages don’t end with the simple command to not be afraid, as important a message as that is. Truly, if we think about it, what message do we need more than any other these days if it isn’t simply “do not be afraid”? But that is not the sum total of the message.
In this case, the angel announces that their message is “wonderful, joyous news for all people” (Luke 2:10, CEB).
This news is meant not only for the shepherds to whom the angel is now appearing. This news is not even solely for the Hebrew people. This is good news for all people.
For several hundred years, the prophets had foretold the coming Messiah. Literally, this simply means anointed one and as we read the Old Testament stories, we see numerous examples of those who are anointed as leaders. But over time, the prophets had begun to point to a Messiah that would be more than these others. This Messiah would be a great political and perhaps even military leader that would lead the Hebrew people out of bondage and into a new freedom. This Messiah would be a liberating king who would bring about a great season of peace.
And yet when we look to the angel’s pronouncement, we notice that the birth they proclaim is for a savior for all people. The child born in Bethlehem does not come to offer salvation and peace for only certain people, but for all people.
This is the gift that God is bringing into the world. Through our falling away, our inability to keep our promises, our inability to maintain a relationship with God, God remains faithful. God comes into the world to be with us and among us. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us, descending to show the world what it means to be in relationship with each other. God comes into the world to show us that divine love has no limits. God comes into the world in the ultimate act of grace, becoming present to us even as we continue to turn away. God comes into the world to show us that God does not give up on us.
This is what the angel means when they say this is “good news of great joy for all people.” This is what the angel means when they speak of the birth of a Savior. This is what the angel means when they call Jesus Lord, a term reserved in the Bible for God alone.
God makes a gift of God’s own self, a gift of love and grace for all people.
And in case we have any doubts about this, the choice of human messengers should make this clear.
Zechariah was a random priest among many, chosen by lot to be the one to light the incense that day. He is not the high priest. He is not part of the royal household. He was simply a priest going about his business as he so often had before.
Mary is a young, unmarried woman. She appears to be knowledgeable, which could explain why she is betrothed to an older man rather than someone closer to her own age. But otherwise she is no one special. In fact, she calls herself one of lowly birth.
The shepherds live on the margins of society. They spend long stretches of time out in the countryside away from others tending to sheep. They are probably dirty much of the time with rough manners from time in isolation from all but each other.
And what could be more vulnerable than a baby?
The gift of God coming into the world is not limited to certain people. The good news of God with us is not proclaimed in the courts of power. It is good news to those that are suffering. It is good news to the outcasts and the lowly. God’s gift of love is for those who have been treated as unlovable. God’s grace is for those that have ever felt separated from God and each other.
For those that have been pushed to the margins and forced down by the powerful, what other greeting makes sense? “Do not be afraid.”
The rich and the powerful are not forgotten. They are also invited to accept and enjoy the gift of God’s love and grace if they will. Loneliness knows no particular status. Fear is not limited to certain social groups. Still, the angels appear and say “Do not be afraid.”
God comes into our world, a gift we can never fully comprehend, a gift we can never earn, never repay.
God comes into the world to show us what humanity was always meant to be.
As witnesses to this divine love, the shepherds tell everyone present what the angels had said. When they find the holy family and observe the baby, they speak all they were told, of the good news for the world, of salvation, of God’s love for all people. And when they had seen the child, they returned to where they had come from. But they continued to share the good news of God at work in the world. They continued to testify to all they had seen and learned. They “returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen” (Luke 2:20, CEB).
As the church, we continue to do the work that was begun in the life of Jesus here on earth. Like the shepherds, we are meant to testify to all we have seen and learned. We are meant to continue to make God’s gift known to the world. We are meant to be reflections of God’s grace in the flesh. We are meant to continue to make the gift of divine love present to a world in pain and in need of mercy.
As we sit tonight in darkness, as we approach the holy birth with pain and need, let us remember the gift of God’s divine love that has come into our world.
Let us remember the gift of God’s grace become flesh and dwelling among us.
Let us remember the gift of Emmanuel, God with us.
And let us continue to offer that gift to all the world, that we may all know peace.
"Do not be afraid" for God’s gift is good news for us and for all.