Warm, fuzzy, and afraid
What memories and emotions do you connect with Christmas? Chances are they are likely on the "warm and fuzzy" side of things - carols, family, gifts, fireplaces, smiles, laughter, etc. These are all great feelings, and most others would feel a level of kinship with you and your feelings around Christmas.
Most others, that is, except for those who were actually in the original Christmas story.
Yes, there is great joy in the gospel birth narratives. But before the onset of joy, there is a much more visceral emotion: fear. So much so, in fact, that the most common refrain repeated throughout the Christmas story is not some cute line from a Christmas carol, but "Do not be afraid..."
The angel to Zechariah: Do not be afraid
The angel to Mary: Do not be afraid
The angel to Joseph in a dream: Do not be afraid (to take Mary as your wife)
The angel to the shepherds: Do not be afraid
And it makes one wonder: why was this repeated so often? Why was there so much fear attached to the Christmas story?
Artist Scott Erickson answers that question with an interesting comparison:
"If you can imagine swimming in an open body of water, and all of a sudden, a fifty-foot humpback whale is swimming slowly by you, singing its baleen soliloque, after you pee in the sea, you are overwhelmed by the glory of that whale - the enormity of size, presence, and force in that moment. Your fragility in the presence of its immensity demands your respect.
When we come face to face with God, we come face to face with Immensity (capital I) that demands our respect, and that causes fear. What if I'm not enough?
Or, perhaps coming face to face with God means we must awaken to the fact that God is real (and that causes fear), or that there is a hidden part to life we have missed (and that causes fear), or that everything we thought we knew we realize is nothing compared to the Reality (capital R) that is right before us (and that causes fear).
Whatever the reason, when we truly encounter God, we are often left not knowing what to think anymore, and we are afraid. A message from the Divine must start with “Do not be afraid.”
PAUSE and REFLECT: Where in your life do you keep God small and manageable so you you don't have to be confronted by the Immensity of his presence? Where, out of fear, do you avoid hearing, believing, or obeying?
There is an earth-shattering insecurity that rises up when we are confronted with the Divine. We, who feel small, insignificant, and unholy are surrounded by Immense-Significant-Holy, and we begin to fear. But the Incarnation reminds us: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. Yes, you are fully known. Yes, you are fully in the presence of Immensity. And yes, you are fully loved.”
Because we are fully known and fully loved by a God who is good and mighty, we can trust him with the entirety of our life. Every last part.
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
~ Luke 2:10
Scott Erickson had one other line that caught my attention: “Be not afraid” is a legitimate substitute for “Merry Christmas.” So this Advent season, I say to you, “Be not afraid,” or as we like to say these days, “Merry Christmas.”
—