Advent III: Fear Not!

Fear not! 

The words must have seemed like a joke. How could they be anything but fearful? One moment, they’re watching their flock by night. The next, they’re on their way to Bethlehem. I’m sure they were petrified as they walked toward that star, but fear is always the gateway, or doorway, to something new - particularly when it’s a relationship with God.

The shepherds weren’t the first frightened sojourners, of course. Abraham and Sarah had to conquer their fear. Moses, too. The list is long, maybe endless, and it would be easy to focus on all the fear and not what lies on the other side of that fear. Each courageous seeker found a deeper, more personal relationship with God, but first they had to wrestle with fear.

The words of the angels echo today, but maybe not in such dramatic ways. The person who leaves her high-paying job to follow a life-long dream of serving others can hear the angels: fear not! The student who decides not to follow his peers because of his emerging faith can also hear the angels: fear not! The couple who suddenly has to face an unexpected illness: fear not! The person who decides to live life without ever drinking again: fear not!

God is waiting for each of them, just as God is waiting for each of us. He may not be lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, but He’s waiting just the same. All we have to do (and it’s a lot) is fear not. We need to take comfort that others have blazed the trail; we’re standing at a well-worn threshold. On the other side of our fear, there’s good news which shall be to all people, for unto us, this day (and tomorrow, and the next day) God’s waiting, wrapped in our ordinary lives. Like a baby, God’s waiting to be held. Like a parent, God’s waiting to hold.

Fear not!