December 12 Senior Adult potluck

intro

Luke 2:8–20 NIV

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

When I think of fear, I think of riding with my dad in his 60’s ford truck down to Ashland for a choir performance when I was 9 years old. We stayed the night and the next day we went nearby to the Wildlife Safari. It was a trip to remember.

They hand you instructions as you go in to the park but the brocketts are a “who needs instructions…lets get to the fun” kind of family. So we head for the bear pit. A big loop where the big bears are kind of ambling around. My dad stops about 1/2 way around as there is a bear close to our path. It begins making its way over to us. A very large bear. We start giggling as one might when that feels easier than crying out.

Soon enough the bear is on my dad’s side and has pushed its snout close to our windshield. Both of us were in awe at the size of the bear. My dad told me later that he was thinking “wow what a great deal if this is the type of interaction you get here at the Wildlife Safari.” He then turns and motions for me to look out my window. There is an even larger bear. It has reared up on its two legs and has its paws against our truck. It is now pushing our truck back and forth. Now my dad is starting to wonder why these bears are so interested. He then realizes that he may have some stuff in the bed of the truck that the bears might find interesting. Now both bears are pushing against the truck. We then hear a horn blare…and the bears begin to scatter as a Park Security guy is racing over to us on a jeep. He looks like he is ready to go hunt dinosaures. He has a tranquilizer gun and is screaming at us from a bullhorn to keep moving. That it is against park policy to stop in the bear pen. Haha....there are more stories from that one WIldlife Safari experience. But I will say that looking at the giant head, teeth, and body of that bear filled me with fright....I felt so small and knew instantly that my power was nothing compared to this formidable creature. A moment of being terrified.

The first words, the very first words announcing the birth of Christ, the very first words of the Angel of the Lord at Christmas, are “Be not afraid.”

I notice here that it doesn’t say try to not be afraid it is saying in your identity is one not of fear but one in which our identity is found in the representative of the one we find our ultimate courage. Whenever angels show up, angels as representatives of the Lord, they are saying “Do not fear” because they look completely otherworldly. It forces the human senses witnessing them in overload. All truth is forgotten.

But God reminds them of the truth. Do not live in your fear because I am reminding you of the good news and great joy. We are reminded of God’s word before in

Deuteronomy 31:6

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

As I think about the shepherds, I am reminded that there life was hard. They were not high on the social ladder. They often had little to eat. Life was solitary, and often in desolate places. Life was cold. Of course when something shows up so much bigger, more powerful, and other worldly than them…their first go to response is not ....is this good news? They had been living under Rome long enough that anything out of the ordinary was often not good.

In proclaiming "Be not afraid," the angel seems to emphasize that we can barely fathom the Creator of all entering into the joy and chaos of humanity.

"Be not afraid," the angel declares.

We also need to not be afraid. When we are afraid, we tend to forget the truth.

Be not afraid if your Christmas isn't flawless, if your family isn't flawless, if you aren't flawless.

Be not afraid if you fall short of your aspirations.

Be not afraid if your home isn't immaculate, if your spirit is marked and stained.

Be not afraid if you feel unwelcome, unworthy, unloved.

"Be not afraid," the angel declares.

Be not afraid, for God is with us. These are the two most frequently reiterated phrases in the Bible: "Be not afraid" and "I am with you."It reminded me of

Psalm 34:4–5

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

Be not afraid, for God steps into our imperfections and our disorderly stables. Be not afraid, for nothing—not even the political and military might of an Empire—can thwart God's entrance.

In the original Greek, the Angel issues a command, literally "No Fear," sounding more like an ad on tv than a Scriptural command. Commanding someone "No Fear" seems as logical as shouting "stop crying!" to a weeping child. Why, then, does the Angel say "Be Not Afraid"?

Perhaps we are urged to "Be Not Afraid" because we have grown fearful of the wrong things. Maybe we've succumbed to the manufactured fears of those seeking to gain something from us....like our eyes, our wallets or our vote. Perhaps we've become fearful of strangers, refugees, those unlike us when Christ tells us to care for those. Undoubtedly, this world is a complex and messy place where unfortunate events occur. Maybe the angel speaks this word because we've become afraid of the wrong things.

Perhaps we are told, "Be not afraid," so that we can be liberated from the fear of things beyond our control.

As we approach Christmas each year, we often strive to find a new perspective to see in the amazing story of Jesus and his human entrance into the story. Here we see the shepherds, the chosen recipients of the Good News of the holy birth.

The shepherds were toiling with mud on their boots, dressed not in their festive best but in whatever kept them warm during those solitary nights in the fields. They probably smelled. If they sat next to me in church, I might instinctively inch away. The first Christmas didn't exude the fragrance of something from your favorite mail order Christmas candle, cookies, and cinnamon pine cones. It smelled of damp sheep and perspiration.

In ancient times, shepherding was the last resort when no other work could be found. Shepherds were held in such low esteem that their testimony was inadmissible in courts. These were not prosperous farmers establishing sheep cheese businesses in Vermont. They were the desperate, the desolate, the folks not living the high life but actually living, from a societal point of view…the low life. These were the least of these.

God chose to manifest first on the margins, not to the elite city dwellers or the religious authorities but to laborers in the fields, to those forgotten and rejected. God appeared to those who had been told so often that they didn't belong that they had stopped searching for God. God is invested in the minutiae of individual lives, even in the shepherds, whose names Scripture forgets. This is the extent of God's love. God sends angels to those who have given up on God. This is our God.

Interesting that society looked at shepherds so lowly but that through out Scripture and even in the religons of other people groups, Shepherding is seen in a different light. One commentary put it like this.

Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations. Thus, it is not surprising that the care of a shepherd and his relationship with his flock was a common metaphor in the ancient Near East for the leadership of people, especially kingship. Also, various gods of the nations were occasionally spoken of as shepherds. In the Bible, civil and religious leaders are called shepherds, and the imagery is connected to kingship (e.g., 1 Kings 22:17), as seen with a king like David. God is called a shepherd (e.g., Gen. 48:15; Ps. 23:1; 80:1), and elements from a shepherd’s life occur a number of times to describe God’s activity (e.g., Ps. 31:3; Isa. 40:11; Micah 7:14).

Man looks on the outside but God looks at the heart. We might see a smelly, dirty occupation but God sees an opportunity to engage in the activity of Kingship, of caring for the needs of others in a way that honors God.

The angel declares, "Be not afraid, for behold I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all the people." Not just some, but all people. God announced it to the shepherds so that we would believe that Christmas is Good News for all people, truly all people. God fervently wants us to comprehend that all people are invited to behold the manger.

If God first comes to malodorous, rejected outsiders like the shepherds, perhaps God also approaches the part of you that feels unlovable and rejected?

So, they go. They go, not to royal courts, but to a manger.

God's redemptive work begins small, tender, quiet, in the untidy places, among broken people. Angels announce it with grandeur, with trumpets and song, not with military power but with a battalion of heavenly hosts. Nevertheless, God's redemptive work commences small and fragile. St. John Chrysostom expresses it eloquently, "And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of Days has become an infant. He who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne now lies in a manger." God's redemptive work starts so very small and as vulnerable as an infant in a manger.

We are now going to sing "O Little Town of Bethlehem," a hymn penned more than 150 years ago. The author, Bishop Philip Brooks, an abolitionist working to end slavery in the world, composed this hymn shortly after the U.S. Civil War. He was quoted as wondering about the nations struggle to determine if our national pledge that "all men are created equal" genuinely applied to all.

The hymn was crafted for his Sunday School children, youngsters who had grown up amid national anxiety and war. But the words speak to adults just as deeply if we consider the context of the time that they were written.

O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie, Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.

We are familiar with that dark street. Everyone of us, if we are honest and transparent with ourselves knows the dark streets. The areas of our live that we feel God is not in. We are afraid and we walk in darkness when we are afraid. When we believe our identity is threatened by something, by someone. We react out of terror. We then very easily can do terrible things out of that terror.

But the truth of the gospel is that our identity in Christ is never threatened. We are loved by a loving, almighty God. Period…end of story.

Isaiah prophesies, "the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light." The shepherds experienced the darkness of starless skies, the darkness of being cast out. May we also experience the light this season as we continue to not fear and instead put our hope, of all of our years, In Christ.

Lets Sing O little town of Bethlehem.

Pray