Do Not Be Afraid

Intro

It’s not about you. …That’s what I have to tell myself.

A nice event like today’s beautiful Christmas themed worship service takes a lot of effort. Whether you were part of making the meal or leading a song or singing with the choir, sometimes we can get the thought that our effort and talent is what makes something successful.

For me I can sometimes worry—second guessing what I’ve said, or stressing about people’s opinions of me or the church. As if the church were mine to make successful or break. Did I help someone be a Christian or did I just cause them to reject Christ? Will that thing that I did bring more people to church or cause people to leave? And that focus on me can make me afraid. Afraid to fail. Afraid to mess up. Afraid that I’m not good enough or righteous enough or effective enough or eloquent enough…

The truth is, it’s not about me. And it’s not about you, either.

Maybe this is what happened to Mary and the Shepherds long ago—they were afraid when they saw the messengers of God.

What if we stopped to ponder the source of all this fear?

Mary

Luke 1:26–30 ESV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Tell me you don’t see how weird it is for Mary to become “greatly troubled” when a holy creature of power and light says that God looks on her with favor. It would be precious to her if her mom said that. Surely, if an angel who sits at God’s feet told her she’s one of God’s favorites, she would see it as even more special. And yet, when she finds out God is looking at her, she’s afraid.

What makes us afraid?

It seem to me that there are two things: what we believe about the person or circumstances we’re facing, and what we believe about ourselves.

If I find myself standing in front of a muscular, 250 lb six and a half foot tall wrestler who’s got a closet full of trophies and an angry look on his face, then I’m probably going to be afraid because of what I believe about him. Even if someone told me that he’s a gentle giant, it would be tempting to believe that he intends to harm me and that he has the ability to do a good job at it.

But I’d also be afraid because of what I believe about myself.

You see, I’m a weak little lightweight with no fighting experience and no chance at all with this guy.

I wonder if Mary felt that way about the angel of light that appeared to her. Did she see him as a powerful being that could do her harm? Did she believe that she was going to experience the judgment and wrath of God? That she was unworthy of God’s favor? What did she misunderstand that made her afraid?

Have you ever read the Bible — a direct revelation of God to you — and disbelieved it’s messages?

When you read in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has good plans for you, do you believe it, or do you shrug it off as though that message is for someone else?

When you read in Isaiah 40:29-31 that God gives strength to the weak and power to the powerless, do you believe it?

When you read in Romans 8:37-39 that God gives overwhelming victory to us through Christ, do you believe it?

When you read in John 14:27 that Jesus is leaving us His peace, peace that passes our understanding, do you believe it?

What we believe about God—his power, his love, his involvement and intentions in our life—will affect what we do with His promises.

Considering what you believe about God, what would you say if you were told that you’re one of God’s favorites? Would you brush it off as sily, “O, me? No, that’s ridiculous. I’m nobody.” Or would you get afraid, thinking, “Oh no, God’s paying attention to my life. If He really gets to know me, he’s going to be disappointed!”

Who is God? What’s he really like?

1 John 4:8 ESV

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is love. And God’s desire is to have a loving relationship with you. He’s right here with us, and His intentions are good. That’s who God is.

1 John 4:18 ESV

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

……

But then there’s the other side of our fear—what we believe about ourselves.

Who do you think you are?

Are you a big, strong, talented, always right, always the best at everything, kind of person? Or maybe you feel like you’re a tiny, insignificant, worthless, no-good, very-bad person. Either way, when the angel comes, your tendency is going to look at yourself and compare yourself to this mighty spiritual being and likely, you’d be afraid. Maybe that’s why Adam and Eve ran to hide when God came looking for them. What they believed about themselves made them afraid of God.

I can imagine Mary’s thoughts when she heard those words coming out of Gabriel’s mouth, “me? Favored? I’m not worthy of God’s favor. I’m nothing. I’m just a little girl. I’m always making mistakes. I’m so sinful.”

Maybe what we all need to hear a little more often is that it’s not about us. Mary needed to realize that the point of the story wasn’t going to be about her, it was always going to be about Jesus. Mary was the vessel for God to pour out His love to the world, but it was about God all along and never about Mary.

Shepherds

Luke 2:8–14 ESV

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Theologians suspect that the shepherds had been talking about or reading about the great prophecies of the messiah and were eagerly hoping he would come soon. Maybe they read in Daniel 9’s prophecy about the time of the Messiah where it predicted 490 years until everlasting righteousness would come, until God would put an end to sin and atone for iniquity and finish the transgression. (Dan 9:24)

They calculated the time and realized that they were really close to the end of that prophecy. But what did they think about the God of that prophecy? What did it mean to end sins and finish transgression? Were they a little afraid about what was going to happen?

In that moment an angel of glory and light appeared to them. Maybe they were wondering if God was going to bring them to an end because they were sinful and had transgressed God’s law. Their first thought was about themselves. But it wasn’t about them.

What would it be like to hear those words from an angel, “do not be afraid. I’m here to bring you good news!”

And then to realize that the good wasn’t about you. God’s great concern was with getting the news out that Jesus had been born. It wasn’t the worthiness of the shepherds but the gift of Jesus that was important.

You see, its not about you.

“Don’t be afraid” might as well be translated as, “don’t focus on yourself right now, God is here.”

God said it to Moses when he told him to help deliver Israel from Egypt—Don’t be afraid.

God said it to Joshua when he called him to lead the Israelites into Canaan—Don’t be afraid.

God said it to Elisha’s servant who saw the armies coming to kill Elisha and Elisha simply said, “Do not be afraid, those who are with us are greater than the problem…”

God said it to Israel several times before they went into battle.

He said it to prophets when He was asking them to share difficult news with the people.

And God said it to the disciples wen they saw Jesus walking on the water to meet them in the boat.

Do not be afraid. It’s not about you. God is here, you don’t need to worry.

What have you been afraid of recently?

Is it government or policy or money or health or your kid’s salvation or justice for a wrong done? Don’t be afraid, God is here.

You see, it’s not about you. It never has been. It never will be. Jesus is the first, the last, the greatest, the best, and you are the object of his great affection.

It’s not about you. It’s about His great love, and His wonderful plans. So don’t be afraid.

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Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.