This year has been another strange year; a few more “Ups” but the “Fear Factor” still seems to want to embed itself in so much of the fabric of our world and society. This crazy period has taken a lot out of so many but at a certain point, the words that still keeps ringing in my mind is to “Stop Being Afraid!”
Not always easy to do, especially when all the talk on the news, from the governments is a climate of fear but we must decide that to live we must push past the noise! And in spite of all of the noise, we can live and Stop Being Afraid!
In this Forward Friday, we begin the pilgrimage towards Christmas and this time can be a profound and rewarding season, even when things may not be all we would want them to be.
I think of many who are struggling with so many things and it is fascinating that this Christmas Story has "Today Relevance" for us.
So when we are in need of hope, relevance for life, making sense of what doesn't, it matters to look in the right places for what we really are looking for.
This Christmas Story has "Today Relevance" for us.
As I think about this past year, the word(s) that keeps coming is “Stop Being Afraid”. We have heard so much etc., but wrapped in so many announcements, pronouncements is the idea of fear.
Fear is a terrible thing in that it can become paralytic in nature and sometimes, we lose the essence of truly living. But during this Christmas season, we can take heart that the Christmas story, had fear wrapped all around it but somehow Good news prevailed.
Think About It:
Mary
Mary, greatly troubled when the angel appears because she wonders what all this will mean. The angel says ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’.
Mary is thinking about the scandal of pregnancy outside of marriage and the exclusion and isolation this will bring. It is hard for us today to understand the shame that would have engulfed her whole life. But Fear loses this round.
But Fear loses this round.
Joseph
Joseph, facing the reality of the stigma that he is implicated in with the added personal betrayal which comes from knowing his wife-to-be is going to have a baby by someone else.
The angel visits him in a dream to say ‘Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife’ because all of this has happened as part of God’s plan.
This message of the dream was strong enough to Joseph to completely change his plans and take Mary as his wife before they travel to Bethlehem. Fear loses it’s grip.
Fear loses it’s grip.
The Shepherds
The Shepherds, living out on the hills outside Bethlehem were considered the lowest of the low, were hated and distrusted by most respectable people. But they are the first to hear from the angels that a special child has been born. They are terrified when the angel appears.
They are told ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” From the very edge of society, they are entrusted with a message which they acted on and went on to tell everyone about. It was a message which amazed all who heard it. Fear lost another round..
Fear lost another round..
Not Just A Sentimental Story
The Christmas Story is no sentimental fairy tale.
Hope is born – but it comes in the midst of scandal, stigma and real fear. This is what gives Christmas its hope, its power to redeem and turn around the most difficult of situations and the most broken of lives. Jesus was born into straw poverty, in a world of fear and violence, yet overcame them with his love.
Join me over the next weeks as we pilgrimage on the road to Christmas; I'm excited to find experience Hope again; I hope and wish the same for you as well.
Hope is born – but it comes in the midst of scandal, stigma and real fear.
Life will throw and has thrown a lot at us. And it’s not that fear isn’t real but If we could see that fear, when allowed to run loose is designed to keep us from keep moving forward.
But Hope is a killer to fear and this Christmas season, why not consider allowing the Hope of Christmas to not only warm your heart in the season but all through the year.
No matter what we are going through, don’t give up having Hope because Hope never disappoints. I am glad for the Hope of Christmas; Bethlehem's Hope!
Join me over the next weeks as we pilgrimage on the road to Christmas; I'm excited to find experience Hope again; I hope and wish the same for you as well!
Sharing The Miracle Of The Mercies Of Christmas With You
Dave
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