“Out of Fear and Darkness…”

Christmas Eve 2008

Service of Lessons and Carols

Wednesday December 24, 2008

7:00 pm

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Every year, in this season of celebration, we find ourselves reading and re-reading the old familiar Christmas stories – stories of ancient prophetic visions; of surprising announcements to expectant parents; of angelic proclamations to shepherds abiding in the fields; of invitations to wise men from distant lands to come and adore the newborn king. 

We know these stories well, and yet we return to them, again and again, for we know that they continue to have the power to speak to us in moving ways.   For all of our familiarity with these texts, and for all of the debate and discussion that surrounds them, we all know, particularly on this night, of all nights, that they continue to have a rare and wondrous power to evoke, within us, visions of a different world; longings for a time of comfort and joy; and hopes for the transformation of this world into a place in which the angelic proclamation of peace and good will towards all people will be born in the hearts of all people.

Perhaps what continues to draw us back, to these texts, each year, is the fact that we continue to discover that the attitudes, the events, and the experiences that are described in these texts often find strangely relevant parallels with life in the modern world.

Consider, for example, how the experience of the shepherds resonates with certain dimensions of life at this moment in history.

There they were, out in the fields, in the middle of a dark night.  There they were, surrounded by the unseen dangers and the noises of the night, seeking to safeguard their sheep. There they were, working hard to protect their livelihood, to look after the investment and the source of their family’s income, from the threats and dangers that lurked in the uncertainties that lurked about them in the middle of that dark night.

And then, without warning, they were overwhelmed by the vision of an angel standing in front of them. 

What was their reaction to that vision?  Were they filled with excitement at what their eyes beheld?

Not according to the text.  Rather, their first reaction was fear. The text puts it quite bluntly.  They were terrified.

And the first words of the angel were not, as the Christmas cards would have us believe, a grand proclamation of peace and good will.  That would come later. 

Rather, the first words of the angel were these – ‘Do not be afraid”.

Do not be afraid.

It is quite interesting to note the number of times that this little phrase is uttered in the Christmas stories.  Zechariah was told not to be afraid before he was told that his son John was about to be born; Mary was told not to be afraid when the angel appeared and declared that she was about to give birth; Joseph was told not to be afraid when he discovered that his fiancé, Mary, was going to become pregnant; and, as we read tonight, the first words that the angel says to the shepherds were these – do not be afraid.

They are words that we all would do well to ponder.

There are, after all, many people who, like the shepherds on that dark night so long ago, find themselves in the middle of rather dark nights, these days.  Uncertainties about the future because of the economic turmoils of recent months; fears about how the effects of climate change will affect the lives of our children and grandchildren; confusion about how wars being waged in distant lands will affect our relationships with others in this global community; frustration and sadness caused by crises and difficulties in our personal lives and in the lives of our family members and our friends – in these, and in so many ways, we know what it means to be confronted by fear.  We know what it means to be filled, on a daily basis, with a steady diet of reasons why we should live with fear, with terror, with despair and with uncertainty as we seek to journey through life in this beautiful but broken world.

And yet, it was to people in this beautiful but broken world that God’s messengers came with these powerful words -- do not be afraid. 

Do not be afraid, because a child has been born among you.  Do not be afraid, because there is One whose coming signals the coming of peace, and of good will towards all people.   Do not be afraid, because authority rests upon his shoulders, and those who follow him, those who live with trust in him, shall come to know a peace that passes all understanding, and a love that conquers all fear. 

Do not be afraid.  The love of God has come to life in this world; a light has begun to shine in the darkness that will not be overcome by it; and all that the shepherds were called to do was to make their way, through that dark night, to seek the child. 

And, after having made their journey, -- after having encountered Christ – the shepherd’s fear was transformed into joy, and their uncertainty into faith. 

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

May we, this Christmas, seek Christ, even as those shepherds did; may we be transformed by his living presence in this world; and then may we go out into this world, free from fear, glorifying and praising God for all that we have heard and seen, as it has been told to us.