Do Not Be Made Afraid
This
is an outline of my sermon text, as well as the video for the Christmas Eve Service, on December
24, 2019. My focus was primarily Matthew
1:18-21, and parts of Luke 2:8-14.
+ pBRC
· I want to talk
about the birth announcements more so than about the actual birth.
o
The
Gospels provide us with the angels of heaven announcing the coming of God’s
Son, the Messiah three times.
§ We hear the
final one in tonight’s Gospel reading, where an angel, then a host of angels
declare the Good News of Great Joy to shepherds.
§ Before this, the
angel Gabriel appears to Mary to say she “ha(s) found favor with God.”[1]
§ Joseph is also
visited by an angel who said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”[2]
o
While
the angels are telling these people what God blessings God is providing through
this child, and what their part in this Good News of Great Joy will be, each
time, the angels begin with a simple phrase. “Do not be afraid.”[3]
§ We may need to
rethink our idea of what angels look like if the first words out of their
mouths are always, ‘Do not be afraid.’
§ But they need to
reassure those who are receiving the message to not be afraid of what God is
asking them to do.
· Being a parent
is a scary thing, but the angel tells Mary and Joseph it will be alright.
· Having the
heavens ripped open to hear that the long-awaited Messiah is being born in a
nearby barn is scary, but the angels reassure the shepherds this is Good News
of Great Joy.
§ However, that
statement comes in different ways.
· To Mary and the
shepherds, it is an imperative; it is a command, “Do not be afraid.”
· It is different
for Joseph. The angel uses the verb for fear in the passive voice.
o
Now,
stay with me, in a passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb.
o
Where
Mary and the shepherds are told, “Do not be afraid,” the other angel tells
Joseph, “Do not be made afraid.”
§ They are being
told different things.
· Mary is not to
fear what God is asking her to do.
· The shepherds
are not to fear seeing and talking about the Good News of Great Joy.
· Joseph is to not
be made to fear by others.
o
Marriage
is scary. Fatherhood is scary. But they shouldn’t make him afraid.
o
What
can cause him to be made afraid is the actions and reactions of others.
o
The
comments and looks of friends and neighbors and silent condemnations of the
community could cause Joseph to be made afraid.
o
What
will cause Joseph to be made afraid comes from outside of himself.
§ What will other
people say? What will other people think?
What will other people do? How will other people act?
What will other people do? How will other people act?
o
THAT
is what the angel warns against. Do not be made afraid.
§ This child is
special. This child comes from God. Do not be made afraid.
§ When you know
what the right thing to do is, do not be made afraid.
· We know the
story. Mary & Joseph were engaged, Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth,
and when she comes back, Joseph finds out she is pregnant. He doesn’t know how,
but he knows that it was not him.
o
Joseph
could have had Mary stoned to death for adultery but “Joseph, being a
righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to
dismiss her quietly.”[4].
§ He feels
betrayed, but not vengeful. Then an angel appears to him to explain “the
child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you
are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”[5]
· In Jewish
tradition, the one who names the child is the father. By naming Jesus, Joseph
claims him as his own. Only if Joseph is not be made afraid.
· In our lives, we
are called to serve God. We may not be visited by angels, or we may be, but we
just don’t recognize them.
o
Often,
the work put in front of us can make us afraid.
o
Helping
those whom society has held back or pushed aside: the least, the last, the
lost, the little ones and those who are alone, means we need to go to them.
§ But those who
live at society’s edges don’t always live in the nicest of neighborhoods, and
don’t have the most sterling of reputations. We are afraid for ourselves.
o
More
often, that fear comes from others. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Why are
you helping THEM?’ Or it may come from those we try to help, ‘Do you
think you’re better than me?’
§ When you help
those whom society has held back or pushed aside, you challenge and change the
order of things. There will be a push back. Do not be made afraid.
· When our lives
as followers of Christ bring us fear, I want to share a message with you from
one of the angels here at Redeemer. I love you. God loves you more. Do
not be made afraid.
· When the angel
announced the coming of the Christ-child, there were warnings against fear.
o
Mary
- don’t be afraid to take a chance. Shepherds – don’t be afraid to go and see
and tell.
o
Joseph
– don’t be made afraid – don’t let what the world thinks and says,
change what you know is the right thing to do.
· With all that is
going on in our nation and in our world, we have a lot to be afraid about.
o
Rejoice,
God favors you. There is Good News of Great Joy.
o
Do
not let the things of this world cause you to be made afraid.
· I want you to
change the world. Tonight. I want you to share Good News of Great Joy.
o
Get
out your phones. You have a message to share. Text this to someone who needs to
hear it. Post it where someone will see it.
o
Post
this: I love you. God loves you more. Merry Christmas.
§ Don’t be made
afraid
to do it.
AMEN.
[1] Luke
1:30.
[2] Matthew
1:20.
[3] Matthew
1:20, Luke 1:30, Luke 2:10.
[4] Matthew
1:19.
[5] Matthew
1:20-21.
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