Reflection:
Luke 2:10-12 (TEV)
The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
It is interesting that the very first words in the announcement of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2 were, “don’t be afraid!”
There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. This very day in David’s town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! 12 And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great army of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!”When the angels went away from them back 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.”
With so much fear in our world right now, our worshipful celebration of the anniversary of Christ’s birth reminds us that Christmas really is the Good News. Not only did the arrival of Jesus mean we now have a Savior, it also meant that we no longer have to live in fear.
So how do we enter into that “no fear” living? It’s quite simple really; nothing complicated about it at all. The angels said what is repeated another 364 times throughout Scripture: Fear not. In other words, quit worrying. And to do that, we must do what the angels went on to instruct the shepherds to do: “Find the Christ-child and worship him.”
I’m pretty sure what those heavenly heralds were, and are, calling for is to simply replace worry with sustained worship. That is the antidote to fear. That is what will defeat the anxiety the evil in this world causes in our hearts. That is what reminds us that embracing the Christ-child as Savior and Lord truly is Good News.
With that in mind, take courage, it’s Christmas!
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