Ben's December Letter
Dear friends in Christ:
“Fear not!” Routinely throughout the Bible—365 times, to be exact—God or angels tell people experiencing something holy that they can’t let their fear lead them right now. This happens even more in the lead up to Jesus’ birth, as Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds are told in turn to not be afraid as remarkable things happen among or within them. The angels don’t patronize them: they never tell these people that there is no danger. Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, begins a high-risk pregnancy resulting in a son whose work will be critical of people in power. Mary too takes on the risks of pregnancy, and of social shame that comes with being as yet unmarried. Joseph faces this shame, too—and soon must escape with his family because a tyrant wants them dead. Shepherds face a journey to Bethlehem in darkness—exposing them to wild animals and to losing their livelihood if caught. Danger of one kind or another is everywhere in the journey toward the manger. The angels never deny that. But they say over and over again: do not be afraid.
It struck me a while ago that fear is the subjective experience of danger. Danger is objective—there are things out there that can kill or ruin us. But fear is the emotional response to that danger. We have little control over the dangers around us, but fear—that, we can control. And that’s what the angels keep asking people to do as God takes on flesh and lives among us. “The danger may be real”, they say. “But you won’t let fear make your decisions for you.”
Our sermon series for Advent this year is about the fear present in these stories, and how people face it, deal with it, or live beyond it. By asking “what do you fear?”, it gives us a chance to respond. Is my subjective response to danger keeping me from proclaiming God’s presence? From bringing the love of God into the room, or into the world? From accompanying the vulnerable, or the needy? From finding joy in a very dark night? From seeing God’s plan unfold around me?
The answer is for me, and for so many of us, usually “yes”. Fear (often repackaged as “anxiety”) is a defining feature of our age. We fear technology and change and disease and economic insecurity. We fear our neighbors, we fear what the opposing party will do while in power, we fear losing people we love to death or broken bonds. We fear crime and accidents and war. And we fear these things often in ways that bear little relationship to the danger they present. Perhaps in addition to being a subjective experience, fear tells a good story.
But Advent tells a good story, too—about how angels declare that something bigger than fear is happening. Into a world of danger, God risks being born out of love for us. Fearlessly, the miracle of the incarnation plays out in Bethlehem. Join me this month as we look seriously at fear, and watch as ordinary people move beyond it into remarkably holy moments.
With hope,
Rev. Ben