Do Not Be Afraid!

Last weekend, Ren and I visited Willow Creek church in South Barrington, IL with Cait and Jack. Pastor Bill Hybel's was speaking and the title of the sermon was 'NOT A NORMAL CHRISTMAS".  It turns out that the Hybel family has received some very difficult news of illness in their extended family.  It will not be a normal Christmas as they face some really hard things with those they love. (if you would like to hear his message go to http://media.willowcreek.org/weekend/not-a-normal-christmas/ )

But I don't think I've spoken to a single person since then that will have a 'NORMAL CHRISTMAS' this year!  I hear over and over people talking about 'things to come' and uncertainties of life.   Everyone I know is facing a challenge, a change or a loss in some way this year!  It doesn't necessarily mean that it is bad- but Christmas won't be NORMAL because of it.

What is normal anyway?  How NORMAL was the first Christmas?  You know, if you think about all the issues that the people at the original scene faced, maybe challenge, change and loss IS NORMAL.   We just spend so much time and money trying to make it something that it is not!

Pastor Hybel's challenge to us was, Do not be afraid.   How often do we hear those words in scripture?  Lot's!  Hybel's says that the Bible says this phrase, or some facsimile of it 365 times-that's one for everything day of the year!   (I'll have to study that!)

But the interesting thing for me to consider is how many people at that first Christmas heard those words.  (I have written about what I've learned from these people before - check out my blogs for December 2011) But think about what they were feeling here.

• Zechariah- the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John."  (Luke 1:13)
  
  Here he was, working so hard to do everything right- the Bible says Zechariah was righteous in God's eyes and blameless.  But the one desire of his heart had not be granted him. And suddenly this being shows up- and Zech is afraid- very afraid!  He's being granted what he longs for and he's still afraid!  Getting what you ask for is sometimes frightening!
• Mary- the angel said to her "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God."  (Luke 1:30)
  
  Think of the change this would mean for her. She's only a young girl- and suddenly life is not how she imagined it to be.  And now the angel is saying that this "drama" is because she has found favor?  God, if messing up my world and what people think of me is favor, I'd hate to feel your wrath!
• Joseph- an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream! "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Matt 1:20)
  
  Talk about dreams dashed and expectations devastated, even his reputation destroyed.  Let alone his'trust' in this love of his life, but most of all his GOD. To finally have a son- and it not be your child. The overwhelming loss
• the Shepherds- the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."
  
  These people- second class, maybe even third class in some circles, are being told this news that ALL people will want to hear?  Why us?  Why me?  Why this way?  They had to wonder if this was a joke on them!

All these people didn't even know it was Christmas- and they faced challenges, changes and loss, just like any other day!  Why do we think that our Christmas should be filled with sparkle and magic and fun!  It seems that God sent Jesus because he knew our Christmas's would be NORMAL.  Full of fear, and hurt & loss and uncertainty! 

And to all of that- he speaks to us!

Do not be afraid!

  

For I am with you!

How is God showing up in your NORMAL CHRISTMAS?  I'd love to hear! I know other readers of this post would as well!  Share one way in the comments below!
And Thanks!

Doubt? or Wonder?

Well, this is the blog that took a long time for me to write!  I thought it would be easy.  I know a lot about Mary- don't we talk about her every year at Christmas.  Yet, I couldn't formulate what I might 'write' about her this week.  Sometimes it feels like when Leisha died- so did everything I ever knew.  I'm a new learner at so many things that it seems should be old knowledge for me.  But in many ways, that's not all bad.  I'm enjoying digging in and learning  

Thursday, I read through Luke 1 several times, pondering what it must have been like to behold Gabriel, to hear his message and to try to wrap her head around all that Gabe was telling Mary.

Friday, the book I am using through advent presented me with the story of Joseph hearing the news himself and his response to Mary.  You know, it's one thing to deal with your own emotions about something like this- but to deal with the emotions of the man you are to marry- when you are carrying a child that is not his!  Wow!  I wonder if she thought what Joseph's response would be when she humbly said to Gabriel that night "may it be to me as you have said."

Saturday and Sunday, I was on the worship team at church.  It's amazing how clearly God speaks through a service when you hear it three times.  And I sat in the service all three times because they wanted the instruments to stay in position.  So I'm pretty much sitting in the music and Barb's message thoroughly engrossed in what God was saying to me in it.  And it was totally focused on Mary!

So ... I've been pondering a couple of thoughts since then.

When Gabriel said to Mary "Hail Favored One!" she was only 12-14 years old.  A true nobody in that culture. When I think being 12-14 year olds, I realized that I was just becoming aware of things beyond myself about then.  I watched my girls make some significant decisions about what what important to them about that time.  I'm sure Mary's parents had spoken to her about life issues that she would be experiencing in the next few years.  She was already engaged to Joseph, so I can imagine that Mary was beginning to 'grow up' in many ways about this time. But could she really have imagined something like Gabriel happening just now.  How does a parent prepare a child for that?  How does a child know how to respond in such a moment?

It's not like she didn't know how babies were born- she did.  She even says, "but I haven't been with a man."  It's a response similar to Zechariah's and yet...! Zechariah had years of being aware of God at work, that God is and does what He says He is and does. Yet in his moment in the Holy place, even then he asks for proof that God could do this.  "How can I be sure...?"

Mary's question was the honest, simple response of young woman just becoming aware of God's ability to work in her own life, and not just in her parent's. It wasn't 'doubt' as much as it was 'wonder'!  How will this happen?

The other thought that was spurred by Barb's message this weekend was that Mary could have said NO!  She could have become so afraid that she ran and hide from Gabriel and from what God was going to do.  She could have freaked out that something like this would make her 'look bad' and refused to have anything to do with it. She could have CLOSED herself to His work in her life.

If she had, would God have chosen another young girl for this important role?  Or did God chose her because her heart was already open to Him.  I know that I, sometimes, sense God putting a message in my life over and over, in one way and another.  And it seems He is preparing me for something that comes later.  Did He prepare her in other ways before this moment?  We don't know, scripture doesn't tell us about her before this moment.

At first she was afraid- wouldn't you be?  No matter how old you are- an angel appearing before you is bound to make your blood pressure rise. But her response was simple, child like.  "I am the Lord's servant (bondslave)."  Was this a culmination of messages that she had heard in her soul that resulted in her immediate, "may it be to me as you have said.?"

I guess any further speculation would be just that- speculation.  But like Mary, the questions are there for my life and yours.

What is God saying to you?
What is He preparing you for?
Are you open to hearing from Him?
Are you open to responding to Him, immediately, not doubt, but in wonder?
Are you willing to live life in the 'messy' if that's what God asks of you?

The music from the weekend worship gathering was powerful in my life this week.  But one song in particular really stood out as I asked myself those same questions. I include it here!

May He BE BORN IN ME today!

The light...is about to break!

Luke 1:78-79

Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us,

To give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death

and to guide us to the path of peace.

This verse struck me as I came across it this morning.  I have read Luke 1  before.  It's the story of  Zechariah. a priest in the time of Herod the king of Judea.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, are good people, in fact the Bible says they 'were righteous in God's eyes'. Who wouldn't want God to say that about them?  But they had no kids and now they are both very old.

Then one day, Zechariah is on duty at the Temple and he is chosen to be the one to enter the sanctuary and burn incense while the people prayed outside.

That's where it happened!

An angel of the Lord shows up!

Zechariah is overwhelmed, you can imagine!  But the angel says, "Don't be afraid Zech! God has heard you praying and you will have a son. Name him John! "

The angel tells Zech incredible things about  his son, that he will be a man of spirit and power and accomplish great things.

Zechariah's response is to ask a question, "How can I be sure this will happen?  I'm an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years."

The angel gets ticked!  At least I think he's ticked.  He says, "I am Gabriel!  I stand in the presence of God.  He sent me to tell you this good news.  But since you didn't believe  me- you won't be able to speak until your child is born."

And he didn't! Not a word!

Right after that story is when Gabriel shows up to talk to a young girl named Mary.  Again Gabriel says, "Don't be afraid! "  (I wonder how many times Gabriel has said that in his angel life.)

Gabriel tells Mary "you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son. Name him Jesus!"  Again he tells Mary that her son will be very great and that he will be given the throne and will reign forever.

Mary's response is to ask a question, " But how can this happen. I am a virgin."

But Gabriel doesn't seem to get upset with Mary.  He doesn't take her voice away like he did with Zechariah.  He seems more gentle, more patient.

And he tells her, "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age.  People used to say she was barren, but she's now in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God."

It was like I reading this chapter for the first time.  Seeing similarities in the passages I had not seen before.  And yet the differences astound me.

Why did Gabriel react to Zechariah's question as he did and yet not treat Mary that same way when she questioned.  Was it in what they insinuated in the question?  Was it in their tone of voice- which of course we can't hear.  Hmm?  I may have to study that a bit more.

But the other thing I noticed is that, unlike Zechariah,  Mary was able to respond to Gabriel's message right away.  And in amazing faith, she says, "I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you have said about me come true."

I can't say for sure- but I wonder if I had just encountered an angel that's telling me not to be afraid and he tells me that I'm going to be an unmarried pregnant virgin that I would say, "Yeah, I hope it all comes true."

And a few days later, her response swells to an incredibly beautiful song recorded as the  Magnificat. 

Zechariah, in the meantime, is completely silent.  Silence that has been forced on him because he refused to accept the angel's word as coming from God.  Until the day his new baby turned 8 days old.  As these new parents take their son to be circumcised,  everyone is asking what the child's name will be.   Elizabeth states that it will be John. No one believes her because there's no one in the family named John.   So they start 'making gestures' to Zech (not sure why, he was mute, not deaf), anyway, they ask Zechariah what the baby's name should be.  Zechariah writes on a tablet.  HIS NAME IS JOHN.  Immediately he is able to speak again.

That's when Zechariah breaks out into a song of his own.   A song he could sing with great emotion, and deep gratitude for the gift of this child.  A hymn of praise to the Most High God. 

At the end of his song, he sings these words.

Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us,

To give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death

and to guide us to the path of peace. Luke 1:78-79

Ah Lord God, let your light break upon us, give light to those who only see darkness this advent season.  To  all who sit in the shadow of death, guide us to peace!