The Advert of Hope and the Birth of Jesus PART 4 “In Due Time” (Traditional Service)

I don’t know about you, but if someone rushed into a room, looked at me and said, “Don’t be afraid!”, my first instinct would be to brace myself for the worst.

“Do not be afraid.”

The first words out the angel’s mouth is “fear not.”

The angel says it to Zechariah.

to Joseph

to the shepherds.

And the angel says it to Mary, herself. “Fear not,” the angel says.

Meaning that if anything is going to happen….if the story is going to advance….if God’s design is going to unfold….and if anybody is going to get close to anybody….fear must be gone.

Until fear gets moved….

Zechariah isn’t going to get close to Elizabeth….

Joseph isn’t going to get close to Mary….

Mary isn’t going to get close to God….

and the shepherds aren’t going to get close to Jesus.

Until fear is moved, the story doesn’t move forward, God’s kingdom doesn’t advance.

If someone rushed into a room, looked at me and said, “Don’t be afraid!”, chance are I’d be terrified. Unless of course it was an angel with a message from God.

It’s Christmas. We need to hear the story. More than that, we need to live into the story. Maybe even more than that, we need to trust the story.