Good morning, Friends! We’re getting closer and closer to Christmas. Only ten days left!
We’ve talked about being ready – not just getting all our presents wrapped, but our hearts prepared.
We’ve talked about the surprise of Christmas. Jesus himself said that nobody knew when he was coming, or when he’ll come again.
We talked about Christmas being the season of hope. Today it feels like there’s too much bad news. The birth of Christ is good news. Jesus coming to change the world is great news.
Hope is like a candle in darkness. It’s our job to share that light. Jesus said that we are light-bringers. We’re ambassadors of hope. No matter who we are, we can share that hope with everyone we meet.
Today, I want us to look at another side of the Christmas message. It comes from one of the prophets of the Old Testament, from the prophet Micah. Micah lived about 700 years before the time of Jesus. Micah’s world was falling apart. There was fear and violence. There was greed and corruption. Times seemed pretty dark.
Micah’s forecast was for total disaster for God’s people, because they had done so much wrong. Micah said that the Temple in Jerusalem would be smashed – which it was. He said that their children will go into exile – which they did.
He said that rich people lie in bed and think up new ways to take away the land and houses of the poor – which they still do. But then Micah shifts gears. He brought a special message of hope.
Micah is the one who said that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. All those years before, God knew where Jesus would be born. Micah said that the Savior would gather God’s people and feed them like a shepherd, and that the Savior would rule to the ends of the earth.
He says that God will “cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19)
He says that God doesn’t want sacrifices. All God really wants, Micah says, is for us to see that justice is done, to love mercy, and for us to walk humbly with God. (Micah 6:8)
Anyway, let’s listen today to what Micah said, to the people who were waiting for Jesus.
In the future, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be the highest mountain of all. It will reach above the hills, and people of every nation will rush to it.
People of many nations will come and say, “Let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord God of Jacob, and worship in his temple.”
The Lord will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him.
He will settle arguments between distant and powerful nations. They will pound their swords and their spears into farming tools. They will never again make war or attack one another.
Everyone will find rest beneath their own fig trees or grape vines, and they will live in peace. This is a solemn promise of the Lord All-Powerful.
Micah 4:1-5
I’ve got a question for you. Do you know what phrase is found the most times in the entire Bible?
It isn’t, “Have faith.” It isn’t, “Believe in Jesus!” The phrase which is found the most times in the whole Bible is, “Don’t be afraid.“
I looked it up, this week – the phrase, “Don’t be afraid” shows up more than 300 times.
The angel comes to Zechariah, to tell him that he and his wife are going to have a son, even though they’re both on Social Security. What’s the first thing the angel says? Don’t be afraid!
The angel comes to Mary, to tell her she’s going to be the mother of Jesus. What’s the first thing the angel says? Don’t be afraid!
Angel comes to Joseph, in a dream in the middle of the night. What’s the angel say? Don’t be afraid!
What did the angel say to the shepherds, out watching their flocks at night? (You should know this one, we read it every year at Christmas.) Don’t be afraid!
On Easter morning, the women go to the cemetery. Another angel meets them. What does the angel say? Don’t be afraid!
Psalm 23 – “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. . .”
Psalm 27 – “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
I’m not going to read all 300+ times this phrase turns up in the Bible. But you can search for yourself. It’s everywhere.
Being afraid today is normal. There’s lots for us to be afraid about. People are afraid of losing everything they have. We’re afraid of war, of getting old, of not getting old. We’re afraid of illness, of accidents, of things crazy people do in the world every day.
I remember an old Peanuts cartoon. Lucy sets up a booth out on the front lawn. But instead of selling lemonade, her sign says, “The psychiatrist is in – 5 cents.”
Linus comes up to the booth, and says, “I’m in sad shape. My life is filled with fear and anxiety. The only thing that keeps me going is my blanket. I need help!”
Lucy says, “I think we should try to pinpoint your fears. If we find out what you’re afraid of, we can label it. Are you afraid of responsibility? Then you have hypengyophobia. Are you afraid of cats? Then you have ailurophobia. Or maybe you have thalassophobia – that’s the fear of the ocean. Or gephyrophobia – that’s the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?”
“What’s that?”
“That’s the fear of everything.”
Linus shouts, “That’s it!”
It’s a cartoon, but we wouldn’t laugh if there wasn’t some truth to it. A lot of people are really afraid today.
And along comes Micah. Micah says, “Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord. Let’s go to God’s temple. God will teach us, and we will follow God’s teaching. The Lord will settle arguments between nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Every one will have a place to live, and will even have their own gardens, their own vines and fig trees. And no one will make them afraid. The Lord, God Almighty, has said this!”
Part of the Christmas message – a really important part, is “Let’s not be so afraid any more.”
Yes, there’s lots of bad stuff going on in the world. It’s real. We’d be foolish to ignore it.
But let’s not live our whole lives in fear. Jesus is coming into the world. We’re not supposed to be afraid of Jesus!
Every year, our family puts out Nativity creches. I still remember the first one we got. It was the first year that my wife and I were married. We were living in an apartment, and we didn’t have any Christmas decorations. So we made our own.
And then, we met this group of Catholic nuns, who were living in the slums in the city. Every city where they had a group, they lived with the poorest of the poor.
To support themselves, they made these simple terra cotta Nativity creches. We still have the one we got from them. It’s always in the center of the mantel, every home we’ve ever lived in.
The sister we got it from said that the reason Jesus came and was born in a poor family, was so that no one would be afraid of him.
A lot of people are afraid of God. They know that God is all powerful. And people know that they’ve done bad things, or that they think they haven’t done their best, and that God must be angry with them, so they’re in big trouble.
The sister said, “God chose this way to come into the world, because no one can be afraid of a baby. . .”
People are afraid of bad stuff. But many people are also afraid of God.
And Christmas says, “Don’t be afraid of either one. God is here to help us. God is here to be one of us.”
When Jesus is born, he needs our help. He needs us to welcome him. He needs us to look out for all the children of the world.
In all the places where there’s war and violence, we need to protect the children, because any one of them might be the baby Jesus.
Any place where children are hungry, we need to help feed them, because Jesus said when we feed the poorest child, it’s the same as if we did it for him.
Jesus wants us not to be afraid. Remember how Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious about your life, what you will eat or drink or what you will wear. Your Father knows you need all these things. Your life is more than food. Your body is more than the clothes you wear. God clothes the flowers and feeds the birds. Don’t be afraid! By being afraid, can you add even one hour to your span of life? Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. Put God’s kingdom first and do what God wants. Then all these other things will be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:25-35)
So. Part of the message of Christmas – the real message, the message God wants us to hear – is, don’t be afraid. Whatever you’re afraid of, tell God about it, and let God address it.
Part of the Christmas message is, remember that bit, about turning swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. Christmas is about peace – real peace, between nations and between people.
All those weapons – the weapons of war, and the weapons we use against each other – aren’t what God wants.
Jesus came to show us another way to live, a way where people aren’t afraid, where we live in peace with each other, where everyone has their own place, with vines and fig trees or whatever makes their place peaceful and safe.
This isn’t just our wish. This is God’s promise. This Christmas, may it come true for everyone.