Andy was a logical choice to play the Christmas angel in our college's annual musical. Blonde-haired, light-skinned - and he should have worn his glasses.
The auditorium was packed. The antiphonal choirs were singing, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night." The shepherds and sheep were "sleeping" center stage. Then "the angel of the Lord appeared unto them." Actually, Andy stepped out onto the little platform above the shepherds.
As he stepped out, he began that familiar birth announcement from heaven - "Fear not--." That was as far as he got - before he fell from the "sky" and onto the startled shepherds! But all the way down, you could hear Angel Andy shouting, "Fear nooooottttttt!" No one was hurt, but I wasn't sure the Christmas story would ever be the same.
Just like the angels in the real story, even the "falling" angel made sure heaven's message got through. "Fear not." It's the consistent drumbeat all through the Christmas story. "Fear not, Mary" (Luke 1:30). "Joseph...fear not" (Matthew 1:20). And, of course, the shepherds.
God keeps repeating that message because we keep needing to hear it. I, for one, sure do. Just look at how there's plenty going on to make us apprehensive. The world's economy is like those old Christmas tree lights where, if one bulb went out, they all went out. Today, if a financial light goes out - say in Greece or Italy - it's like all the lights go out. Consequently, financial futures - national, business, personal - are up for grabs.
One record-breaking natural disaster after another this year has reminded all of us how fragile and unpredictable our lives are. A little movement of the earth's tectonic plates...a killer storm...surging waters,raging fires. Suddenly, everything's gone.
Nations are convulsed with revolutions that may lead to a much more dangerous world. Speaking of dangerous, there's concern about who's got or getting nuclear weapons - and all those weapons that are somewhere unaccounted for. On a personal level, jobs, retirements, savings, investments, homes - once "sure things" - are now shifting sand.
Above all the uncertainty, and above all the reasons to be afraid, God is saying it again, maybe a little louder - "Fear not!" Or, as the modern translations say, "Don't be afraid. I like to think that He's calling my name when He says it as He did with both Mary and Joseph - "Don't be afraid, Ron." I suspect He's calling your name, too.
All the questions, all the wild possibilities are causing people to just hunker down and hope the storm passes. We're tentative...holding on, holding back...taking no risks...playing it safe.
And that's a shame. Because "God has not given us the spirit of fear (or timidity) but of power and love and a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7 - KJV). No, He's saying, "Fear not!"
This is no time for tentative or timid. It's a time for boldness. Bold living. Bold giving. Bold loving. Bold telling people about our Jesus - because times like these make people hungry for the peace only Christ can give. With incoming attacks from every direction, the original Jesus-followers "spoke the word of God boldly" and "they never stopped...proclaiming the good news" (Acts 4:31; 5:42).
I don't expect an angel to show up in my room this Christmas - or fall on me. But I can still hear God saying, "Don't be afraid." So I'll take the risks that obedience requires...that faith requires...that lost souls require. Bethlehem was a bold stroke. So was the Cross. My Savior's doing bold things in this scary world. I want to go with Him.