What do you fear? Fear doesn’t stop us.

Well, this morning we come to the end of

our Advent series

where we've been pondering what it is we

fear.

Six weeks we've been walking together.

And today we come to Epiphany Sunday,

the day we celebrate the magi coming all

the way from the east following a star

in search of a prophecy that a newborn

king has been born not just for one

people group but for the redemption of

the whole world. And so let's turn to

Matthew 2:es 1-12 and 16-18 this

morning. Hear the word of the Lord

friends.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in

Judea during the time of King Herod,

magi from the east came to Jerusalem and

asked, "Where is the one who has been

born king of the Jews? We saw his star

when it rose and have come to worship

him." When King Herod heard this, he was

disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

When he had called together all the

people's chief priests and teachers of

the law, he asked them where the Messiah

was to be born. In Bethlehem, in Judea,

they replied, "For this is what the

prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem,

in the land of Judah, are by no means

least among the rulers of Judah. For out

of you will come a ruler who will

shepherd my people Israel."

Well, then Herod called the Magi

secretly, and found out from them the

exact time the star had appeared. He

sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and

search carefully for the child, and as

soon as you find him, report to me so

that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went

on their way. And the star they had seen

when it rose went ahead of them until it

stopped over the place where the child

was. And when they saw the star, they

were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the

child with his mother Mary, and they

bowed down and worshiped him. Then they

opened their treasures and presented him

with gifts of gold, frankincense, and

myrr. And having been warned in a dream

not to go back to Herod, they returned

to their country by another route.

When Herod realized that he had been

outwitted by the magi, he was furious

and he gave orders to kill all the boys

in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were 2

years old or younger in accordance with

the time that he had learned from the

magi.

Then what was said through the prophet

Jeremiah was fulfilled. A voice is heard

in Rama weeping and great mourning.

Rachel weeping for her children and

refusing to be comforted because they

are no more. This is the word of the

Lord. Thanks be to God.

Well, here we return to the Magi this

morning. You probably are familiar. We

sometimes call them wise men or kings.

Um, we assume there were three because

there were three gifts, but really what

we know is that they come from Persia

and they were part of a pagan spiritual

and academic practice called

Zoroasteanism.

Um, it was this belief that centered a

ton of study around the sky, the stars,

the pattern that we see reflected

uh in the rhythms of the night, what we

would come to call astrology.

And so these magi, these astrologers

from the east, they discover an

unnaturally bright star has been

shining. And it aligns with a prophecy.

They know that there is going to be a

new king born, but not just for one

people, but for the whole world. And so

they decide to set out uh to go and find

and worship this newborn king, bringing

expensive gifts, gifts for royalty,

gold, frankincense, and myrr.

And after following that star all the

way to Judea, all the way to Jerusalem,

looking for this king, they start where

many of us would probably start with the

place that makes the most sense. They

start by going to the current king and

asking, "What do you know about a

newborn king? Surely you've got some

information.

It might even be your son we're looking

for, is it?"

But Herod, Herod doesn't know anything

about any newborn kings. He doesn't want

to either. Like Pastor Jared talked

about last week, Herod has murdered his

own wife and his children to ensure that

there will most definitely not be any

newborn kings. And so he is angry and

frustrated to discover this news from

the magi.

The text tells us that he is greatly

disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him,

which I think makes sense. I mean, think

about this. If everybody around knows

that Herod's been willing to kill his

own family to control his power, they've

all got to be wondering what is he gonna

do next?

Like, what's his next play here?

Of course, they're afraid. Of course,

they're disturbed. And what he does

next, it is so horrific,

so dark that it's really hard for us to

even conceptualize it. We call it the

slaughter of the holy innocents.

The slaughter of the holy innocents.

Herod orders the military to attack

their own people.

Attack their own people and to kill all

the boys in Bethlehem under the age of

two years old. He massacres innocent

children to hold on to his power, to

hold on to his control at all costs. He

is hoping to strike fear in his people.

Mary and Joseph were told they like flee

just in time with Jesus as refugees to

Egypt and they hide out there until they

hear that Herod has died.

And so our Christmas story, it's a

deeply tragic story.

I think this is the part we often want

to skim right over.

But I but I remind you that nothing

about Christ coming into the world ever

played out like a fairy tale.

We've been talking about this all

season, but our story does not start

with once upon a time. It starts in the

days of King Herod.

And those original readers, they would

have known exactly what that meant.

Friends, as we travel our own stories,

as we come to the end of this Advent

series,

um I think it's important that we also

acknowledge that our stories too don't

play out like fairy tales.

Not one bit.

There are all the various Herods of our

world and they still loom large.

Jesus being born into the world has not

stopped violence and coercion,

experiences of fear in our world. I

mean, lots and lots of holy innocents

are still in danger of violence and

death in our own time, aren't they?

And so, like we've affirmed all season

long, the question for us that we've

been asking week after week is not

whether or not we're afraid

because we are afraid. We're just naming

that. Then there's plenty to be scared

of out there. The question we want to

sit with is what are we going to do with

our fear?

What are we going to do about it?

What are we going to do with our fear?

Because we can be like Herod, right, who

responds to his own deep fear by lashing

out in anger and control and ultimately

incredible violence.

And I I bring him up first because I

think there's a truth we have to

acknowledge. When we are afraid, I think

we all have the capacity to lash out in

the very same way.

People do all sorts of things. They

justify all sorts of bad behavior and

downright evil when they're afraid.

It feels to me like so much of our

culture right now has been taking that

approach.

That's what it sounds like to me.

violence, destructive folks just like

quick to lash out, quick to attack,

quick to try and dominate the

conversation, to shut each other down.

Cancel anybody who might believe or look

differently than you. And especially so

if their differences, they impinge upon

your power or privilege or your bottom

line. People are lashing out.

It's rough.

Friends, in the character of Herod, I

think we see on display like the most

destructive mutations of unchecked fear.

That's what fear looks like when it's

not handled well.

Coercion, control, and ultimately

violence.

But I just don't think that's how we

want to handle our fear.

I think the opposite extreme is equally

dangerous. We have to ask when we're

afraid, are we going to hide? Are we

going to cower?

Are we just going to put our heads down

and like just pretend it's not so scary?

I think this is especially a temptation

for any of us that might feel like

religious insiders.

That might have some power and privilege

that we'd like to protect.

There is this sense that we know that if

we say the wrong thing, we do the wrong

thing. folks might come at us that that

to live the way of Jesus Christ in a

world in our own time of Herod's there

are consequences for those actions

and so will we let fear stop us from

doing what's right

and it's a very real temptation that we

we face right now.

Are we going

to speak up? Are we going to stand for

love in a very fearful moment?

Because here's what is true. I know

this. It's in my own experience as much

as it's in yours. I think we see

violence and we see tyranny. We see

things happening all around us. And we

know it's dangerous

and we know it's wrong.

But then we're not always directly

impacted by it.

It doesn't touch me or my budget or my

kids or my experience where I live. And

so the temptation can be to just keep

your head down and hope it'll go away.

Somebody else's problem.

And I don't care what it is we're

talking about. It could be anything.

could be Venezuela or Ukraine or the

Holy Land. It could be the skyrocketing

cost of living that's just taking over a

Salt Lake, too. It can be the Epstein

files or ICE raids or folks trying to

gerrymander.

It can be the like panic we see with the

growing number of unhoused folks

sleeping on the streets.

It can be like the intense decline of

mental health among our young people and

our children.

Like whatever it is that's so scary out

there right now,

we see these terrifying things

happening, but unless they hit us

directly, I think most of the time

there's a temptation to not say or do

anything

when we're afraid.

It sort of feels to me like in middle

school when we see somebody getting

picked on, we know it's not okay, but we

also don't want the attention from that

bully ourselves.

And so the temptation to turn away can

be strong. As I was thinking about that

this week, the famous poem, I'm sure

you're familiar, by German pastor Martin

Neymar came to mind.

Martin wrote this poem after World War

II. uh after he admitted and publicly

repented

alongside many of his other German

Christians um and pastors because they

had turned a blind eye to the Nazi

regime.

And so he wrote this poem. He said,

"First they came for the communists and

I did not speak out because I was not a

communist. And then they came for the

socialists and I did not speak out

because I was not a socialist. And then

they came for the trade unionists and I

did not speak out because I was not a

trade unionist. And then they came for

the Jews and I did not speak out because

I was not a Jew. And then they came for

me and there was no one left to speak

out for me.

We are not the first to have to hold the

tension of living in a scary time.

And so what will we do with our fear?

Will we wield it like a weapon or will

we allow it to hold us captive?

The magi

looking for that newborn king, I think

they offer a really different

counterpoint to both extremes. I think

they model something really different

for us. They're deeply afraid,

but they just refuse to let it stop

them.

They don't freeze up or quit even though

Herod is in their face demanding from

them the information they're going to

acquire.

They don't run home.

They also don't

just turn and do the same thing in kind

to Phar. Meeting his violence with

violence. Meeting his coercion with

coercion.

They're not trying to beat him at his

own game. No, they just stay faithful to

the thing they're called to do

and trust that God that that star is

going to show up and help them take the

next right step.

They're going to find that baby. They're

going to keep going. They're going to

persist and persevere

through uncertainty, through their fear.

They keep moving. They listen for the

voice of the Holy Spirit and they hold

on to this like insistent hope that this

newborn king that they've come all this

way for really is the answer. Really is

going to redeem and restore the whole

world.

And I think their journey, the way they

journey is an invitation for us. It

really is. Will we move as fear dictates

or will we move as love calls us to?

Because love will always call us to

insist on hope

every time. Insist on hope. No matter

our fear, no matter how scary our own

herods might be,

no matter how dark the world feels right

now, we are called to be people of hope.

People with their gaze fixed on Christ

who move through fear

and stay faithful.

Because here's the truth, friends. You

cannot always control the situation

you're in or the circumstances you face.

You can. But you do get to choose your

response.

You do get to choose how you're going to

respond to it.

While you may not control the fate of

our nation [snorts]

or the fate of the city or even maybe

your own emotions on some days, you do

get to choose [sighs] hope

and courage

and a reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Even when you're afraid. Even when

you're afraid.

Any other Lord of the Rings fans in here

[sighs and gasps] today?

Guys, it's time to read Tolken if you

haven't, or at least watch the movies.

[sighs]

But I couldn't help but think of this

conversation between Frodo and Gandalf.

Frodo is charged to destroy the ring, to

defeat evil, and it's brutal. It nearly

kills him multiple times. Um, he is not

the same person on the other end of

that. and Gandalf, his like mentor, the

one who shows up in the nick of time to

offer hope. They have this conversation.

Froto turns to him and says, "I wish it

need have not happened in my time."

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all

who live to see such times. But that is

not for them to decide.

All we have to decide is what to do with

the time that is given us.

We get to decide

if we're going to choose hope and

courage in the face of fear.

One of my favorite living theologians is

Dr. Hana Reichel and she writes this

about the kind of hope we ought to have.

There will be days when you feel that

all hope is lost. But remember, hope is

not an object that can be misplaced or

taken away. Hope is not an emotion that

you may or may not feel. Hope is not a

positive outlook that may be hard to

come by. Hope is a practice, a

discipline, a horizon.

You know, I'm not normally like a New

Year's resolution kind of girl for the

same reason Halen and Jared have already

said.

Uh, but I have spent a lot of time, some

of you guys know this, we've been in

conversation about this. I have spent a

lot of time over this last year

especially,

really praying, fasting, thinking about

what it means to live like a person of

Christ in our own moment of really

frightening days.

It's been a central focus for me over

this last year. How how do we look like

Jesus and love like Jesus with all the

outrage and the panic and the mean and

nasty?

That's felt important for me personally

just navigating my own life in the

world. But it has felt

essential as I think about what it means

to pastor our congregation and to love

and lead with any integrity whatsoever.

I've held it all year.

And I've done that because I want you to

know I can see the fear in your eyes

when we talk and when you walk through

these doors.

I can hear the tremble in your voice. I

know that like me, you feel like the

temperature has risen

right now.

and that we all have had to just like

learn how to live in this like lowlevel

anxiety

trying to figure out a new normal.

I see it. I feel it. And and friends, I

want to encourage you as we head into

another year,

how how when we're tired and worn out of

trying to say the right thing and do the

right thing, how do we keep moving?

Especially because let me just like name

what I think is probably true. I don't

think our culture of fear is going

anywhere next year.

I really don't

I don't say that to bring despair, but

to just name the truth that I'm not sure

that collectively our broader culture is

ready to stop weaponizing it against

each other.

I just don't think they're done yet. If

there's a spiral we're spinning down, I

think we're kind of near the top.

And I don't think we as a people have

evolved to some level where we're not

going to suddenly be hooked by it every

other week, every time we turn on the

news or scroll through our social media.

All the politicians, all of them on both

sides, they're going to keep weaponizing

fear. They're going to keep naming and

shaming. Cable news is not going to

suddenly stop talking about everything

that's wrong in the world and trying to

make it salacious so that you stay

addicted.

The algorithms, AI, your social media,

they're only going to get more effective

at bringing up your blood pressure. I

don't think fear is going anywhere.

So, how do we hold on to some

encouragement?

Here's what I want to assure you. At

least those of you that are like around

and a part of this family of faith or

considering jumping in, you're more than

welcome.

We are not as a family of faith going to

allow fear to stop us as a as a

community of of believers. We're not.

We're going to continue to be a place of

belonging.

We're going to keep our gaze as a

congregation. And this is a conversation

I've had with many of you. Our gaze will

be solidly fixed on Jesus Christ.

If you wonder where we're going, that's

the only answer I got for you.

Wherever it is Jesus Christ leads us

next.

That's what we're going to talk about

from this pulpit.

That's what we're going to celebrate

together as people who have been called

to be disciples. We are going to do what

we have been promising we're going to

do. We're going to love God. We're going

to love each other. We're going to love

our neighbors.

So, just so you know,

fear does not get to take over a

monopoly here in this space as we

gather. And you know what? It might be

one of the last places that exist other

than your own homes um where where that

is going to be adamant and declared on

the regular

because we can't choose our

circumstances. We can't choose the world

in which we live. like Froto, I wish it

wasn't happening like this right now.

We do get to choose how we respond. And

so, let me tell you what we're going to

do. We are committed to choose we

over me.

We're a community here.

We're going to choose sacrifice

over selfishness.

We're going to choose peace over panic

and calm over chaos.

We're going to make choices to bring the

temperature down at first press.

We're going to choose presence over

performance.

I don't care how neat and shiny and cool

anything is. I care that we keep our

gaze fixed on Jesus Christ.

Presence over performance. We're going

to choose gratitude over grumbling,

compassion and curiosity over criticism.

Forgiveness over fury. That one's a hard

one.

And we're going to always choose unity

over uniformity.

May we all look different, think

different, vote different. May we all

choose to wrap ourselves around the

gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ. May that be the place that we

are unified.

And we're going to do that because

that's the character of Christ, friends,

the savior to which we follow. And we

trust that Christ will keep our

community rooted in hope even in the

midst of whatever frightening things are

happening out there.

that God will give us a clear sense of

how to take steps to say and to do the

next right thing for each of us to

figure out what it is we're called to

give our time and attention to.

But in this space, we will choose hope.

We will keep going. And fear will not

keep us from moving as a community.