What do you fear? Even in our fear, we are called forward.

Well, friends, we are in week three of

our Advent series. That's right. Amen.

Uh, and we're talking about fear this

Advent. Felt appropriate in light of how

the world is these days. And so, I'll

invite you to hear the word of the Lord

from Luke 1:es 26 through 38.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel

was sent by God to a town in Galilee

called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to

a man whose name was Joseph of the house

of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, "Greetings,

favored one. The Lord is with you." But

she was much perplexed by his words and

pondered what sort of greeting this

might be. And the angel said to her, "Do

not be afraid, Mary, for you have found

favor with God. And now you will

conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you will name him Jesus. He will be

great and will be called the son of the

most high. And the Lord God will give to

him the throne of his ancestor David. He

will reign over the house of Jacob

forever, and of his kingdom there will

be no end."

Mary said to the angel, "Oh, how can

this be since I am a virgin?" And the

angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will

come upon you, and the power of the Most

High will overshadow you. Therefore, the

child to be born will be holy. He will

be called son of God. And now your

relative Elizabeth in her old age has

also conceived a son. And this is the

sixth month for her who was said to be

barren. For nothing will be impossible

with God. And then Mary said, "Here am

I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be

with me according to your word." And

then the angel departed from her. This

is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to

God.

Well, this is our annunciation moment.

I'm sure you're familiar. The angel

Gabriel shows up announcing to Mary that

she is going to give birth to the

Messiah.

And Luke narrates this encounter and

makes sure to tell us that Mary was

afraid. Diazo, we talked about that word

toraso a couple weeks ago. The NRSV

translation that I just read from uh put

Mary as much perplexed,

but other translations say greatly

troubled, thoroughly shaken,

confused, and disturbed.

The point is that Mary was afraid.

An angel bursts into her ordinary life,

scaring her half to death.

Now, you should know that every angelic

appearance in scripture seems to cause

fear.

Um, we don't have any idea what angels

look like, but I'm willing to bet

everything I got that they are not like

the chubby naked babies that are painted

on the top of cathedral ceilings. I

don't I just don't think so. When angels

show up, people are afraid.

They're afraid. Now, my guess is this is

less about their appearance and it's a

whole lot more about people recognizing

like the searing intrusion of the living

God into the world. But either way,

angels are scary. And so they always

always have to say, "Do not be afraid.

Fear not. Fear not."

which is exactly what Gabriel says to

Mary when Gabriel invites her to

participate in this miraculous plan

that's going to change the world. And

what is this plan?

Mary's going to bear the son of God, the

king from the line of David whose rule

and reign will never ever end.

The Jesus Christ Messiah.

He will show up as an infant and Mary

will be his mother.

But there's just one problem which Mary

very quickly points out to Gabriel. How

can this be since I'm a virgin?

I think a much better translation would

be like, hang on one second.

How exactly is that going to work? Uh

because I'm young, but I do know how

babies are made. So So what's going to

happen here?

Now, Gabriel doesn't actually give her

any information on the particulars. He

doesn't. He just basically tells her,

"The Holy Spirit is going to perform a

miracle. God's going to do something

incredible."

And then he gives her some really

interesting and what I imagine would be

deeply comforting news. He says, "Your

cousin Elizabeth, who's infertile and

now past childbearing years anyway,

she's actually six months pregnant right

now.

right now for nothing is impossible with

God.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Nothing.

Everything is somehow possible. And so

hearing Gabriel's comforting words,

Angel says, "Okay." I mean, Mary says,

"Okay, let it be to me as you have said,

I'm a servant of the Lord."

And with Mary's yes,

the world is transformed. We know the

story.

God calls this simple young ordinary

woman, really girl,

and he transforms her into one of the

most compelling

characters in the entire biblical

narrative.

Mary's fearful but also courageous yes.

It enables God to break into the world

to change things.

In Mary's yes, we see an example of what

it is to say yes even in the midst of

our fear,

even when things feel overwhelming and

impossible.

She shows us how to have courage,

how to say yes, to follow God into a

life that we probably didn't see coming,

that we couldn't have planned for,

that feels scary.

She models that for us.

And I'm thankful because, you know, even

if you haven't had like Gabriel show up,

if you have, please come tell me that

story. I'd love to know.

But if you haven't had an angel arrive

and interrupt your life, terrifying you,

I do know that you're probably sitting

in this room because you have been

encountered by the risen Christ in some

way who has interrupted your life and

invited you to pick up your cross and to

follow him.

We're here

because of that call.

Now, sometimes that invitation can be

really general, right? We're all just

trying to like work out our salvation.

We're just trying to live well to live

the way of Jesus in this broken world.

But I do think sometimes

that invitation to join God in

something, it can also be extraordinary.

It can be specific.

God shows up and challenges us to do

something that feels risky

or bigger than we feel comfortable with.

Something that might make us deeply

afraid. Actually,

we might be scared to say yes, but we

say it anyway.

Mary was terrified.

She said yes anyway.

I've shared this illustration before,

but author Elizabeth Gilbert writes

about how important it is that we name

our fear, that we just own the reality

that sometimes things are quite

terrifying.

And she says that we should imagine that

fear just rides along in the car with

us.

And so even if we don't want it to be

present, it's in the minivan or the

Subaru or whatever it is you drive.

But we get to decide where fear sits.

Fear doesn't get to ride shotgun

and it doesn't get to control the stereo

and it does not get to give driving

directions.

Fear fear might be in the car with us

but it rides in the back and it's not

allowed to talk.

I love that. That's I think that's a

really helpful way of conceptualizing

the reality that we have to walk in fear

a lot of the time.

There's an old Buddhist story that

illustrates this in a different way. I

love it. I projected it for us today.

Once there was a young warrior and her

teacher told her that she would have to

do battle with fear. She didn't want to.

Fear seemed too aggressive. It was

scary. It seemed unfriendly.

But the teacher said she had to do it

and then gave her the instructions for

the battle which eventually arrived. The

student warrior stood on one side and

fear stood on the other. The warrior was

feeling very small and fear was looking

big and wrathful.

They both had their weapons.

The young warrior roused herself and

went toward fear and then prostrated

herself three times and asked, "May I

have permission to go into battle with

you?" And fear said, "Well, thank you

for showing me so much respect that you

would ask permission."

Then the young warrior asked, "Will you

tell me how I can defeat you?" and fear

replied,

"My weapons are that I talk fast and I

get very close to your face. Then you

get completely unnerved and you do

whatever I say.

But if you don't do what I tell you, I

have no power.

You can listen to me and you can have

respect for me. You can even be

convinced by me. But if you don't do

what I say, I have no power."

In that way, the student warrior learned

how to defeat fear.

I think we all know probably all too

well

that it's not helpful

when fear takes over,

when it overwhelms us.

Rather, when we attend to our fear with

this sort of awareness and compassion

and curiosity, we're able to kind of

take a step back and see it for what it

really is.

And and we start to realize that fear,

it causes physical sensations in our

body, right?

Shallow breathing and our heart rate.

Pretty soon, we can't think straight.

We're more likely to allow intrusive

thoughts when we let fear take over.

Fear talks fast and it gets really close

to our face.

And although I think all of those

sensations, they can feel really

intense. I know that very intense. When

we step back and get curious, we realize

it. It actually doesn't have all that

much power over us

if we can recognize and react to it

with some compassion and curiosity.

if we can refuse to do what it says.

And when we refuse to do what fear says,

the grip on us is loosened. Courage can

rise to the surface.

Now notice I said that courage can rise

to the surface. I did not say bravery. I

think those are two terms we use

interchangeably, but they mean something

very different. friends.

Bravery. It's the ability to act kind of

without fear, often as a spontaneous

reaction to danger.

And so, we see a car speeding toward the

intersection, and we instinctively grab

out and save the old woman crossing the

street, right?

We were brave,

but we we didn't really need courage.

It was almost just like an impulsive

reaction.

We didn't even have time to be scared.

But courage is different.

Courage is acting despite being deeply

afraid.

Requiring our conscious choice to press

through our fear. Why? Because the

outcome matters.

Because we have to. We move forward.

Because even if what we're doing is

scary, we know that if we don't,

something will have been missed.

The outcome matters.

Last month, Dave and I uh got to take

kind of a big vacation for our 25th

wedding anniversary, and we got to spend

a couple days in Florence, Italy, which

is the home of Michelangelo's David

statue. This is David from the Bible

right before his battle with the

formidable giant Goliath.

Now, for as popular as the David is, um,

and you've all seen it. I mean, we've

seen pictures of this all growing up, I

really was not prepared for how moved I

would be. We both wept.

We really did. Now, to begin with, David

is massive. I mean, look at the heads of

those folks.

So the scale is just sort of

breathtaking,

but then the detail is unreal.

Every rib, tendon, muscle.

It's really beautiful.

We of course had Rick Steves in our

earbuds as I'm sure the rest of you do

while traveling. Um I feel like that man

has been in everybody's vacation mind.

Uh,

but Rick Steves was telling us like what

to do, right? To what what to pay

attention to, when we should lean in

close and what we should notice and when

we should back up and which angle we

should come around the statue so we

could get a different view.

And man, look at his face.

Look at his face.

At this angle, you can really see it.

Michelangelo is showing us David not

victorious, not confident, not after he

wins the battle,

but right before

when he's afraid,

when he's staring down a giant

and Michelangelo, he has like carved the

fear right into David's eyes.

I mean, look at that.

his anxiety, his insecurity, it's all

present

in the crease of his worried brow.

That unbelievable tension, it's like

written all over his face.

David is afraid.

He's afraid.

And as we stood there in Florence, Dave

turned to me with tears in his eyes and

he said, "Oh man, I didn't know that's

what his face looked like." I know that

look.

I see it reflected back to me in the

mirror all the time.

The feeling that like I don't have what

it takes.

That I'm scared.

That I'm not sure I'm going to be able

to pull off the thing God has called me

to do. I know that look,

friends. We all know that look.

We've seen it in the mirror.

>> God has called us out.

God has asked us to have courage,

invited us to follow Christ into

something unknown and challenging. And

we wondered too if we were going to have

what it takes.

Like David with nothing but a slingshot.

Like Mary, a young virgin who's like,

"How's that going to happen?"

We've all

been scared. We've all been afraid. And

so the question for us, I think, is what

are we going to do with our fear? We

keep asking that week after week during

this series.

Are we going to name it, get curious,

figure out what our fear might be

telling us in this moment,

and then in the end, courageously choose

to move forward through it because the

outcome really matters.

Remember,

defeating your fear is not going to be

eliminating it. No, it's going to be

about living faithfully despite fear

being present in your life,

despite fear holding on. It's about

naming what really matters and then

grabbing on to courage and pushing

through.

Friends, feel your fear.

Hear me. Feel your fear.

Name it.

And then do what needs to be done.

Do what needs to be done.

And I don't know what that is for you,

right? We're all in different seasons

and spaces of our life. Maybe it's

picking up the phone and making amends

with someone who's hurt you.

Maybe it's telling someone that your

drinking has gotten really out of hand

and you could use some help.

Maybe it's volunteering to teach kids

Sunday school. Maybe it's asking that

cute girl in your bio class out on a

date.

Maybe it's giving away a bunch of your

money or stuff because you want people

to have enough to eat.

Maybe it's making a big career move.

Signing up to be a foster parent.

taking some concrete steps to really

take your faith to the next level. Maybe

it's going to marriage counseling.

I mean, only you know what it is that

the angel of the Lord is inviting you to

do. But I will tell you friends that the

outcome matters.

Whatever it is, whatever it is that's

causing like the crease in your own

worried brow today,

have courage.

Remember that we follow a God that not

only calls us to move forward with

courage, but promises to go with us. And

that makes all the difference right

there. This God is with us, reminding us

all along the journey that absolutely

nothing is impossible with God. Nothing

nothing is impossible with this God who

goes with us.

And so step out encouraged because

your outcome it matters.

Your yes to the invitation of God, it

will change things.

I mean it will change you

but it will also change the world around

you.

And we need it.

We need it.

Amen.