What Do You Fear? In the time of Herod, we long for God to break in

Well, friends, did you know that the

most frequent refrain in all of

scripture is do not be afraid?

Do not be afraid.

365 times it's there. Actually,

uh people have joked for years that uh

God must have known that we needed to

hear that at least once every day all

year long.

But it's there. And so this advent we

are going to kind of circle around this

question. What do you fear? What do you

fear?

Um this is intended to help us name our

fears, both our individual fears and

kind of our collective fears that I

think we're all holding

while also remembering that this God

tells us over and over and over again,

be not afraid.

Don't be afraid.

this God who comes to us in the person

of Jesus Christ,

Emmanuel, to be with us in our fearful

reality to show us how to hold on to

hope and courage no matter what it is

that's scaring us in this particular

moment.

Back in 2020, right as the COVID

pandemic kind of broke out across the

world and people were hitting like peak

fear, researchers reported that online

searches for scripture

um absolutely skyrocketed like all over

the world. Record number of people like

over 600 million at any given time were

looking for scripture passages about how

to handle their fear, what to do when

they were afraid. And you know the most

searched, the most read, the most

bookmarked passage, Isaiah 41:10.

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you. Do

not be dismayed, for I am your God. I

will strengthen you and help you. I will

uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Scriptures that addressed fear were what

folks were after. And I think that makes

perfect sense, right? The whole world

was afraid at the same time.

And so, collectively,

folks needed to know,

what are we supposed to do with all of

this energy? What are we supposed to do

when we're all this afraid? We want to

know that we're not alone when things

get bad. I think turning to scripture is

a pretty wise impulse actually

because God does actually have quite a

bit to say about what we're supposed to

do with our fear, with our anxiety, with

all the burdens that we carry. And

though we're no longer facing a global

pandemic, thank you Jesus. Uh I think

people are just as afraid today.

Uh maybe even more so.

Maybe even more. Now, part of that fear,

I think, is legitimate.

I do. I think that everything feels

especially unpredictable right now. Um,

it's true. I can't tell you how many

conversations in my office are centered

around like, what am I supposed to do

with the state of the world? So, if

you're feeling like that, you're you're

not alone.

So, some of our fear, it's just

legitimate.

But part of why you're all feeling so

afraid, it does just come down to

old-fashioned manipulation.

And I just want to lift that up today. I

mean, our fears are being used against

us, right? Like never before

in media, in politics, people are trying

to keep us constantly engaged and

enraged.

Fear fear is the currency of our time.

And it works. Keeps us hooked in.

And my my my goal this Advent, friends,

it is not to sort of like amplify all

the fears that are already out there

disturbing us. I don't want to add to

your fearcape. That's not my goal.

But I want to

encourage us that we might like form a

very different relationship with our

fear. maybe even a compassionate and a

curious relationship with the things

that make us afraid.

Because when we do that, our fear has

something quite profound to teach us a

lot of the time

about ourselves of course, but about one

another and about what we believe about

God.

And in order to do this this Advent,

friends, here is what we're going to

have to do. But we're going to have to

acknowledge the stuff that makes us

afraid.

And I know that's not exactly

comfortable. I'll own that. We're going

to have to wrestle with how fear kind of

captures our attention.

Um the things that grab us and hook us,

the things that swirl around in us at

night when we're trying to fall asleep.

That's going to require us to listen a

little bit closer

to what makes us afraid.

And so let's turn to the biblical text

this morning. Again, a a story you're

all familiar with from Luke 1:es 5-13.

Hear the word of the Lord.

In the time of Herod, king of Judea,

there was a priest named Zechariah who

belonged to the priestly division of

Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was also a

descendant of Aaron. Both of them were

righteous in the sight of God, observing

all the Lord's commands and decrees

blamelessly,

but they were childless because

Elizabeth was not able to conceive. And

they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah's division was on

duty and he was serving as priest before

God, he was chosen by Lot according to

the custom of the priesthood to go into

the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And when the time for the burning of

incense came, all the assembled

worshippers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to

him standing on the right side of the

altar of incense. And when Zachariah saw

him, he was startled and he was gripped

with fear. But the angel said to him,

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your

prayer has been heard. Your wife

Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you

are to call him John.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be

to God.

Now, maybe you've noticed this, but both

Luke and Matthew, they begin their

gospels telling us, orienting us in the

time of King Herod. In the time of King

Herod.

And so, we begin our Advent series by

fleshing out sort of what it meant for

Jesus to be born in the days of King

Herod.

this particular time and place that we

have to do our own homework to kind of

figure out that is when Christ comes

into the world. And I would argue it may

be a period of time that doesn't feel

all that different from our own

in these short words in the time of

Herod, the birth of Christ, it's

grounded in this reality.

um a reality that you should know was

shaped by violence and Roman occupation,

military might, political corruption,

and lots and lots of fear.

I think we like put twinkle lights

around our nativity sets and we think it

was all like a a silent night,

but that's actually not true. When Jesus

was born, this was like no golden age of

peace.

No, a time of spiritual clarity.

It was a time of survival

under the thumb of empire.

Herod was the Romanappointed king, a

puppet king really of Judea. And he

ruled by paranoia and cruelty.

He's an interesting case study. He

secured his power through an imperial

alliance and he maintained it through

coercion and dominance.

You'll remember that he will go on after

Jesus is born to order the murder of all

the baby boys under two years old

because he's trying to hold on to his

power.

So to be clear, people were afraid of

Herod. They were afraid of what he might

do.

And so it's amid this context that we

meet this elderly couple, Zechariah and

Elizabeth.

They're marked not by importance or

wealth or privilege, but by longing and

grief.

And as older people,

I want you to realize that they would

have been around long enough to have

watched

their country totally transform.

They remembered

when the Judean people were independent.

They remember a time before Roman

occupation.

And now they look around and they don't

even recognize the landscape in which

they're living.

And so when they long for a Messiah,

when they say, "Come, Lord Jesus, rescue

us. Save us from this."

It's real. It's poignant for them.

Show up, God.

But even beyond this like collective

longing Elizabeth and Zachchariah felt

for their people, they also longed for a

child. We're told that in all the

gospels that they had been longing for a

child for decades and unable to have

one. And now Elizabeth was way past

childbearing years. So, we've got folks

that are familiar with longing.

As we look at their story this morning,

I think it's really helpful to realize

that many of our own fears,

they might show up as longing in our

lives. Not sure if you've ever thought

of fear as longing before.

longing

this deep ache inside of us for

something to be different,

for our family to be healed, for the

future to be better, for the

relationship we want to arrive,

for our leaders to change. Whatever it

is,

whatever it is,

what are you longing for today?

For Elizabeth and Zechariah, they wanted

a child.

And I always remind people of this. I

think barrenness is um painful all by

itself. I'm sure there's folks in the

room that know it keenly. Um but at this

time in ancient history, to be barren

wasn't just painful relationally. It

wasn't just in your family system. It

also was like the perception of people

that there was some divine judgment

against you. That clearly you had done

something wrong to deserve this. And so

Elizabeth and Zachariah are not just

like deeply disappointed at never having

a child. They also feel like public and

religious shame.

And so try and hold that as you as you

hear their story.

But notice what Luke tells us about

them.

He says they're righteous.

He says they're faithful. He calls them

blameless, which is kind of bananas to

me. I mean blameless.

blameless.

Their faith endures even in their

waiting, even in their deep longing and

grief. And I think as tempting as it is

for us on like this side of history, we

know this story. We want to rush ahead

because we know she does indeed get

pregnant and give birth to John. All

that's quite good and exciting.

The Gospel of Luke is going to slow us

right down. It's going to pause us and

say, "No, no, don't rush ahead yet to

the joy and celebration.

sit long enough with the interruption.

Sit long enough with what happens with

Zechariah in the temple because it's

important. And so while he's there

offering incense, an angel of the Lord

shows up. And I want you to notice that

like an angel of God showing up does not

like bring joy or relief to him. It

terrifies him. In fact, most of the time

when angels show up, fear is what people

experience.

Luke uses the Greek verb toraso. It

means to be troubled or disturbed or

agitated.

And and this is no fleeting startle.

Toaso, it evokes this like deep inner

shaking, a disruption in your body, in

your spirit. It's like the recoil you

experience when something unexpected

happens. It's that like the mind's

clamor in the face of uncertainty. The

body's trembling. It's that kind of

fear. And fear in this context, let me

just be clear. It's not failure that he

he has been afraid. There's no failure

involved here. It's just a natural human

response to this divine interruption.

It's just a natural human reaction.

But

this is the thing we also need to note.

Sometimes fear can just be our natural

human response. But sometimes fear can

stick around. It can become more than a

reaction, more than just a natural human

response. Fear can take root in us.

It can start to make its home inside of

our lives, the way we think, the way we

live.

John 14:27, Jesus says this. He says,

John 14:27

"Let not your hearts be troubled."

Terraso, there it is. And do not be

afraid.

Deleo is the word there.

That second term deleo, it implies this

like shrinking of heart, the shrinking

of our souls. It's a fear that inhibits

our action. It diminishes our courage,

makes us too afraid to act. And so

together, these words, they describe the

kind of fear that settles in,

that starts to control us,

that shapes our posture toward the

world.

Many of you probably know that kind of

fear,

especially in our own day, this season

in our world that's marked by political

unrest.

Deep polarization.

I don't know what it was like around

your Thanksgiving table this year or who

maybe wasn't even there.

Deep polarization that's come all the

way all the way down to every family I

know.

economic uncertainty,

relational breakdown.

And so when we're not careful, fear can

become embedded in our bodies and our

relationships and all our public

discourse.

It can become just like this normal

background noise. We're so used to it

that we don't even notice it anymore.

We don't even notice. We don't pay

attention. We forget it's there.

Like Zachariah, we might become so used

to our disappointment,

so used to the longing that when God

does show up, it startles us.

God intervenes and it freaks us out.

We might even flinch.

But the angel of the Lord says to

Zechariah, "Do not be afraid.

I have heard your prayer.

Friends, this isn't a dismissal of his

longing or of his fear. It's a

reorientation of it. I think

because what the angel of the Lord

declares here is that there is something

else beyond his fear that is true in

this moment.

Yes, they couldn't get pregnant. Yes,

it's very difficult to be under Roman

occupation. Though that fear is real,

there is something else that is true.

God has been listening.

God is paying attention.

And that's hugely important. His prayers

have been heard by the God that loves

him. And God enters that silence.

God enters that moment, that ache, the

barrenness, goes to the very place where

the fear has taken root. And notice, God

responds not first with a miracle, not

first with John being born. God responds

first with presence,

with a reminder.

Your prayer has been heard.

God is paying attention to your pain.

I think that's really what we need most

when we're afraid. I don't know about

you, but that is what I need when I am

deeply unsettled.

Yes, I would like my life to be solved

and everything to practically work out

to be sure.

But the first thing I need to know is I

am not alone in it.

That God is paying attention to me. That

God has heard my cry. This is exactly

what the author of Lamentations is

writing about in chapter 3 when he's

facing exile, both personal and

collective crisis. He says, "I called on

your name, Lord, from the depths of the

pit, and you heard my plea. Do not close

your ears to my cry for relief. You came

near when I called, and you said, "Do

not fear." Do not fear.

Friends, we serve a God that hears our

cry and that draws near to us and

reminds us that no matter what we're

facing, no matter, we don't face it

alone.

And so we don't have to be owned by the

fear.

I also think it's really really

important to remind all of us again this

morning, this is a truth I I bring up

from time to time.

Life is scary for everybody.

Everybody. And let me just be clear

here. Not on any page of scripture are

you going to find something that tells

you that if you just like are really

really careful in all the choices you

make. And if you're just like really

really good all the time that you're

going to be able to avoid the kind of

pain and suffering that just comes with

living in a broken world.

That's not how it works. That's not how

it works. Suffery suffering. Tragedy.

Death.

hurricanes, earthquakes,

relational breakdown, that stuff happens

to us all.

And so, friends, maybe some of you

haven't experienced very much of that

yet. I am so glad.

Happy for you. Um, my life has literally

blown up like more times than I can

count. So, here's the thing. It's not

like if

your life is going to implode. It's just

when win

to be human is to suffer.

To be human is to suffer.

Elizabeth and Zechariah,

they were righteous. They were

blameless. They didn't do anything to

deserve infertility.

It wasn't their fault that Rome came in

and occupied the land where they lived.

No,

we live in a world mired by pain and sin

and brokenness and corruption and the

consequences of which spill out

indiscriminately.

And most of the time when life is scary,

most of the time when your life flows

apart, falls apart,

it will not be because you did something

wrong.

It will just be because life is hard and

it's really hard to be a human.

And so in this Advent season, in this

waiting,

I would like to invite you not to

suppress your fear, but to face it.

To face it, to get curious

about it, and to ask,

how is fear living inside of me right

now?

What voices has fear amplified in your

life?

Because there's a lot coming at us all

the time.

What longings maybe has it silenced in

you?

Advent gives us room to sit,

to wait with intention. And so that's

the invitation this year. Don't try and

banish it. Instead, listen to it. Don't

try and shove it down and pretend like

you're not afraid.

Get curious

about what is causing you to be fearful.

And I want to ask you this morning to

just take a second. What are you afraid

of today?

Right now,

what kept you up last night?

Maybe

it's a different side. Maybe what are

you afraid to hope for?

What have you maybe even stopped praying

for?

I realized this year that there's a few

things I've stopped praying for.

It's time to start praying for him

again.

Where has fear caused you to shrink or

to cower or to just give up?

I have some really good news as I close

this morning.

I want you to notice that Zachariah's

fear, Zachariah's longing, Zachariah and

Elizabeth's grief, it did not disqualify

them.

God wasn't like, "Oh, I'm really

surprised you're so scared. I think I'll

use someone else."

No,

his fear actually marks the beginning of

like a huge turn. The world is about to

be transformed

in part through the birth of what will

become his son

and the unfolding of their story. They

bear witness to the incoming of God into

the world. The God who hears and

disrupts and enters all the fearful

places. No, who cares if it's in the

time of Herod?

God can break in then too.

The threat of empire does not bother our

God.

That is precisely when God breaks in.

God heard their prayers and then

responded with God's literal presence.

I need you to think about that for a

second. The very presence of God showed

up and interrupted human history.

And so

let's stop trying to rid ourselves of

fear in the immediate. Let's ask how

could we can honestly name our fears and

then still hold on to faith that God can

meet us right in the middle of them and

help us hold them.

Because the truth is Christ has entered

the world.

The God we serve is not scared, friends.

He's not scared or surprised or

terrified of what we're going through.

And even more, let me just remind you

that the very Holy Spirit of God lives

inside of you.

As breath fills your lungs, the Holy

Spirit fills you,

calls you beloved, and walks with you in

whatever it is that makes you afraid.

Today,

this week we sent out an Advent

devotional by our weekly eblast. Another

um plug to go into your junk folder and

mark it as trust and saved it safe. Um

but we have a bunch of them printed as

well out here. Well, I think they're

actually all in the fellowship hall. We

like to give these out at Advent because

there is something about this season.

The the pressure out there is to go

faster, to buy more, to hang more

twinkle lights. The invitation here is

to slow down, downshift,

say no to all that noise and to

downshift and to take those dark nights

that we're all entering into to get

quiet and pay attention to your soul.

And so, we want to give you a resource

to help you with that. This year, this

is what it looks like. And on the first

page, I invite you to learn a breath

prayer. Breath prayers are simple.

They're intended to help us just with

literally with the inhale and exhale to

center down, to bring our heart rate

down, to return to our breathing.

Because often when I pray, I'm sure it's

true for you, you think of a million

different things. You get very

distracted and pretty soon the stress

just the fear just comes right back up.

Breath prayer forces you to just repeat

one refrain over and over and over and

that is enough. And so I want to close

this morning by just inviting you

to pray this breath prayer with me a few

times.

As you inhale, as you take a big deep

breath in

to your heart and to your soul, say, "I

will not fear." And as you exhale,

for you are with me.

Inhale.

I will not fear

for you are with me.

I will not fear

for you are with me.

I will not fear

for you are with me.

Amen.