Fear Not, Just Come Series

It wasn’t the world’s oldest profession, but it was close! I mean you know what the world’s oldest profession is right?

That’s right, farming. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain the oldest was a farmer, thus making farming the world’s oldest profession.

What were you thinking?

And Abel the younger brother was a shepherd making that the world’s second oldest profession.

If there is one scene that seems to shout Christmas to us it would be the shepherds on the hillside staring in wonder at an angel choir in the sky. And we all know the story and Christmas wouldn’t be complete without the keepers of sheep pressed in tight to see the one who would be called the lamb of God.

And although they weren’t lead characters the shepherds were part of the chorus in the production of the first Christmas. When I was in high school our school was known for the great musicals we put on. And during my three years we performed The King and I, South Pacific and the Music Man. And when they were casting the musical, they would cast the male lead and the female lead and then the supporting roles. And all those roles had names and were highlighted in the program. And then they got to the bulk of the players and they were called the Chorus. And that’s where I ended up, in the chorus. But you couldn’t have the musical without the chorus. If you just had the leads you wouldn’t have a musical, you would just have a small ensemble.

In the same way there were the leads in the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph, the angel Gabriel and the baby Jesus. They get top billing. And then there were the supporting roles. The innkeeper, King Herod and the Wise Men. They got second billing. And then you have the chorus. That would be the angels and the shepherds. If you were doing up a program from that first Christmas they would be listed in a group after all the others in the play it would say “and the shepherds.”

This is the fourth week of Advent, and coincidently the fourth week of our Advent series, funny how that works. Over the past three Sundays we’ve been looking at the various “Fear Nots” or “Do not be Afraids” that are mentioned in the Christmas story.

And we’ve discovered that they’ve all been delivered by messengers that we call Angels. The first was in the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, the man who would become the father of John the Baptist.

It was John who was so instrumental in introducing Jesus to the world. And we discover Gabriel’s message to Zechariah in Luke 1:13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.” And my theme that week was “Fear Not, Just Believe”.

In week two we looked at Mary’s encounter with Gabriel and these words, Luke 1:30-31 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favour with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.”

In that message, our theme was “Fear Not, Just Trust” And we saw how Mary had to trust God with the details of how she would become pregnant as well as the immediate and long-term ramifications of her decision to trust God

Last week, we looked at Mary’s fiancé, Joseph who was told in Matthew 1:19-20 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And so last week’s topic was “Fear Not, Just Obey”. And because Joseph did obey he provided Mary with a husband and Jesus with a father, and he was willing to pay the price that obedience required.

This week we are taking you out in the fields, let’s pick up the story in Luke 2:8-10 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”

So, here is our fear not for this week, “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.”