Do you know; I used to like the carol “While shepherds watched”. Both the words and Crimond the music it was set too. As a teenager, I used to go carol singing with the Church in Darlington and that would be sung most nights. We were even fortunate enough to have some good enough singers that we could sing the bells to it as well.
The thing that changed my like for this hymn was that I started reading and understanding my Bible too much. The final verse that everybody loves to sing is actually very bad theology. According to the carol, the angels praised God saying, “All glory be to God on high and to the earth be peace. Goodwill henceforth from heaven to men, begin and never cease.” According to the Bible, the angels said some different words:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests." The angels did not promise peace and goodwill to all on earth. The promise was limited to those on whom God’s favour rests. In other words, it is a promise to those who respond to this baby in a manger. Nobody else.
Just before this misquoted passage, we are told that one angel appeared before the shepherds.
“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” I would think that terrified was probably an understatement for how these shepherds felt at the time. It would not surprise me if they had had to change their clothes before they went to see this baby in a manger. In the last few years there have been several films released about angels, probably the most famous being ‘City of Angels’. These tend to show angels as almost human figures, certainly nothing to be frightened of. These are not the angels that the Bible talks about; these angels are mighty figures, probably carrying swords rather than harps. The book of Revelation states that at some point in the future there is going to be war between the Archangel Michael and his warriors, and Satan. The angels described there are not gentle figures that you could look at and say ‘O look Darling, there is an angel’. These are mighty warriors of God that if you see them, you have no choice but to fall on your face terrified in front of them. The book of Revelation states that that is what the apostle John did at one point:
So, what did this mighty and glorious angel say to these terrified shepherds? ‘Do not be afraid’. I am sure that Gabriel must have been tired of saying these words by now, it seems that every time he appeared to tell people who was coming, they cringed. Luke 1:12 states, “When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and 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 give him the name John.” When Gabriel appeared to Joseph in his dream, he had to tell him ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,’ And now, as Gabriel appears before the shepherds, his first words have to be ‘Do not be afraid’.
It is a wonder that Gabriel did not report back to God suggesting He stop everything. “Don’t do it God, every-time I appear they are terrified, what will they do when my master moves amongst them?” Sadly, many people did exactly the same. When the storm arose on the Sea of Galilee, and the disciples woke Jesus because they were terrified, what were his first words to them? “"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" When Jesus healed Legion, and sent the demons into the pigs, what were we told that the locals felt? “When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.” This was not the fear or awe of God that is mentioned in any of these passages. That is something that we need more of in our lives, not less. This was a fear of the unknown, and each time it appears in the Bible, an angel or Jesus or the Holy Spirit speaks up and says “Don’t be afraid”.
We live in a world where the prime emotion is one of fear. People who are working fear being out of work, married couples as they get older fear being alone. If you are healthy, you fear getting older and being ill. To some extent at least, fear is used to help control our children. Don’t do that or the monster will get you. You have got to be good or Santa won’t come to you this year.
The reason why those who are forced to become terrorists have so much success is because of our fears. Many people now fear flying since September 11th. It does not matter that the chances of this happening are so small, It does not matter that 99.999999 recurring% of air travel is safe. It has happened once and so we fear it will happen again.
Something over ten per cent of the population suffers from a phobia. When I looked this figure up, I discovered that there is even a fear of Churches; it is called ecclesiophobia. According to psychologists, these shepherds may not have been suffering a simple fear of the angel. One or more of them could have had Angelo-phobia. Perhaps it was this one who was left to look after the sheep whilst the others went down to worship the Christ.
As I said, we live in a world where fear is the prime emotion. Even amongst Christians in our Churches, it can be seen. When the Churches were involved in giving Millennium videos out last year, there was a request for volunteers in my own Church. The almost immediate response from several people was “I couldn’t do that, I would be afraid.” One of the reasons we find it hard to witness to others is because we fear their reactions.
It is to this world that the angel Gabriel came speaking the words ‘Do not fear’. It is to this world that Jesus came saying, ‘Do not be afraid’. He recognised that we are like this, on many occasions, the first words he says are ‘do not be afraid’. Yet, He also recognised that we do not need to be like this.
Of course, it is not enough to simply say ‘do not be afraid’. If that was all that Gabriel said to the shepherds, it would not have taken away their fear. These words would not have made Gabriel look any less awesome and mighty. When Peter began to fear as he walked on that water, the words do not be afraid did not change anything. The other eleven disciples could have shouted those words to him over and over again; Peter would still have been sinking. It is the same for us today, if we afraid of something, it does not matter how many times we tell ourselves ‘do not be afraid’. That fear is still there. Something more is needed to take these fears away.
I am now going to make a slight diversion so that you understand what I am going to say next. We have to be careful with this emotion of fear because for some people, fear can be a disease or illness. What I am going to talk about next does not apply to people suffering from this. These phobias are best treated by prayer and healing, which may include the work of psychologists and even hypnotists. A ‘spirit of fear’ may even cause extreme cases of these phobias, especially amongst Christians, and these again need prayer and/or exorcism.
‘Do not be afraid’ the angel told the shepherds. But that was not all; there was a reason why they should not be afraid, just as there is a reason why we do not need to fear today. “But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Do not be afraid because Christ is here. That is what the angel was saying to the shepherds. ‘Do not be afraid because I am here’, that is what Christ is saying to us today.
Why shouldn’t the disciples have been afraid when they were in that tiny boat in the middle of a sea with a storm raging around them? It was because right in there midst, they had the Son of God. Why was it that took Peter’s fears away as he started to sink in the middle of the sea following his amazing show of faith. It wasn’t the words ‘do not be afraid’ that did this, for on their own, those words are useless. It was the words and the hand that reached out to hold him that calmed his fears.
About sixty years after this event, the author of Hebrews wrote to a people who had good reason to fear. All around them, their fellow worshippers were being persecuted, loosing their homes and jobs, being kicked and beaten. They never knew if the next knock on the door would not be the officials come to arrest them and put them to death because they believed in Christ. These people had good reason to be afraid; surely, any one of us if we had been there, would have known their fear. But these people could say with the author “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
This same God is the reason why we do not need to be afraid today. One of my most abiding memories of September 11th is not going to be seeing the planes crash into the twin towers, It is not going to be of the horror that was going on inside the buildings when they collapsed. It is going to an account told concerning the actions of the New York Fire Departments chaplain. With all the fear that was going on in the building, it is said that he was calmly kneeling with one of the victims giving them the last rites. Do not be afraid for I am with you, that is why these things can happen today.
A few weeks ago, I was preaching at Corfe Mullen Chapel. Two of the ladies there, both in their late sixties, early seventies had been robbed in the previous two weeks while they were near the shops. Yet, they could walk from their homes to the chapel on a Sunday without fear. Again, we see Jesus’ words come true “Do not be afraid for I am with you.”
Why does this make such a difference, why is it that people who should be scared stiff are instead, perfectly calm and collected? How is it that someone like Polycarp; one of the first Christian martyrs could say to his persecutors as they prepared to nail him to a stake before burning him to death “Leave me as I am, for He who gives me power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in the flames unmoved even without the security you will give by the nails.”
The first answer is that Christians can do things and face things like this without fear simply because their Lord did so on earth before them. Peter’s first letter talks a lot about suffering, he wrote in 1 Peter 2:21: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” We do not need to be frightened about anything because Christ has been there before us.
The second answer is that we do not need to be frightened because Christ is there with us. It does not matter what it is we are frightened of; we do not face it alone. The very last words in Matthew’s gospel remind us of this truth. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
And if we need another reason why we do not need to be frightened, it is because compared with the glory that is to come, there is absolutely nothing in this world that is worth our getting frightened over. When Jesus was telling people how they would have to give up everything if they were to follow Him. Peter piped up saying Lord we have left everything to follow you, and Jesus told him: "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." I am fairly sure that fear would have played a large part in many people’s decision not to follow Jesus, and with those words, he reminds them of why they don’t need to fear.
I mentioned some of the background to the book of Hebrews earlier. Some of the people the author wrote to were thinking of giving up their beliefs because of this fear of persecution. The author reminds them of how they used to believe, of how they did not let fear win, because they knew what would happen with Christ’s return: “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
Do not be afraid, this was the message given to the shepherds on the hills above Bethlehem. They listened to those words and following the appearance of the host of angels; they went to worship Christ as he lay in a manger.
Do not be afraid, God is speaking those same words to His people all over the world today; He is speaking them to you and me. Will we listen and put aside our fears as we witness, as we worship and as we serve Him today?
