Christmas Fear

Fear isn’t the first emotion that comes to mind when we think of Christmas: joy, gratitude, or even sheer amazement seem to be much more appropriate. But, as we read through the Bible’s story of Christmas, we find that it is actually very much part and parcel of events.

For Mary and the shepherds were terrified by the unexpected appearance of angels, possibly thinking that God was about to strike them dead. Both Mary and Joseph were worried about what their kinsfolk and neighbours would say when they discovered her pregnancy: surely critical tongues were going to wag? Later in the story, the Wise Men may have been concerned that they had “let the cat out of the bag” by turning up at Herod’s palace with gifts for a new-born king: what might this ruthless and insecure ruler do after finding out that he had a potential rival? And, of course, terror did indeed come to many families in Herod’s appalling pogrom of small children.

Even those first words of Luke, “At that time Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be taken”, which we normally pass over as mere scene-setting, tell us that the people of Judah were living in a climate full of fear and uncertainty. For instead of being masters and mistresses of their destiny they were residents of a country occupied by the powerful Romans whose decisions could change their lives at a whim. When resistance movements such as the Zealots attempted to assassinate Roman leaders and Jewish collaborators; the reprisals wrought upon the entire Hebrew population could be arbitrary and severe.

All those things happened a long time ago. But I wonder if any of us are feeling at all fearful as we approach Christmas? If we are, there could be several reasons for it. One is the worry of not really being able to afford the presents and special food, yet feeling that we must somehow “keep up” with everyone else. Another is the anxiety of gathering with relatives whom we don’t really know, allied with the concern that old family feuds might be brought to the surface. And ministers simply wonder what they can say about the season which hasn’t been said a thousand times before!

And there are larger matters casting their shadows across our lives this Christmas. For there is the uncertainty of life in post-Brexit Britain, the financial hardship being faced by many families as inflation rises and benefits are cut, the tensions of people in employment who don’t know if they’ll be called into work on any given day, the nagging background threat of terrorist attacks. To adapt the old Chinese curse, “We certainly live in interesting times” – I think that most of us would prefer things to be more settled!

Well, that’s really cheered you up, hasn’t it! And I certainly don’t want any of us to spend Christmas in a state of apprehension and unease. But we do need to realise that the “proper” story of Christmas doesn’t drown our fears and anxieties in a surfeit of artificial snow, merry jingles and sticky pudding, but relates to the workaday world we all know. For the basic Christmas message is all about God coming into our world – not a fantasy creation of glittery stars and friendly reindeer, but the real one full of ordinary peoples’ troubles and toil.

It’s tempting to regard Christmas as a time when we can shut ourselves off from the normal cares of life and simply enjoy ourselves – and there’s nothing wrong with doing that. But the Bible story behind our festivities has a much more serious and, indeed, encouraging message. For it says that God cared so much about our harsh and fearful world that he sent his Son to enter it and dwell among us. Through his living, dying and resurrection we are given a hope that can at least help to banish fear and gloom.

Have a very happy Christmas!

Andrew