2018 4th Sunday of Advent – Angels and Peace

I was fearless. At least that’s what I remember of my formative years. I honestly don’t remember being afraid of anything. Sitting here now at 46 years of age my earliest memories of fear came in the last 26 years, since I became married and started our family. Matter of fact the first memory of fear is the day of my wedding to my beautiful bride Liela. Its an interesting story really… after the fact, but to me experiencing that moment of fear it was not interesting at all. Even before the famous comedy with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts “The Runaway Bride” came out in 1999 I think every man has had the abandoned at the alter fear somewhere in the deep recesses of their minds as they approach their nuptials. It’s a form of Autophobia – The Fear of abandonment. There I was standing at the front of the church awaiting the start of the procession. Waiting. And waiting. The time for our wedding came and went while I stood there. After the first few minutes, those that could be chalked up to a make up or hair emergency had passed the crowd of friends and family could see the anxiety and fear flood over me. By the time ten minutes had passed I was pale, nauseated and was sure I would faint from embarrassment. By the fifteenth minute I was a wreck. Could no one see my anguish and come to my aid. Did no one have the courage to come and tell me that my dream of wedded bliss had escaped out the back door and was gone in a moment? What do you do in that moment but stand there. You dare not leave that spot, to leave that spot is an admission that what you had been gripped by fear over was in fact a reality. Now twenty minutes has passed. Fear has passed on to full blown heartbreak, the rock in your stomach has become a boulder and hopelessness fully sets in, and then the music starts. What? Why is the music playing. And then the Maid of Honor begins walking down the isle. Total confusion is now chasing the thoughts racing around in my head. Is this hope rising back into my mind and emotions? Is she coming? And then I saw her in the back of the church looking at me, and she smiled the most beautify smile I had ever seen. And the rest is almost 26 years of history, that started with an outbreak of Autophobia because of a late arriving family member and a dropped ball by someone who was supposed to relay the message to me.

For some fear is an every day aspect of life that they live, for others it grips us in seasons. Fear can take on so many causes. Sickness, death, loss of stability, fear for our spouses or children. There are hundreds of Phobias listed and researched.  Real conditions of fear. Here is, according to the wonderful world of the internet, the top 10 most common phobias:

Today is the fourth and final Sunday of Advent. On this day traditionally if your doing an Advent wreath you would be lighting the Angels Candle. In the Advent narrative we find the intertwining of four different encounters with Angels. Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds. In each encounter there was fear in some fashion. In each encounter there is this significant phrase: Fear not, or do not be afraid. The phrase “fear not” is used 80+ times in the Bible. Other word pairings that would be equal to “fear not” (“do not be afraid”, “do not fear”, “be not afraid”) are used another 30+ times. Jesus came to silence fear and exchange it, exchange it for peace. The angels sang it (Luke 2:14) when they sang before  the shepherds “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”, Jesus pronounced it (John 14:27) when he said Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John described it when he said “perfect love casts out fear” (1st John 4:18). And there it is, why Advent is so important. Peace has come because of perfect love. That perfect love is Jesus. That perfect love is the expression of the Father sending His only son. Perfect Love. Its yours to celebrate this Christmas, but it is yours to experience as a true reality every single day. You really can have peace. You really can have a life without fear. Jesus really did come to give those very things to you. Gods Christmas gift to you is His son. In Him is perfect love. In Him is Peace.