Courtesy of Jeremy Smith
Christmas Nativity
Love came down at Christmas.
If we let our fears define us, we are a people most to be pitied. Over and over again scripture counsels: “Be not afraid!” Indeed, one cannot understand the Christmas story without this invitation, this command, this commission: “Be not afraid!” Love came down at Christmas as the answer to every fear. Immanuel! God with us!
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of those who prey on people with their demons of fear. I am suspicious of their motives. It speaks of manipulation and control. It runs counter to the heart of the Gospel.
When Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.” It is a commandment that is rooted in the demand of God that there be no other gods before the One God. It is a commandment that is rooted in the reality that God expects our love to come out of our heart, soul and mind - that is, out of all of our being. In other words, we are expected to offer a whole hearted love of God. But, let’s face it, if we succumb to fear, it is impossible to love God with our whole heart.
Fear is an insidious thing. Fear can paralyze and disempower a person and make it impossible for a person to react or act. Fear hardens our heart - we become numb to God and lose our ability to discern. Fear isolates people from each other, drawing us into cocoons where we are prevented from encountering one another or understanding one another, and, worse, rendering it impossible to have compassion for one another. Eventually, fear, unchecked, makes our neighbor into our enemy, starting a downward cycle from which it is difficult to escape. For people of faith this kind of fear can cause us to forget our identity as a child of God and thereby interfere with our relationship with God. Those who traffic in fear can destroy our very humanity. Be not afraid!
Somehow the vicious cycle of fear must be disrupted. In Christian worship the discipline of confession is a means by which right relationships are restored - with God and with others. Richard J. Foster, in his book “Celebration of Discipline,” agues that “...confession and forgiveness are realities that transform and heal us.” It is fitting then that the prayer of confession in our Communion liturgy begins: “Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.” The answer to fear is a healthy relationship with God that loves God with our whole heart. Often it involves a re-awakening to the love and power of God in Jesus Christ.
In his article, “Waking Up to Our Whole Heart,” Johnny Sears warns: “Walking up to our whole heart involves a great deal of risk, vulnerability, and courage.” He believes that: “The world needs people who are awake to that which is of God within them, to God’s love and the power of that love to transform and heal.” He asserts that we need to “...make room for people to actually encounter Jesus from their own places of vulnerability, embrace their belovedness, and wake up to their whole hearts.” [Weavings, V.31, #1]
As we enter The Year of our Lord, 2016, let us learn again to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. Let us turn away from our fears, and those who manipulate with fear, and embrace God’s gift of Love. There is no better way to start a new year than by making a whole-hearted beginning!
The Rev. F. Richard Garland of North Kingstown, R.I. is a retired clergy member of the New England Annual Conference.