Luke 2:8-14

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Some among us tonight watched (and some participated in) the youth Christmas program, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” a week ago Sunday. It is a beautiful Christmas story with a message I’ve never thought needed an explanation. That being said, someone recently clued me into a fascinating detail in the story that I had missed even after having watched the show dozens of times. This subtle detail transforms the show from a heartwarming entertaining story into something even more theologically and practically powerful.

Recall the scene where Charlie Brown returns to the rehearsal after picking a sickly-looking Christmas tree. He’s laughed at, and out of desperation he cries out for someone to teach him the true meaning of Christmas–something more than decoration contests or lists of desired presents. That’s when Linus, the sweet boy who always has his blue blanket clutched tightly to comfort him, tells the story of the angels appearing to the shepherds from the second chapter of Luke. It’s beautiful how Linus is able to pull attention back to scripture; but even more remarkable is what he does while he tells the story -- something that shows how scripture can transform us. Watch him closely and see if you catch what happens.

Did you catch it? What did Linus do? He dropped the blanket as he said “fear not.”

Legend has it that Charles Schultz, the creator and artist of the Peanuts comics and TV shows, demanded this scene be included in the final production or he would not authorize its release. Curiously, he didn’t have Linus recite parts of the Christmas story one would expect. Such as those verses about Mary being a virgin, there being “no room in the inn,” nor the part where the baby Jesus is born and placed in a manger. For Schultz, Christmas is all about the shepherds receiving the angels’ good news of the Savior’s birth and having their fear replaced with joy and peace.

So let’s take the opportunity this Christmas Eve to think about how Jesus’ birth is an invitation to “fear not” and to drop our own security blankets.

Fear is a constant companion in life. For some of us, fear lurks in the shadows so we can never quite make it out or describe it–it’s like a low-grade fever that keeps us from operating at 100%. In other cases, fear is clearly defined. We know exactly what we’re afraid of; however, just being able to name and describe it does not relinquish its power over us. Some of our fears are perfectly reasonable; others are irrational. As for me, I have an irrational fear of sharks and alligators, which is why I live in Indiana.

To be clear, fear serves an important function in our lives. Fear keeps us safe and helps us avoid making decisions that would have negative consequences; however, the perspective our fear brings should always be held in check or else it can paralyze us and keep us from chasing our dreams and experiencing joy. Author Elizabeth Gilbert writes beautifully about the proper role for fear in our lives. In her book about creativity titled Big Magic she writes a letter to fear, which I will share with you.

“Fear: I recognize and respect that you are a part of this family, and so I will never exclude you from our activities, but still–your suggestions will NEVER be followed. You’re allowed to have a voice, but you are not allowed to have a vote. You’re not allowed to touch the road maps; you’re not allowed to suggest detours; you’re not allowed to fiddle with the temperature. Dude, you’re not even allowed to touch the radio. But, above all else, my dear old familiar friend. You are absolutely FORBIDDEN to drive.”

The angelic announcement, “Do not be afraid” is an invitation to kick fear out of the driver’s seat, to reassert control of our lives, and to allow peace and joy to fill in the space that fear previously occupied. However, just telling someone to not be afraid does not do anything to make fear go away. I have been informed, and I intellectually understand, that I will not be attacked by a shark or alligator. Knowing something intellectually is not the same as knowing it in one’s heart or gut. The angels do not communicate merely an intellectual truth, rather they communicate something that is fundamentally true–a truth that changes everything.

Confronting fear means making tough decisions to be brave and vulnerable, to take risks, and to believe in something that stretches the limits of our intellect and emotions. As God’s angelic messengers remind us, our efforts to confront fear can result in good news, glory to God, great joy for all people, and peace on earth.

One of the beautiful parts of tonight’s service is after we light our candles and sing “Silent Night,” we will hear the gospel story of what happens after the shepherds are instructed not to fear.

I’ll go ahead and spoil the rest of the story for you. Those emboldened shepherds go and see the truth for themselves. And once they see Jesus they glorify and praise God, which is exactly how the angels were described in the earlier verses. The shepherds have been entrusted to go and share the good news of great joy; and as they go and share the good news of great joy to the world they become God’s angelic messengers.

Removing fear from the driver’s seat, dropping our security blankets, being filled with peace and joy, praising God, embodying the good news for the sake of the world, letting heaven and nature sing …that’s what Christmas is all about.

So may you have an encounter with God’s word that gives you to courage to put your fear in its proper place. May you be led into peace and joy as you live into God’s good news and share that news with others. And may you become one of the multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace for all people.”

Merry Christmas.

Romans 2:1-8

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.

There’s a beautiful quote that concludes the book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, where Harry says to Dumbledore, “‘Sir, there are some things I’d like to know, if you can tell me…things I want to know the truth about…’

‘The truth.’ Dumbledore sighed. ‘It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.’”

It seems to me that in this season of Advent, given the events unfolding in our world, we could use a reminder about the beauty and terror of the truth as well as our need to treat it with great caution.

For most of us, most of the time, we think about the concept of truth in black and white terms–a reduction into categories of right or wrong. We prefer to have a straight line differentiate the things that are true from the things that are not.

For most of us, most of the time, uncertainty is unsettling. We feel vulnerable when we can’t decide what is true and what is not. After all, the inability to differentiate between fantasy and reality is an indication of a mental disorder (or an indication that you are between 3 and 7 years old).

But get this. There’s a study reported by Time magazine back in 2011 that found “people’s ability to distinguish between what really happened and what was imagined may be determined by the presence of a fold at the front of the brain that develops late in pregnancy, and is missing entirely in 27% of people.” (http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/reality-check-why-some-brains-cant-tell-real-from-imagined/)

Just think about that. There’s a chance that over 1/4 of us here tonight can’t tell the difference between reality and our imagination. Now, before you come up with a list of people in your life you’re certain are missing this brain fold, think about what it would mean if it were true for you.

How does it make you feel to consider that your understanding of the truth might not be…true? How does it feel to be plunged into the grayness of not knowing–the area between the stark contrast of right and wrong. Well, actually, it doesn’t matter if you have that fold or not, because most of us spend more time in they grayness of not knowing than we care to admit to ourselves.

I feel like this happens to me a lot! My most recent experience happened just yesterday, when I went to the cardiology department at Hancock Regional for my every-decade echocardiogram. Twenty years ago my family doctor recognized my irregular heartbeat, ran some tests, and diagnosed me with mitral valve prolapse. I was told there was nothing to worry about, but that I should have follow-up tests every ten years to keep tabs on it.

Yesterday after the ultrasound, the technician said, “I should tell you that in my preliminary report to the cardiologist I’m going to note that I didn’t find any indication of mitral valve prolapse.” My eyebrows raised and my nose crinkled. He showed me on the images that the valve was working exactly as it should. He said he didn’t have any insight into what was causing my irregular heartbeat, but in his opinion my original mitral valve prolapse diagnosis was incorrect.

It’s a strange feeling to realize that something I believed about myself for the past twenty years just wasn’t true. So now I’m living in that world that exists in-between the polarities of certainty. It’s not mitral valve prolapse, but what is it?

That’s an innocent and simplistic example. But there are other examples where our black and white oversimplification is tearing our local and global society apart; and no easy solution seems within reach.

I’ll give you a chance to read this recently-published comic strip and I’ll keep it up as I identify a few of the contentious issues in our world today. (If you have trouble reading the text, click on the picture to see a larger version).

–Gun control vs. the right to buy and own whatever and however many guns you damn well please.

–The overwhelming scientific evidence that humans are contributing to catastrophic global warming vs. the conspiracy theory that it’s a farce created by liberals in order to destroy the American economy (or the belief that God wants to destroy the Earth and this is how it will happen).

–The idea that police use an unnecessary and unequal degree of lethal force in dealing with suspects of color vs. the idea that people of color are bringing it on themselves because they can’t get their act together and be decent citizens.

–The right of lesbian, gay, and transgender-identified people to marry their partners vs. a particular reading of one religious group’s scripture used to prohibit these people from marrying.

–The reality that all Muslims are not terrorists vs. the reality that many terrorists are Muslim.

–The idea that our country was founded on the principle of welcoming the stranger vs. the idea that we fear the stranger and how they will affect our way of life.

–The idea that the President of the United States of America, whomever that is, while being held accountable, should be treated with dignity and respect vs. the idea that the President is the one person responsible for all bad things happening in the world and is thus fair game for demeaning and hateful insults.

–The idea that the United States is a Christian nation and that all laws, practices, and traditions should serve to uphold the rights of Christians (or rather, a particular subset of the most vocal Christians) vs. the idea that the United States is a place where people are free to practice whatever religion (or lack thereof) to which they adhere.

These are just a issues which typically get framed in black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. You are welcome to stake a claim in either side of each argument. But just because you stake your claim on one side or another doesn’t mean it’s true.

Here’s another comic to remind us of that idea:

Now let’s jump from comic-strip theology to social media theology. Recall back in February when an image of a dress went viral because people couldn’t agree on something we consider a basic fact: the color of the dress.

What is the color of this dress?

I remember showing this picture to my wife and saying something like, “Can you believe some people think this dress is white and gold?” To which she replied, “It IS white and gold.” What followed was a heated exchange. She was challenging my understanding of color. She didn’t see colors correctly. She was so wrong I couldn’t even pretend to understand where she was coming from. And she felt the same way about me.

Our perception of a dress, an ugly dress nonetheless, created or exposed a difference between us that seemed foundational to our identities.

Fortunately we had the tools to mend any damage done due to our argument over the color of the dress. And also, fortunately, it was later revealed that the dress is, in fact, black and blue, which meant I was right all along. It’s nice to feel vindicated once in a while.

The point is that the differences in how we understand what is true in our world can easily drive us apart. When people disagree with us our first reaction is to dismiss them, belittle them, condemn them. Relationship in the midst of disagreement requires the hard work of empathy and relinquishing one’s ego.

Anne Lamott puts it best, “The opposite of faith is not doubt, it’s certainty.”

The color of the dress isn’t of any ultimate importance; however, the issues of death, oppression, injustice, anger, racism, and inequality–these things matter. And Jesus has something to say about each these issues.

In regards to every contentious issue with which we are called to contemplate and engage, we must begin with the truth of God as revealed through the Word–God’s son, Jesus Christ. The same God who, “proves his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

A parishioner recently told me that his opinion of a particular Bible Study at Cross of Grace as a place where people can say whatever they want and be heard without being condemned. I initially thought this was a great compliment dripping with grace. But then he continued, “I’ve heard people say some pretty racist stuff and no one challenges them.” That’s unsettling.

And yet, this quote from an Augsburg Fortress bible study guide by David L. Miller sums up the issue well, “The church is not a gathering of the like-minded bound together by friendship or ideological and political convictions. It is a shoulder-to-shoulder gathering of very diverse people who come to hear a common word, break a common bread, confess a common creed, offer mutual forgiveness, and be joined in a common heart with a common hope for the fulfillment of the mystery of God.”

We’re not all going to agree on everything. That can be as difficult as it can be beautiful, as I noticed when I arrived for my first interview at Cross of Grace two years ago and saw the sign by the road that said, “Conservatives and Liberals Worship Here.”

As Christians we are called to proclaim and practice the truth of God’s unconditional love and grace for all people and all creation. That’s our starting point. That’s the lens through which we are called to analyze all the contentious issues before us. That’s the line that tethers opposing views together in the midst of conflict. That’s the truth that will remain after all things have passed away. And that’s the truth that should be treated with caution in this time of Advent preparation, hope, joy, love, and peace.

So take a stand, choose a side, and stand up for your convictions; but keep your heart, mind, eyes, and ears open to those on the other side and make sure your convictions are rooted in the truth of the love and grace of Jesus Christ above all else.

Amen.