“…do not be afraid…” Matthew 1:20
How many times have I read this section of Matthew, these first two chapters that are so familiar from Christmas readings and church services? They are so familiar that I hardly pay attention to them anymore. If I am reading the Bible, I tend to skim over them. Who needs another list of begats and begottens? We all know what happens. Mary gets pregnant. Jesus is born. The shepherds and the Wise Guys notice. And then Herod gets mad and bad stuff happens.
Some things, some stories, some truths, some people, seem so familiar that we hardly notice them. We begin to take them for granted. They can’t surprise us anymore (we think). We put a label on them and file them away and stop paying attention. He’s my sports friend. She likes to read. Math is hard. Cats are evil. (And so is okra.) It makes life easier (we think).
Or do we?
And so here I am once again reading the Nativity story and thinking: Yada Yada Yada… Yeah. I know. Let’s get to the good part. But then suddenly I hear a voice in my head saying: Isn’t it interesting that this version (Matthew’s) focuses on Joseph more than Mary[1]? Hmmm. That’s right. I wonder if I ever noticed that before?
And then I saw those words:
… the angel of the Lord appeared to him and
said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary home as your wife…’
And I wondered, why did the angel say that? Why tell him not to be afraid? If we look at the context—something I always remind my students to do—we see that Joseph was about to divorce Mary. My translation says, “Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally.”(Mt 1:19)
Basically, Joseph was following the law. He was being compassionate and merciful about it; he could have had her taken outside of the town and stoned to death. But, instead he was going to quietly and without public display abandon her. It was the right thing to do. Yes, it would spare her disgrace, but what about him? It would also spare him the disgrace of becoming a cuckold; married to an adulteress and raising another man’s child. What would that do to his public standing? What would that do to his reputation? His carpentry business? That was too much! He couldn’t risk it.
And perhaps that is why the angel says: Don’t be afraid.
Fear not. Don’t be afraid. That is a constant refrain in scripture. God is constantly reminding us not to be afraid.
Not because bad things won’t happen. Not because Faith makes us immune to sorrows and hardships. But, because regardless of what happens—God is with us. And truly, that is all that matters!
So, even when the hurricane comes (or two of them at the same time), even when the flood waters rise, even when your fiancĂ© suddenly shows up pregnant—don’t be afraid. Be secure in God’s love.
Joseph isn’t doing anything wrong. In fact, he is going above and beyond the call of duty by intending to divorce Mary quietly. So, why is he sent this message: Do not be afraid?
Is it because too often when we turn to the law or rules to defend our position, we are searching for something that isn’t there: stability, safety, security. We are acting not out of love, not out of faith, but out of fear?
Even if we are trying to do the right thing, are we holding back? Are we hiding behind the law to avoid doing the harder thing? Protecting ourselves by hiding behind the law? Protecting ourselves from gossip? From scandal? From discomfort or hardship?
But, like Joseph, are we actually only protecting ourselves
from God’s grace? From letting ourselves fall completely into His hands? From giving ourselves fully to His beautiful,
mysterious, loving plan?
And is the real problem here simply that we think we know how this story goes? So we don’t bother to pay attention to the truth. That God is in charge. What are we afraid of?
Open your eyes. Pay attention to the voice that whispers in your ear: Be not afraid. God is calling you, and His plans are much bigger and much better than anything you could imagine.
Do not be afraid.
[1] The Nativity of Luke focuses almost completely on Mary (annunciation, visitation, presentation, storing things up in her heart), while the Nativity of Matthew focuses almost solely on Joseph (and his dreams). I don’t know why, but—there you go.
