“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 Saviour, who is the Messiah.” Luke 2:10-11

A friend posted how much she missed Christmas when her parents were alive. Her words were “At this time of year, l get sad and depressed. I remember our family getting together, the joy, the laughter the fun! On Christmas Eve at the 6:30 a.m. service Father Louis spoke about persons who found Christmas difficult because they missed loved ones. Christmas is also a difficult time for persons who see others apparently having fun and there is nothing fun in their lives. I am certain each of us can think of a difficult Christmas we have had.

It is what the psychologists call melancholy. A bitter-sweet time I think is the best description. It is a time when we over-expect from life while at the same time, think too much about the inadequacies of this life – the way we would like our life to be, but it isn’t. Young children are sad that the excitement is over. Others dream of the things that they would want but are unable to have. Older children and adults feel sad because as they get older, traditions they love change, or they are no longer experienced in the same way.  It is a time many wish the world was more loving and had more compassion.

I doubt that the first Christmas was any easier for Mary and Joseph. Caesar Augustus had decided to take census, to number everybody. It was the Roman National Identification System (NIDS) in action. If the book of Revelation was written then, they would consider it the ‘Mark of the Beast’. Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. You are pregnant and have to travel 100 miles, not in a car or bus but on a donkey or walking. The trip is estimated to take anywhere between 8-10 days. This must have been a scary and tough journey for a young, pregnant Mary. She must have been asking ‘Why me Lord’. Then to add to the anxiety, her water breaks on the way and they have no proper place to stay. She must ‘kotch’ (stay) in somebody’s out house. You men are probably saying, I cannot identify with Mary, but how helpless would you feel if your wife’s or girlfriend’s water broke in the middle of a trip and there was nowhere comfortable to stay. After all, Is you bring her on the trip, why didn’t you leave her with her parents for the few days?

I don’t know how many of us can identify with not having a place to stay, but we can all certainly identify with being in difficult situations, situations that we would rather not face, situations when we were vulnerable like Mary and Joseph that first Christmas.

The melancholy of Christmas points us to the joy of Christmas, but we must actively participate to experience it.

Verses 10 – 14 of Luke 2, says in those difficult times, when we are uncertain, – 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 a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Glory to God in the highest heaven… and on earth, peace among those whom God favours!”  We are assured that we are supposed to be happy at Christmas and all times because God has sent his son – A Saviour.  It is a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody in the whole wide world that will bring peace among those of goodwill.

I would like us to focus on those four phrases fear not, Saviour, peace and goodwill. What do they mean for us on this day as we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Fear not! Gabriel tells us that we do not have to second guess our participation in the Christmas story. Like the Shepherds we just need to leave our flocks – our baggage, our doubts, and come look for this Saviour. – our second word.

A Saviour whom God has sent to deliver us from our sins. What are the sins we want to be delivered from?    It’s not only by not keeping God’s law that we sin. We sin when we refuse to be the best we can be. When we fail to live up to our full potential. Full potential here is not fantasizing about what we want and cannot get, or have no way of achieving; nor is it the things that lead to depression and feelings of insecurities. Full potential is those basic characteristics that make us human, that enhances our relationship one to another. Full potential are those things that provide us with inner peace.

We are challenged to go through life living fearlessly and to participate in the Christ Story as the Shepherds where we will meet the Saviour. This Saviour will help us to achieve our full potential as human beings, to become better persons to ourselves and one to another, but we must participate. When we participate we not only become better people we find peace. – our third word

Peace for many of us mean the absence of war or quarrel. That’s not the peace being offered by the Angels if we participate.  This peace is a quiet confidence that all will be well, a calm of one’s soul, of one’s personality. The peace that passes all understanding that St. Paul writes about. It is this peace that we all yearn for – It is difficult to describe but it is an inner calm that allows us to not be afraid. That allows to be our best selves – to live our full potential, despite our circumstances. It is an inner harmony, a wholeness, a completeness that we express by being in harmony with others and our environment even when we feel vulnerable.  This peace is open to all of us and all persons of goodwill. All manner of persons not just believers but the whole human race. All are blessed in Christ’s birth.

The Christ story invites us to participate in this peace. It invites those of us who have participated and who have gotten complacent to be born again with the Christ child, that is become rejuvenated and remember the inner peace we once knew in this busy world. For those of us who have never known this peace, we are invited to open our hearts and our souls to experience this peace that passes all understanding which is available to all of goodwill our fourth word.

Goodwill I once considered to be a characteristic like trust. One had to work hard to not not only earn it, but to keep it. However, Goodwill also means compassion. Com is a prefix meaning with. Thus we are challenged through the Christ story to live our lives with passion for Christ and to have compassion one for another.

We have waited through advent for this time of celebration when the Christ child comes. – A great and joyful event, foretold centuries before in which we are invited to participate.  There is somebody -God’s son – Jesus, who can help us not just over the rough times  of Christmas or difficult situations, but through all times. But like the shepherds we must come and see, we must come and participate in this great and joyful event.

Gabriel has brought us great news that today there is no need to be lonely, depressed, or sad; no need to be afraid. We can live our lives fearlessly, because God has sent his son Jesus, to save us, to free us so we can be our best selves. Jesus comes that we can live with passion and have compassion. Jesus comes that we can be whole and be truly happy. Only one thing is required. Like the shepherds on that first Christmas, we need to participate, not just today but every day in peace, with passion, compassion and without fear which will allow us to experience the true Joys of life. Christmas is the start of this life in which we are invited to participate.

Come, try it! Will you?