Ten thousand earnest Christmas pageants offer us some cherub child, dressed as an angel, stepping forth to utter words that sound well-nigh impossible.

“Fear not,” he says, “for behold I bring you tidings of great joy.” (Luke 2:10).

“Fear not?” we think, but never say. “Does God not know our real lives?” That declaration echoing through centuries has shaped how many think of God. We think He’s chiding us for being quite normally afraid of that which ought to terrify—a brilliant light; an other-worldly stranger shouting in the night; the loudest, largest choir Earth has ever heard.

Now hear what that sweet angel really said: “You can stop being afraid now.”

For fear quite naturally results when humans meet the otherness of God and those He sends to share good news. The birth of Jesus was the broadcast we have all been waiting for: we need no longer be afraid.

Whatever views we’ve held of God; whatever fears have made us doubt His kindness or His goodness, Jesus is the living proof that there’s no reason to continue in our fear.

This Christmas, thank God for the grace that lights our midnights and will calm each anxious fear. You can stop being afraid now.

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott