If you haven't heard from someone you love for a long time, the first words you finally hear from them are important, aren't they? What if you haven't heard from someone in 400 years? That's how long it had been since the Children of Israel had heard from God. After the OT period ended, the Israelites were a barely surviving remnant of people who now looked pretty insignificant compared to the world powers. And the world was about to turn upside down. The Persian Empire gave way to Alexander and the Greeks. And Greece gave way to Rome. All this time, the tiny nation of Israel was batted around like a toddler's toy, always belonging to someone else, always being oppressed and mistreated. Many of them turned away from God. Many were still hoping for someone to come and deliver them, but now instead of a spiritual deliverer, they were hoping for a political hero. They waited and hoped. But heard nothing. For 400 years. 400 years of punishing silence.

They lived in fear. Fear for their lives and the lives of their children. Fear of the nations who ruled them. Fear of evil and injustice. Fear that hope was gone. For 400 years, they heard nothing to calm these fears. Then the silence was broken when an angel appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John, the forerunner of the Savior, by saying, "Do not be afraid." Six months later the same angel appeared to a humble virgin named Mary and said again: "Do not be afraid." That's how God chose to end this long period of silence, hopelessness, and fear - with the words: "Do not be afraid." That is how He spoke to their fears!

Today we are talking about Gabriel's visit to Mary. Here was a poor girl engaged to a poor man, soon to be married in the small town of Nazareth. She lived a simple, humble, and upright life. Now three things happen that will scare the daylights out of Mary: an angel appears to her, she is told that she is "highly favored," and she is informed that she will have a child! Try to imagine Mary's fears! Angels didn't just appear to people - they hadn't in over 400 years! And if they did, why wouldn't they appear to someone more "important"? She is told she is "highly favored." You mean she won't just be able to live her quiet life? And worst of all, she is told that she is pregnant. You know what that means for an unmarried girl in those days? Complete disgrace, especially in a small village like Nazareth! And once Joseph disowned her, it would mean she would have no income with which to bring up this child. Not to mention the fear of how she could possibly be pregnant since she was a virgin!

But Gabriel spoke to all of Mary's fears: "Do not be afraid!" You have found favor with God - He has shown you special grace and given you a special honor! I am here telling you good news - don't worry that an angel is talking to you - this is a good thing! As to the child you will bear, don't worry, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. God can do that because nothing is impossible with God. Don't worry about what others will think, or about the hard times that you will have coming up in the next nine months, because, Mary, "The Lord is with you." Mary really needed to hear that at this point! The Lord would be with her!

But the greatest comfort for Mary's fears would come with the revelation of who this child is. He would be no ordinary man. Conceived of the Holy Spirit, He would be the Son of God! He would be called "Jesus," indicating that He would be the Savior of the world! And he would rule forever! This is the Messiah, the deliverer that everyone had been waiting for! What Child Is This? The Son of God, who would save the world from sin, who would deliver us from death and make peace between us and God! What Child is This? One Who Speaks to our Fears! Over the next three weeks, we are going to be talking about "What Child Is This." First of all, He is the Child who speaks to our fears. He is the One who assures us: "Don't be afraid." In all of Jesus' teaching, there was one phrase recorded that He spoke more than any other: "Do not be afraid." He is the only One who can really tell us that. How do you like this irony? Mary had a lot of fears connected with the fact that she was pregnant before she was married, and that an angel was telling her that child was God's Son. But the perfect answer to all of Mary's fears was wriggling around in her womb, silently growing! The perfect answer to her fears of being pregnant was her child Himself - the one, the only One who could speak to her fears with his forgiveness and promise of eternal life!

This child growing in Mary's womb also speaks to our fears. What do we have to fear today? Unfortunately, that has become a pretty long list! Researchers reported that 30 years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1. Animals 2. Being in a dark room 3. High places 4. Strangers 5. Loud noises. Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1. Divorce 2. Nuclear war and terrorism 3. Cancer 4. Pollution 5. Being mugged. Sad, isn't it?

You and I both know there are things we fear that we shouldn't. Things that are beyond our control. For instance, you might be afraid to face death. You might be afraid of commitment or rejection. Or you have the constant fear that your kids are going to get hurt and that's all you think about. You might have the fear that you'll never measure up to anyone, or the fear that you'll wake up with cancer one day. What does this constant fear do to us? We might experience a lack of enthusiasm. Life just isn't exciting and purposeful anymore. Or we have unfocused thoughts. All we can think about is what we fear. Or fear keeps us from interacting with others. All we want to do is be alone and deal with it by ourselves. Or it keeps us from getting anything done. We are consumed with the fear of trying anything. Or it eventually turns into ungodly behavior. Because we don't know how to deal with it in a healthy way. It might cause health problems: heart, stomach, head, stress, and nerve trouble. It could even cause premature death. Besides wearing the body down, sometimes fear keeps people from getting the right medicine or surgery. Finally, fear also chips away at our relationship with God. We see God as having caused this. We see Him as being mean to us. Well, He speaks to these fears!

Could you say that one of the things many of us fear right now is of the threat of terrorism and anthrax? That child God revealed that Mary would have speaks to these fears of ours. This child came in to the world to bring true peace - between us and God. If this world never sees peace from conflict, we can be assured there is peace between us and God. We also fear for our safety. That baby growing in Mary's womb answers that fear by assuring us that whatever happens to us in this life is going to serve our ultimate good. We also fear for our children's safety, their education, welfare, and future. That infant child Mary would bear calms these fears. When He grew up, He showed how much He loved children. He spoke about how little children can believe, and how we should even imitate their faith. He assured us that the Kingdom of God belongs to children. Yes, God is watching over our children too, and will make sure they are taken care of.

We have fears about whether we will have enough money to pay the bills, enough for retirement, and enough to leave some behind for our kids. That baby wriggling around in Mary's womb speaks to these fears by encouraging us to seek God's Kingdom first. He will make sure that we have everything we need. He rather wants us to be rich spiritually, with an inheritance in heaven! We might be afraid that we will get laid off from our job, or that we will fail in school. The Baby Jesus speaks to these fears too - He says that He will always be with us. He has a plan for us, and is in control of our lives. Some of us might fear we will never find the right mate in life. Even if you don't, this child assures us that we have the perfect mate in heaven - Him! We often fear what others think of us. Jesus and the forgiveness He has won for us gives us real esteem - Christ esteem. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of us. We are who we are through Jesus! We fear what we deserve because of our sins. We haven't been perfect like God wants us to be. In fact, most of our fears are sinful themselves because it shows a lack of trust in our Savior! But God doesn't answer those fears by shaking his head at us. Rather, He says, "Don't be afraid." That baby wriggling in Mary's womb spoke to that fear by silently going to his death on the cross in our place. We won't get what we deserve for our sins! We find ourselves fearing death, too, don't we? The perfect answer to that fear was conceived in Mary's womb. He came to give us forgiveness, peace with God, and the guarantee of eternal life in heaven because of his death and resurrection! Yes, this Child certainly speaks to our fears!

1 John 4:18-19 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us." Love and fear are opposites! They repel each other like magnets reversed! Love drives out fear like a plow clears away snow! Fear has to do with punishment. We fear because of guilt. We fear because of sin. We fear because we look inward at ourselves, and worry about what might or might not happen to us based on what we can control. We fear when we think we alone will be held responsible for our failures. Fear is always centered in ourselves. Love is the opposite. Love comes from the outside. Love is centered in God. He first loved us by making peace with us through Jesus' death on the cross. That is love! Love that says, "Don't be afraid!" That love drives out fear!

What Child Is This? One Who Speaks to our Fears! Here is a note to you from God: "Good morning. I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD (something for Jesus to do) box. It will be addressed in my time, not yours. Once the matter is placed in the box, do not hold on to it or attempt to remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a situation that you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that is the proper assumption. Because I do not sleep or slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest, my child. If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away."

There is much in our evil world that brings fear our way. We feel pretty vulnerable after watching two powerful symbols like the WTC Towers come crumbling down. But there is one symbol that can't be toppled: the Cross. What happened there is the answer to all our fears. This Child in Mary's womb came and lived the perfect fearless life we could never live, and then willingly gave his life on that cross to take away all our fears. His love drove our fear away! And because he rose from the dead, all of our fears have been laid to rest forever. Amen.

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