Fear to Joy

This is the sermon for Christmas Eve, preached on December 24, 2025 by the Rev. Marissa Galván Valle, based on Luke 2: 1-14.

DO NOT FEAR

During this Advent season, we have been invited to listen to passages from Scripture that have led us to think about fear. I remember that the sermon on the first Sunday of Advent mentioned that there are more than 100 instances of the words “Do not fear,” or, in the case of the passage that we just read, “Do not be afraid.” The author of the foundational essay, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, writes that “the command to put away fear is comprehensive; whatever each day brings, whatever trials befall us, we can remember that we are created for faith, not fear.”

The interesting thing about this sentence is that we are commanded to put away fear… but what we can manage to do is remember that God created us not for fear, but for faith. Fear is not what God intended for God’s creation, and we need to remember this every time we feel like fear, anxiety, or stress besiege us and threaten to take over our whole being:

God created me for faith and not for fear.

God created me for trust and not for anxiety.

God created me for hope and not for stress.

She then writes that there are no four-step plans to eradicate fear. Fear can sometimes be a good thing — like when you go into the ocean respecting the waves, the currents, and the winds, but still finding enjoyment in being able to swim in it. She does give us ways to move faithfully through fear:

• Tune in to God’s presence,

• trust God’s promises,

• take one step at a time,

• and persevere.

And we have heard biblical stories and passages that invite us to see examples of how each of these plays out. I believe they all play out in the passage we have read tonight.

TUNE IN TO GOD’S PRESENCE

There are a lot of scholars who have asked the question, “To whom is this good news addressed?” We know that it is addressed to the shepherds — but why is that? Some understand that the shepherds are representatives of the people. Others have suggested that they represent the marginalized or outsiders. After all, the angel does not appear to kings, prelates, or presidents.

I agree with those observations, but I would add one more. Shepherds were experts in paying attention. They had to be! They needed to be awake. They needed to be watchful because they didn’t want to lose the sheep that had been entrusted to them. They needed to be attentive to any danger looming in the dark. These are people who had to pay attention for a living.

So, I wonder if God chose them to be the recipients of the angel’s message precisely because God knew they would notice something out of the ordinary — because God knew they would have their eyes open and would be awake in the middle of the night. People can be in temples or churches and not pay attention. They can be in holy places and miss what God is doing.

Being tuned in to God’s presence is important, but for that… you have to be intentionally attentive — to train your eyes to look at the world in a way where you can see what God’s grace is doing and respond in gratitude. It’s like what I’ve seen people do in November. For example, Pastor Mamie Broadhurst posted a gratitude each day of November.

What would it be like if we took a moment each day to find one thing to be grateful for? That would readjust our vision and our attentiveness. We would be on the lookout for things to be grateful for. And maybe we would be prepared to see an angel with a message from God, like the shepherds did.

TRUST GOD’S PROMISES

The angel has a message to share with the shepherds:

“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.”

This is an incredible promise! A Savior is born! Even if some of the shepherds did not know about the promises to the people of Israel from hearing about it in the synagogue, they must have heard the stories about God’s promise of a Messiah. Still, they could have doubted.

“Why would the Messiah come as a baby? Why not come as a great warrior or as a king with great power? Why tell us? We are just shepherds!”

But even though they might be puzzled by the news, the passage tells us that after hearing the choir of angels, they felt a need to corroborate. God’s promise meant something to them — something so important that they left their job to go and see this baby! Their need to trust in God’s promise moved them from fear, to action, to joy, to witness.

In a world where conspiracy theories are constant, where people seem to question everything, and where trust seems to be dwindling, trusting in God’s promises and putting your hope in them seems like a crazy proposition. And yet, we come and gather to celebrate the fulfillment of the promises that a lot of people question.

We hold on to hope that God has created this world good. We keep on showing up to declare that the Messiah has been born! And stubbornly, we believe and trust that this child is the answer for the world to come back to a better time and a better place — where we are all children beloved by God, deserving of grace

TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME

The passage tells us that after hearing the angels, the shepherds decide to go. They don’t know exactly what they will find. They don’t know the impact it will have on their lives. They don’t ask the angel for a map, or a second sign, or for the angel to lead the way. They just go.

And they go with haste — not because they knew where they were going, but because something in them compelled them to respond.

Such decisiveness takes courage, trust… and a little bit of craziness. Like Peter taking that first step into the water, just because Jesus tells him to. But we know what happened to Peter. I wonder if the shepherds got lost along the way. I wonder if some of them told the others they were giving up. I wonder if they lost hope and felt like going back to their sheep.

The story does not speak of those things, but we are human — and fear can appear out of nowhere with a thought, an incident, or a feeling.

The shepherds took one step at a time… running to see where they could find the sign that the angel spoke of. When I think about taking a step out of fear, I remember a character in the movie Inside Out 2. Anxiety, at one point, tries to do so many things in Riley’s head that she stands motionless, unable to move.

Fear does that to you. Your thoughts and feelings go a million miles a second, so you cannot move. One step could be asking for help. One step could be going for a walk. One step could be praying. One step could be taking a moment to breathe and to think: I was created for faith and not for fear.

Taking one step breaks the cycle of fear… and God is with us in that step.

PERSEVERE

And the shepherds persevere. They return from their experience glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. After the extraordinary wonder and glory, the shepherds return to the same fields, the same work, the same world — but they are not the same.

They go to Bethlehem, but they return to their own lives with a new perspective, a new joy that will help them see every day in a new way. They cannot unsee what they have seen! They become witnesses who are grateful for what God has done.

And there’s no internet. They will not be able to know what Jesus will become. Some of them will miss hearing the stories about a new teacher preaching about God’s kingdom in a new way. And yet, they had seen what mattered most to them: God in action, God fulfilling a promise, God giving the world a new chance.

And they persevered with joy. And they persevered with hope. And they persevered with trust.

After tomorrow, we go back to normal. Some people get rid of their trees on the 26th and start taking the decorations down on the 27th — not realizing that when we sing the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, we’re talking about the days after the 25th!

But in a world where fear seems more abundant than hope — even among those who celebrate the actions of the powerful out of fear of what they might lose — maybe there’s a need to hold on to the promise of Christmas and persevere in the words of the angels:

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

A REAFFIRMATION OF CHRISTMAS

On Sunday, when we celebrated the Reaffirmation of Baptism, we heard the echoes of a famous poem written by African American Christian theologian Howard Thurman. I know some of you have heard it before, but it is a beautiful reminder that, like the shepherds, we are called to continue witnessing to the birth of the Messiah. Let us listen once again to these wise and beautiful words:

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among brothers,

To make music in the heart.

This is what the shepherds did after that holy night. They kept doing the work of Christmas. And that is what we are called to do — whatever each day brings, whatever trials befall us. God has created us, not for fear, but for faith. Tune in to God’s presence. Trust God’s promises. Take one step at a time… and persevere. Follow the shepherds and joyfully glorify and praise God for all you have heard and seen!