Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, December 26, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah.’ Zechariah had every reason to be afraid. He was standing in front of an angel, after all. And although everyday angels in the Bible were not the big, winged, creatures in the popular imagination, or the rather horrific cherubim and seraphim described in apocalyptic Bible passages, but rather generally appeared as more-or-less human, there was obviously something about them so obviously otherworldly that they inspired terror. Angels nearly always begin their interactions with humans by saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Ergo, angels are frightening.
Why? They are messengers from God. They are holy creatures bearing God’s own words, not as interpreted through a human prophet, but direct—the actual voice of God. Sometime I think we just forget that God is a completely incomprehensible cosmic power who can create out of nothing and bring back to nothing anything in creation. We get wrapped up in our modern ideas of God as friend and comforter (completely true) and I think we’re a little uncomfortable thinking about God as scary when there’s enough in the world that’s scary.
I think God’s scariness is distinctly different than worldly terror. More like awe. A thrill. Still off-putting and needing reassurance, but fear that’s more akin to joyful anticipation. Like being at the top of a roller coaster waiting for the first drop. Because the next statement from almost every angel after “Do not be afraid,” is some kind of mind-blowingly good news. It was true in Zechariah’s case, and it is true in the lives of so many every day.
Have I ever felt real awe and fear in a God-encounter in my life?
