The Lord who is love

Whenever angels show up, people get scared. That's been the initial response of everyone who has seen an angel in Luke's birth account––Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds. They are all afraid.

Throughout the Bible, the first thing any angel has to do when they show up is assure the person they have been sent by mercy and love. Like when they visited the shepherds they said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord"(Luke 2:11-12). Fear not. I've got good news.

Why are we so afraid? Why are we immediately fearful when power and glory like this show up? Well, I think it's because we expect power like this to overwhelm us. That's what we've grown accustom to––power corrupts and crushes.

In our spiritual journeys we've found a couple ways to cope with and even rationalize our fears. In our modern minds we refuse love that comes with lordship. In our religious hearts we don't trust lordship that comes with love. In other words we have not category for the union of power and grace; authority and mercy; lordship and love.

And yet, this is the message of Christmas. The power we instinctively fear (actually we even fear a messenger of this power!) has come in the form of love. In Christ we find a master who doesn't crush us. In Christ we find a love that doesn't disappoint us. Because he alone is the Lord who is love.