The Gentle Firefighter--December 28, 2022

The Gentle Firefighter--December 28, 2022

"In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, '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'.” [Luke 2:8-12]

If you are in a burning building and a firefighter runs into the flames, picks you up, and carries you to safety without speaking a word, it would be enough.  Saving your life is the critical thing, and that doesn't require an explanation.  But if the firefighter sees that you are scared and says to you calmly, "I'm here to help. It's going to be ok.  You can trust me," and then carries or leads you to safety, there is an added gentleness that makes a difference somehow.  

The outcome might look the same--either way, the person in the burning building gets out to safety.  But the additional attention it takes to practice kindness certainly makes it easier to go through the scary experience.  Going into a burning building demands bravery from the firefighter no matter what, but when the firefighter takes the time and energy to put the one being rescued at ease, it helps them to be brave as well.  And it reveals that the rescuer cares enough to think about how the one being rescued feels. That might seem unnecessary or additional, but it sure does feel important if you're the one petrified by fear in the flames.  It means a great deal if you are the frightened one to have someone tell you, "You don't have to be afraid.  It'll be all right."

That's something I've found myself picking up on in the story of Jesus' birth lately.  God doesn't simply save the world--God takes the additional time to tell the world, "I'm here to help. You can trust me."  God doesn't just send a savior in secret, as Luke tells it, but goes to the trouble of finding other ordinary people who are struggling, as the old carol puts it, "beneath life's crushing load," and takes the time and effort to stop and say, "You don't have to be afraid."  For us who know this story by heart from decades' worth of Christmas pageants and Charlie Brown specials, it can be easy to gloss over this detail.  But consider for a moment that God didn't "have" to announce anything to anybody, even if God were determined to send a Savior.  The child could have been born in total anonymity, without anybody aware of anything, just as the firefighter could step into the burning building and never do a thing to put the ones who are trapped at ease before rescuing them.  It would still "count." Their lives would still be saved.  But God knows that while the saving is happening, it does something to ease our fears to be assured that we are not alone--to know that God is at work even when we cannot see how we'll get out of the mess we're in.

It's worth taking this moment to see and understand this dimension of God's love--that God is willing to take the extra step, to go to the extra length, and to make the additional effort, to be kind to us even in the act of saving us.  God loves us, and that love is not merely a duty-bound, no-nonsense piece of business, but comes with the kindness of making sure our fears are put at ease.  God takes the time to tell a bunch of shepherds what is happening in town, and that they do not need to be afraid.  God is not merely saving the world in Jesus--God takes the time to calm our fears in the act of saving us.  God is like the gentle firefighter who knows how to reassure the people being rescued while they are being pulled out of the flames.  

What difference does that make?  Why is it better that God sends angels to tell a handful of unimpressive anybodies that there is good news for all people?  Well, in a sense, it's the very fact that it's unnecessary that makes it noteworthy--God could save in secrecy and silence, but God knows our needs enough to tell us, "This is what's happening now.  I want you to know so that you won't be afraid, and so you'll know you can trust me."  God doesn't "have" to do it that way... but God chooses to.  That's how God's love works--there is a kindness there that goes beyond a job description or a matter-of-factly assertion, "I'm just doing my job."  God's love is kind--and that is such a beautiful gift.

Today, just let that sink in.  God loves you, and me, and the likes of anonymous sheep farmers, enough not merely to send a savior, but to make sure we know we don't have to be afraid while that savior is going to work.  God is willing to take the time and make the effort to put these fearful hearts at rest.  Maybe our love, too, can begin to learn to take the time with other people as well, so that they'll get a glimpse not just of God's saving power, but of God's deep kindness.

Lord God, thank you for the time and attention you spend to put us at ease in the act of saving this world.