Weekly Devotion

December 20 2020

Fear Not!

“Fear not!...for unto us is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord!”

Luke 2:10

It has been 55 years since the Charles Schulz classic A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired on
television in 1965. This much beloved seasonal animation features Charlie Brown and friends as
they prepare for Christmas.

Preparations and rehearsal for the school Christmas play are underway. Frustrations abound.
Nobody listens to Charlie Brown as the director. Lucy as the script girl is bossy and impatient as
always. Schroder, the musical accompanist, plays the familiar theme song, and Linus is present
with his blanket.

Charlie Brown, the disgruntled conductor, is himself in search of the Christmas spirit. “Isn’t
there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” shouts Charlie Brown.
Linus pipes up, “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.”
Linus, with his blue blanket in tow, takes center stage and begins to quote the Christmas story
from Luke chapter 2. When Linus quotes the words of the angel, “Fear not!” he
uncharacteristically drops his blue security blanket.

This is no accident. It is an intentional statement by Charles Schulz. The birth of Jesus is meant
to set us free from our fears.

Jason Soroski further reminds us that Linus dropping his security blanket at the revelation of the
angel to “Fear Not” is an invitation. This proclamation of Truth invites us to drop the fake
securities that we cling to in life. Relinquishing the inadequate and anemic securities of this life
means that our hands and hearts are now unencumbered to embrace Him.
Though not a Christmas hymn, Charles Wesley captures the meaning of the angel’s proclamation
in the third stanza of O for A Thousand Tongues:

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’Tis life, and health, and peace.

Dear Lord, as we approach Christmas Day, may we hear the eternal words as if for the first time,
“Fear not!...for unto us is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord!” Amen.