What's the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile;
So, pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag and smile, smile, smile.

Felix Powell, who wrote that song, sang it for the last time in 1942. When he finished, he walked into a bedroom, took out a revolver, put it to his head and pulled the trigger. His words encouraged the world to "smile, smile, smile." But his words had no power to satisfy the deepest longings of his heart. They were empty.

The bible is only sixty-six verses old when fear stalks into the Garden of Eden and seizes Adam by the throat. Adam is terrified and cries to God, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid" (Genesis 3:10). Ever since that frightening moment, every descendent from Adam has joined in that confession. Fear is a constant threat to us. It robs life of joy, paralyzes our souls and undermines all our securities.

In a Peanuts cartoon, Linus tells Charlie Brown, "When I hear those coyotes howling at night, it totally depresses me. I start to feel lonely ... Then I get scared."

Charlie Brown says, "I thought holding onto that blanket made you secure."

Linus replies, "I think the warranty has run out."

Isn't that true for us? We fear life, we fear death, and everything in between. We are afraid of little things like a black cat crossing our path or spilled salt. Or, leaving our home at night lest we become a victim of crime. Or, the fear that floods our hearts as we wait for the doctor to tell us if we have cancer. Or, the fear that startles us when the shrill sound of the telephone jolts us awake in the middle of the night.

The antidote to our fears is found in the coming of Christ into the world. The first words of Adam are "I was afraid." But the first words at the birth of Jesus are, "Don't be afraid."

Let me retell the story. It is just another long, lonely night for the shepherds on the hillside outside Jerusalem. Dreamily, they watch the sheep nibble contentedly on the lush green grass. They are just ordinary working people who have no idea that the most exciting event in the history of the world is about to engulf them. Suddenly and without warning, the heavens break open in a display of celestial glory. Angels hover overhead and a heavenly messenger announces the word from beyond.

Don't be afraid. Behold I bring you good news of the great joy which will be to all the people. To you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

The angels then join together into a heavenly choir and chorus:

Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favors. (Luke 2:14)

The shepherds are terrified. But they have enough presence of mind to race into Bethlehem and to search for the Savior of the world. As they rush down the hillside they chatter excitedly, "What will he be like?" "Will he be a king, dressed in royal garb, surrounded by pomp and circumstance?" "Will he be the general of a great army which will liberate our land from our oppressors?"

But when the shepherds reach Bethlehem they are amazed to discover that the Savior of the world is a baby! A baby! Can you imagine that? What is God thinking of to send a baby? It doesn't make any sense. Babies are weak and helpless. They can't accomplish much. Well, don't ever take a baby for granted.

A preacher tells of the time when a woman, her arms filled with Christmas presents, came out of a department store and bumped right into him. It was a good, solid bump, and all of her parcels dropped on the sidewalk. As he bent down to help her pick them up, she said, more to herself than anyone else, "Oh, I hate Christmas. It turns everything upside down." And so it does. Christmas turns the world topsy-turvy because it is centered in a baby, and babies change everything! Just watch a doting grandmother or grandfather and you'll see how life is changed!

The Christ child is no exception. This child will change the world! This child is God's son, the one foretold by the prophets. As the gospel writer put it:

                    In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The word from beyond is Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. E. Stanley Jones once remarked, "The early Christians did not say in despair, 'Look what the world's coming to.' In delight they pointed to Jesus Christ and said, 'Look what has come into the world.'"

The coming of Christ into the world announces the wonderful news that God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. Some of us may be tempted to believe that there is no God. Or, if God exists, God is an absentee landlord who has resigned from running the universe. We're on our own now. We cannot expect any help from God. We must face life by ourselves. "Just look at the world," they say. "Look at the cruelty, the violence, and the despair." How can there be a God with such a world? But the coming of Christ into the world is proof positive that God cares for us and loves us. It shows that we matter to Him.

There was once a European monarch who often worried his court by disappearing and walking incognito among his people. When asked not to do so for security's sake, he answered, "I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live." God does not merely tell us that he loves us, for words are often empty. Instead, he comes into the midst of our world in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Leaving behind all heavenly privilege, God suffers the hurt, humility and pain of daily life to demonstrate the depth of his love. Frankly, such love is beyond my comprehension. God's love is not distributed by some mathematical scale of obedience or disobedience. It isn't measured out with an eye-dropper to make sure no one gets loved too much. No. "God so loved the world." Period. And to this world God gave his only Son. It is not surprising that the hymn writer, pondering the wonder of God's love, sang,

Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

It is God's love which casts out all fear. In the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells of a man who is possessed by a demon. The demon leaves him for some reason and the man is liberated from his oppression. But later, to his dismay, seven demons come and take the place of the one. The point of the story is clear. You and I cannot live in a vacuum. We will be filled with something. If we are not filled with good, we will be filled with evil. The paralyzing fears and the undermining worries will flood our souls.

Where does fear come from? It comes from a preoccupation with ourselves. It comes from focusing our attention upon ourselves, upon our concerns and our needs. Fear comes when I set myself as the center of my world.

But when God's love, so perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ, fills our hearts, our fears disappear and our lives overflow with joy. You and I are empowered to live with the exuberant confidence that nothing in "all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39)

In the wonderful operetta, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Amahl, hearing the description of the Christ child, cries in joy, "For such a king I've been waiting all my life." Haven't all of us been waiting for such a king? A king who can dispel our fears and empower us to live with hope and confidence? Now we can take heart. We need no longer be afraid, for to us "is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

Orley Herron: Ian, we go back a long time to 1961 when we both lived in Santa Barbara. You were an associate pastor in the First Baptist Church and I was dean of students at Westmont College. We celebrated pretty nice Christmases with the weather there. Now you are president of a seminary and I am president of a university and here it is Christmas time. What do you think is the best gift we could give anybody for Christmas?

Ian Chapman: That's a wonderful question. It is kind of fun to chat with somebody who has shared something of my own journey and pilgrimage.

I think that over the years I would have answered that question a little differently. I think there would have been a time when I would have said that Christmas is the giving of material possessions or it is big family celebrations with all of the glitter and the gold.

I am at a point in my life where the greatest gift is to give yourself. I think that is what Christmas means, with God giving Himself in Jesus Christ. One of the great necessities in the world today is for each of us to find ways whereby we can give ourselves to the other with full attention so that the other person knows that we are truly present to them. I think that has something to do with time and attention and I think the greatest gift is to give yourself to another person.

Herron: Why did you go from being a pastor to becoming a president of a seminary?

Chapman: There are times I ask myself that. I shouldn't say there are times; I say that is a daily question because it is very different. I think it came when I had been in the pastorate for 27 years. I had wonderful experiences in the pastorate, but when the invitation came, I began to sense that the great challenge of today is to prepare leaders for the church of Jesus Christ. There is an enormous need for leadership and if I can be used of God to help produce the kind of leaders who will bring renewal and revitalization of the church of Jesus Christ, then I will have lived well. That is the challenge and the mission that I feel I have.

Herron: Are you encouraged by what you see of the seminarians that are coming to the different seminaries, including yours, who will go into leadership?

Chapman: They are very different from the seminarians who came to seminary when I went to seminary. They have enormous commitment; they carry great burdens; they have a passion for Christ and the church. I think the church is going to be very different in the days to come and I believe that these seminarians will be used of God in wonderful ways.

Herron: It sounds good. Thank you very much, Ian.