An Antidote to Pantophobia - Christmas Eve
An Antidote to Pantophobia
December 24, 2024 Christmas Eve
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Luke 2:1-20
“An Antidote to Pantophobia”
Douglas T. King
For most of us in this room that melody delivers a vibrant memory of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Vivid images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and the rest come to mind. But the music is a fascinating choice for a Christmas cartoon. Was melodically complicated jazz by Vince Guaraldi the best choice for a kids’ show? Jazz is a genre known for nuance, and a genre that is very comfortable finding its home in minor chords; a genre that evokes complex emotional responses. Shouldn’t a Christmas cartoon be accompanied by bright and simple major chords?
Well, the executives at CBS certainly thought so. After viewing a preview of the special they wanted to cancel airing it but it was already listed in the TV Guide, so they broadcast it anyway. And thank God they did. It became a classic and a cherished tradition. And it actually has something important to teach us about our reading from the gospel of Luke this evening. In a few minutes we will see what that is.
Now there is a lot going on in this text from Luke. We get the birth of a baby, in a barn no less. We get a chorus consisting of a multitude of the heavenly host. We get shepherds traipsing through the countryside and praising God. Granted, we know much of this story by heart. We are not surprised as all these things play out. We are not surprised
when the shepherds are terrified or when the angel tells them, “Do not be afraid…” We know that angels always say that in the Bible. If an angel of the Lord lit up the night sky before you, bathed in God’s glory, wouldn’t you be frightened?
However, my friend, Tom Are, says the following about this interaction. “I admit the consensus is that angels always say this because angels are, well scary. As they say, when we are confronted with the divine, it’s terrifying. I don’t argue with that, but I wonder if the angels are so consistent with this word not simply because angels are scary, but because angels can tell we are already scared all the time. We are always afraid.”
Now before you push back on the notion that you are always afraid let me offer some examples of what fear may look like. “Yeah, Jeffrey is struggling a bit in school. He loved fourth grade and thrived. But for some reason 5th grade has thrown him for a loop. I just know he will adjust. I am sure everything will be fine”
Or…
“There is talk of corporate downsizing but I do not think it will affect me. I have been a loyal employee. I am confident my job is safe. I am sure everything will be fine”
Or…
“The doctor wants to run a few tests but I am not concerned. I am sure everything will be fine.”
Or…
“Janet has been distant lately and it seems like we argue more than anything else these days but we have been together for 18 years. We will work this rough patch out. I am sure everything will be fine.”
I am sure everything will be fine. Translation, I am frightened but I do not want to name it to you or even acknowledge it to myself.
Call it what you will, fear, anxiety, concern, it is an inherent element of the human condition. And perhaps no one embodied this reality more than good old Charlie Brown. Here are a few classic Charlie Brown quotes. “The secret to life, is to replace one worry with another.” “I have a new philosophy; I only dread one day at a time.” “My anxieties have anxieties.”
In the Christmas Special, Charlie Brown goes to visit Lucy and her Psychiatric Help kiosk. After Charlie Brown pays his nickel they have the following interaction. Lucy says, “I think we better pinpoint your fears. If we can find out what you’re afraid of, we can label it. Are you afraid of responsibility? If you are, then you have hypengyophobia. How ‘bout cats? If you’re afraid of cats, you have ailurophasia. Are you afraid of staircases? If you are, then you have climachaphobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is a fear of the ocean. Or gephyrobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?” Charlie Brown finally gets a word in edgewise, “What’s pantophobia?” Lucy, “The fear of everything.” Charlie Brown bursts forth with a robust shout, “That’s it!” Charlie Brown is my personal hero. And clearly, complicated jazz, capable of expressing everything from ennui to joy, is the perfect accompaniment to this tale.
Lucy has no cure to offer for his pantophobia. But later on, Linus does offer one. After the Peanuts crew humiliates Charlie Brown for his choice of a sagging, sad, sparse little Christmas tree he cries out, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus moves to center stage and proclaims our text from Luke this evening. There is one little detail many of us have missed. When he gets to the part when the angels announce, “fear not,” he lets go of his security blanket. The precious possession to which he clings to withstand his fears becomes superfluous. He has found something more powerful to hold in the midst of life’s fears, the Messiah being born in our midst; the divine to be found not on some distant alternative plane, not in some neighboring area, not even close at hand. We receive the news that the Messiah, God in saving form, is being born into our very humanity, into the very essence of what makes us, us.
Many of us have our own security blankets we use to keep the darkness of fear temporarily at bay. It could be denial, or busyness, an extra cocktail at the end of the day, or the distraction of endlessly scrolling on our phones. But none of them actually address our fears and the accompanying anxiety.
Whenever those angels cross our path in the Bible, they are pretty perceptive to announce “Do not fear.” It is an apt word for us in a world that unfortunately still provides us with reasons to fear. We all can find good reason to experience our inner Charlie Brown.
But those angels are not only diagnosing our condition they are also offering a cure. If God Almighty, the creator of all that is or ever will be, can be born in the backwoods town of Bethlehem, in a barn no less, there is not a single location in all of creation where God may not be revealed among us; where God will not be revealed among us. The divine arrives in the most improbable of places. And the divine is willing to step into the very nooks and crannies of our mortal, fearful, anxiety-prone vulnerability.
When God is born into humanity in Bethlehem all those years ago, God was born into every corner of creation in every moment of time. It is an act that changed the very nature of creation itself. The divine entered our mortality and has never left.
One of the most powerful antidotes to fear and anxiety is the realization that we are not alone. The mere act of having someone alongside us, a friend, a partner, a loved one, can go a long way to slaying the dragon of our fears. When we receive this good news of great joy that on this day is born to us a savior we are being told that we are never alone.
Being born in Bethlehem, Christ is born in every place. Being born two thousand years ago, Christ is being born in every time. Being born to Mary and Joseph, Christ is born to all of us, in the midst of all of us.
Whatever fears we may harbor there is not a single one, not a single possible outcome, not a single risk, not a single vulnerability, not a single middle of the night worry, that we face without the very presence of God alongside us.
For all of you Charlie Browns out there, take great comfort and great joy, and indeed, fear not.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Luke 2:1-20
“An Antidote to Pantophobia”
Douglas T. King
For most of us in this room that melody delivers a vibrant memory of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Vivid images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and the rest come to mind. But the music is a fascinating choice for a Christmas cartoon. Was melodically complicated jazz by Vince Guaraldi the best choice for a kids’ show? Jazz is a genre known for nuance, and a genre that is very comfortable finding its home in minor chords; a genre that evokes complex emotional responses. Shouldn’t a Christmas cartoon be accompanied by bright and simple major chords?
Well, the executives at CBS certainly thought so. After viewing a preview of the special they wanted to cancel airing it but it was already listed in the TV Guide, so they broadcast it anyway. And thank God they did. It became a classic and a cherished tradition. And it actually has something important to teach us about our reading from the gospel of Luke this evening. In a few minutes we will see what that is.
Now there is a lot going on in this text from Luke. We get the birth of a baby, in a barn no less. We get a chorus consisting of a multitude of the heavenly host. We get shepherds traipsing through the countryside and praising God. Granted, we know much of this story by heart. We are not surprised as all these things play out. We are not surprised
when the shepherds are terrified or when the angel tells them, “Do not be afraid…” We know that angels always say that in the Bible. If an angel of the Lord lit up the night sky before you, bathed in God’s glory, wouldn’t you be frightened?
However, my friend, Tom Are, says the following about this interaction. “I admit the consensus is that angels always say this because angels are, well scary. As they say, when we are confronted with the divine, it’s terrifying. I don’t argue with that, but I wonder if the angels are so consistent with this word not simply because angels are scary, but because angels can tell we are already scared all the time. We are always afraid.”
Now before you push back on the notion that you are always afraid let me offer some examples of what fear may look like. “Yeah, Jeffrey is struggling a bit in school. He loved fourth grade and thrived. But for some reason 5th grade has thrown him for a loop. I just know he will adjust. I am sure everything will be fine”
Or…
“There is talk of corporate downsizing but I do not think it will affect me. I have been a loyal employee. I am confident my job is safe. I am sure everything will be fine”
Or…
“The doctor wants to run a few tests but I am not concerned. I am sure everything will be fine.”
Or…
“Janet has been distant lately and it seems like we argue more than anything else these days but we have been together for 18 years. We will work this rough patch out. I am sure everything will be fine.”
I am sure everything will be fine. Translation, I am frightened but I do not want to name it to you or even acknowledge it to myself.
Call it what you will, fear, anxiety, concern, it is an inherent element of the human condition. And perhaps no one embodied this reality more than good old Charlie Brown. Here are a few classic Charlie Brown quotes. “The secret to life, is to replace one worry with another.” “I have a new philosophy; I only dread one day at a time.” “My anxieties have anxieties.”
In the Christmas Special, Charlie Brown goes to visit Lucy and her Psychiatric Help kiosk. After Charlie Brown pays his nickel they have the following interaction. Lucy says, “I think we better pinpoint your fears. If we can find out what you’re afraid of, we can label it. Are you afraid of responsibility? If you are, then you have hypengyophobia. How ‘bout cats? If you’re afraid of cats, you have ailurophasia. Are you afraid of staircases? If you are, then you have climachaphobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is a fear of the ocean. Or gephyrobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?” Charlie Brown finally gets a word in edgewise, “What’s pantophobia?” Lucy, “The fear of everything.” Charlie Brown bursts forth with a robust shout, “That’s it!” Charlie Brown is my personal hero. And clearly, complicated jazz, capable of expressing everything from ennui to joy, is the perfect accompaniment to this tale.
Lucy has no cure to offer for his pantophobia. But later on, Linus does offer one. After the Peanuts crew humiliates Charlie Brown for his choice of a sagging, sad, sparse little Christmas tree he cries out, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus moves to center stage and proclaims our text from Luke this evening. There is one little detail many of us have missed. When he gets to the part when the angels announce, “fear not,” he lets go of his security blanket. The precious possession to which he clings to withstand his fears becomes superfluous. He has found something more powerful to hold in the midst of life’s fears, the Messiah being born in our midst; the divine to be found not on some distant alternative plane, not in some neighboring area, not even close at hand. We receive the news that the Messiah, God in saving form, is being born into our very humanity, into the very essence of what makes us, us.
Many of us have our own security blankets we use to keep the darkness of fear temporarily at bay. It could be denial, or busyness, an extra cocktail at the end of the day, or the distraction of endlessly scrolling on our phones. But none of them actually address our fears and the accompanying anxiety.
Whenever those angels cross our path in the Bible, they are pretty perceptive to announce “Do not fear.” It is an apt word for us in a world that unfortunately still provides us with reasons to fear. We all can find good reason to experience our inner Charlie Brown.
But those angels are not only diagnosing our condition they are also offering a cure. If God Almighty, the creator of all that is or ever will be, can be born in the backwoods town of Bethlehem, in a barn no less, there is not a single location in all of creation where God may not be revealed among us; where God will not be revealed among us. The divine arrives in the most improbable of places. And the divine is willing to step into the very nooks and crannies of our mortal, fearful, anxiety-prone vulnerability.
When God is born into humanity in Bethlehem all those years ago, God was born into every corner of creation in every moment of time. It is an act that changed the very nature of creation itself. The divine entered our mortality and has never left.
One of the most powerful antidotes to fear and anxiety is the realization that we are not alone. The mere act of having someone alongside us, a friend, a partner, a loved one, can go a long way to slaying the dragon of our fears. When we receive this good news of great joy that on this day is born to us a savior we are being told that we are never alone.
Being born in Bethlehem, Christ is born in every place. Being born two thousand years ago, Christ is being born in every time. Being born to Mary and Joseph, Christ is born to all of us, in the midst of all of us.
Whatever fears we may harbor there is not a single one, not a single possible outcome, not a single risk, not a single vulnerability, not a single middle of the night worry, that we face without the very presence of God alongside us.
For all of you Charlie Browns out there, take great comfort and great joy, and indeed, fear not.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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