Today is the second of four Sundays of Advent, a liturgical season that dates back to the fourth century, when it was observed as a period of fasting and preparation for new Christians to be baptized at Epiphany. The period was also known as St. Martin’s Lent, a time of prayer, preparation, and penance. By the sixth century, the Roman Church linked Advent to the coming of Christ, and it developed into a season of preparation for Christmas and the anticipation of the Second Coming. Rev. Ann Lantz is the pastor of the Estes Park United Methodist Church.
When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, his first words were not congratulations or celebration. They were far simpler and far more needed: “Do not be afraid.” These words echo through the entire Christmas story. They are spoken to Zechariah, to Mary, to Joseph, and to the shepherds. Each time, they arrive as heaven’s response to the fear that comes up when life takes an unexpected direction.
Fear, as it turns out, is not the opposite of faith. Many times, fear is where faith begins.
It’s the moment where our carefully mapped-out plans collide with God’s surprising possibilities. Mary stands exactly in that tender, trembling place. She stands between what she knows of the world and what God is asking her to become. It’s a place we know well: the phone call that changes everything, the diagnosis we didn’t want, the move we didn’t choose, the burden of a world that feels increasingly fragile.
Every one of us knows what it’s like to feel fear. And yet, Advent whispers the same message Gabriel brought to Mary: Do not be afraid. Not because everything feels safe, but because God is near.
It’s important for us to notice that Gabriel was sent not to Jerusalem or to a palace, but to Nazareth. He was sent to a small, overlooked village far from influence. A place barely marked on ancient maps. And it was there, in quiet obscurity, that God’s peace took root.
Advent reminds us that peace rarely begins where we expect it. It grows in humble places and uncluttered hearts. Nazareth teaches us that peace is born not in certainty, but in openness and humility.
When Gabriel calls Mary “favored one,” she doesn’t glow with confidence. Scripture says she is deeply unsettled. She asks an honest, human question: “How can this be?” And notice, Gabriel does not silence her doubts. Instead, he honors them. He answers, reassures, and invites her deeper into God’s mystery.
Mary’s faith begins not with full understanding but with curiosity and courage. Real faith looks less like having all the answers and more like staying in the conversation with God.
Her final response to the angel was, “Here I am … let it be with me according to your word.” It’s important to know that this isn’t passive resignation. It is an active trust. It is the bold “yes” that makes Mary the first disciple of the Christ who is coming.
We often think of peace as soft, like a gentle carol or the light of a candle. But God’s peace requires courage. It challenges a world driven by fear, competition, and control. The peace God offers in Advent isn’t the absence of trouble, but God’s presence within it. Mary carried that peace through uncertainty, gossip, judgment, and hardship. Yet through her courage, peace entered the world.
In our own fearful time, we need that same courage. We need the courage to choose compassion over control, reconciliation over revenge, understanding over quick judgment. Peace still begins with one person’s quiet yes. One decision to trust love over fear.
Mary’s story is not simply ancient history; it is an ongoing invitation. God still comes to ordinary people in ordinary places with extraordinary possibilities. And so the angel’s message extends far beyond Nazareth.
It speaks to us here in Estes Park and speaks the same message to the world, “Do not be afraid.”
Peace is still being born through small acts of kindness, careful listening, welcoming strangers, and standing with the marginalized. Every act of faithfulness is a seed of peace planted in a fearful world.
Our mountain town has its own kind of Nazareth. Our little town is quiet, windswept, humble, tucked away. Yet even here, the angel’s message rings out: Do not be afraid.
We don’t need perfect faith to be people of peace. We simply need space in our hearts for God’s light to find us. The world doesn’t need perfect Christians; it needs courageous Christians willing to say yes to hope and love again and again.
Mary didn’t overcome fear by pretending it wasn’t real. She overcame it by trusting the One greater than her fear. “Here I am,” she said. “Let it be.”
That becomes our Advent prayer as well. When the future feels uncertain: Let it be. When we’re afraid: Let it be. When the world feels overwhelming: Let it be, Lord, according to your word.
Peace isn’t something we manufacture. It is something we receive. It is born when we let God be God and trust that love remains stronger than fear.
May we hear the angel’s words anew this season: Do not be afraid. The Prince of Peace is coming.
And through our courage, compassion, and everyday faithfulness, peace will come again.
Estes Park United Methodist Church, 1509 Fish Hatchery Rd., Estes Park, Colo. Worship is at 9:45 a.m. on Sundays. All are welcome. Inclusive. Open-hearted. Fully affirming because every person is a beloved child of God.