The Superintendent of the large Christian School... was concerned about the disarray he found in so many of the classrooms... he visited.
Papers were often strewn on the floor,... and the Student's desks... were surrounded by clutter.
Feeling strongly... that learning could not take place in such an untidy environment,... He decided to take action.
He chose one classroom for an experiment,... He introduced himself to the students... And with a smile made this proposition:
Your teacher,... The principal and I provide a well-equipped classroom for you to enjoy... But we need your help... In keeping your desks in the classroom orderly.
Many of you have crumpled papers inside your desks... with books left open... and the pages bent.
Often there are pencils on the floor under your desks... along with other debris.
"I would like each of you to clean out your desk today... And begin the school year... resolving to keep it clean.
One day... I will return... and inspect your desks and the person with the cleanest desk... will be given this $100 bill.
I will not tell you which day... It will be.
It will be a surprise. Not even your teacher... or the principal... will know the hour... or the day."
The children squealed with excitement... and began immediately... pulling things from their desks,... Filling the trash baskets with crumpled papers,... Stacking their books neatly inside their desks,... and neatly lining up... their pencils and pens.
Every morning for the first week,... Every student checked his or her desk... to make sure it was in perfect condition,... Confident that today... would be the day... The superintendent returned.
The next week,... A few boys grew weary of the exercise... And returned... to their former habits.
By the third week,... Several students remarked,... "I doubt if he'll come back at all. .....He just said that... to make us keep our desk clean."
After two months,... No one in the classroom bothered to inspect their desks... And in fact,... forgot the superintendent's promise.
Except... for one girl.
Dutifully,... She inspected her desk every morning... And several times a day,... Making sure things... were in proper order.
For months,... She was teased by the other students.
"He's not coming back!... Why do you keep looking for him?... You look stupid believing that promise, anyway."
Still,... She remain quiet,... kept her desk in perfect condition... And waited.
Near the end of the school year,... There was a knock on the door... And the superintendent entered.
Quickly,..... the students flung open their desks... And began frantically... to clean them.
But the superintendent... Held up his hand for them to stop.
All the students were asked... To stand beside their desk... while the superintendent... Inspected each desk.
One after another,... He rejected them for being un-kept.
One boy tried to give excuses... But to no avail.
Another blamed the teacher... For not reminding them.
Still another blamed the superintendent... for making them wait... so long.
Finally,... The superintendent arrived at the desk of the little girl... who confidently displayed her well-kept desk... while beaming at the superintendent.
After inspecting her desk,... He took her by the hand to the front of the classroom... And awarded her... The $100 bill.
"Boys and girls," .....he said kindly,... "This girl never stop believing... I would return... So she kept her desk... In perfect order.
She didn't need to worry... About what day or even what hour of the day .....I would arrive... Because she was always ready....... Always.
We are called ....to be ready... Be awake... Be alert... For our Lord is coming.
So begins our entry... Into the season... Of Advent.
Advent... Is not... Just a liturgical season of the church year.
It is... A reality... Of life.
It happens... In all sorts of ways.
It comes... At various points in life,... Not just the four or five weeks... Before Christmas.
BIBLE "In those days ... The sun will be darkened,....And the moon will not give its light,....And the stars will be falling from the heaven,....And the powers in the heavens....Will be shaken." END
These are Jesus words ..... To his disciples.
The disciples... Have been admiring the great Temple... And the large blocks of stone.
They are impressed.
Jesus, however, .....is telling them ....that change.... Is coming.
The Temple of their life .....is coming down.
If you have ever experienced significant change in your life, ......whether desired or dreaded, .....you know about ....."those days."
You know about ......Advent.
You know what it is like .....to enter the darkness ....of change.
All change, ....whether welcome..... or unwanted, brings some kind ....of loss.
It may be the loss of a relationship, ......the loss of a loved one, .....the loss ....of what is comfortable, ....familiar, ....safe
.
Regardless of the loss, ....the world as we have known it ....has changed......... It has ended.
The Advents of our life .....set before us ....important questions.
How will we find our way forward when the usual lights that illumined our path .....no longer shine?
What do we do .......when it feels .....as if our world .....is falling apart?
Where do we go .....when it seems..... as if darkness ......is our only companion ...... And God is nowhere .....to be found?
Beloved, .....the dark times of life .....are threshold moments.
The temptation..... is to do something;.... to fix it, ....to ease the pain, ....to escape the uncertainty, ......and to get back to ......what used to be.
Beloved..... The God of Advent .....does not allow that.
We can never go back .....to the way it was .....before the lights ....went out.
God does not undo our life......God redeems our life. REPEAT.
Advent ......is not so much .....about the losses..... as it is about the hope ....the coming ....of what will be.
That hope and coming .....is the Son of Man, .....Jesus ....the Christ.
The presence of Christ ....is the ultimate answer ....to every prayer,..... to every light extinguishing loss, .....to every advent.... Of our life.
Christ is the answer.
Every time we experience an Advent story ....in our life ....we echo the prophet Issiah's cry: BIBLE. "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down" END (Isaiah 64:1)
And God does.... God is faithful.
God strengthens us..... To the end.
Paul shares with the believers gathered in Corinth these words of comfort: In the midst of our losses we lacked nothing as we await the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:7 -- 9).
The Advent times of life..... are times of ...waiting.
They are in between times. They are transitional times.
In Advent we live in between ......in between what was ......and what will be.
We are neither here .....nor there.
We are betwixt .....and between.
They are times of transition .....and it is hard...... sometimes even impossible...... to see the way forward.
If we allow them to, .....the dark threshold places of life ......can draw us deeper ....into the divine mystery.
These Advent places .....remind us .....that we do not know....everything.
We do not see .....all possibilities.
We are not .....in charge.
Advent challenges us .....to give up our usual sources of illumination,...... to let go of our habitual ways of knowing, .....and the question our .....typical ways ....of seeing things.
Advent ....invites us..... to receive the God..... who comes to us ....in the darkness... of life.
At some point in our lives .....life changes, .....the lights.... Go out.
More often than not.....we see ....we fell this .....as the end.
When these things happen, Jesus says: remember the fig tree. Read the signs correctly.
When its branch becomes tender .....and it puts forth leaves .....you know summer is near.
So also ....when the darkness overtakes your life ....know that the Son of Man ....is near.
Christ's presence, ....our healing, .....and the working out of our salvation, .....are always taking place ....in the dark ....and messy parts .....of life.
We have not ....and never will be ....abandoned .....to the darkness.
"Be Alert," "be Ready" Jesus warns.
He commands us to... "Keep awake."
Darkness .....is not our enemy ....as much .......as is falling asleep.
We fall asleep ....whenever fear ....controls our life.
We fall asleep ....when hope ....gives way to despair,
When busyness..... is equated ....with goodness.
When entitlement ....replaces Thanksgiving.
When we choose what is comfortable .....rather than that ....which is life-giving.
Whenever we think our life is over, .....that darkness is our final reality, .....that we have been abandoned, .....or that loss and darkness are our only reality then (Slow) we have fallen asleep.
Too often,..... we allow the darkness, .....to deceive us into believing,..... that there is nothing worth waiting ...... or watching for.
So we ....close our eyes.
We fall asleep..... and we become.... Part of the darkness.
And we refuse to see (Point up) the One, ....the One who is always ....coming to us.
The danger in the darkness,.... is that we, ......do not give our eyes, .....time to adjust.
Night vision is not about the light, .....around us, ....but the light,.... that is within us, ....a light that can never, .....be extinguished.
Beloved, ....be alert, ....keep awake.
You are the light of the world. Be diligent ....at the watch.
That is contrary, .....to what most of the world believes, ....and what our society, ....rewards.
We must be awake, .....every moment of our lives, .....not just in spite of, ....but because of,.... The darkness.
To show up, ....and be present,.... in the darkness of life, ....is some of the hardest work,.... We will ever do.
Run from our darkness,..... and we run, ....from God.
In the darkness of Advent, ...we wait,..... We wait expectantly, ....without specific,.... Expectations.
"Be anxious for nothing, ....but in everything, ....by prayer and supplication, ...with thanksgiving, ....let your requests be made known to God; ....and the peace of God, ...which passes all understanding, ....will guard your hearts and minds, ....through, Christ Jesus."
Waiting in darkness, ....is an act of faithfulness and surrender,.... to our Lord, .....to the coming One.
Waiting, ....becomes our prayer,.... a prayer that is, ...and will be, ....answered, ....by God's presence.
Be alert... Be awake!
Our Lord promises that he will save and be there... He will be there in those advent moments... Our Lord promises...
That he will come.
Come, thou Long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
(Slow) let us find our rest in thee.
Amen and Amen.
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