The season of Advent is upon us and the time of preparation and waiting begins for the greatest of all journeys, that of mankind hopefully understanding and faithfully following the call of GOD. At service, Father Gressle gave us a mental picture of a popular journey many of us were familiar with that began at a London train station for the young denizens of Hogwarts. If they missed the right platform though, that journey could never begin. Where was that invisible platform? Incredibly, it was through a brick wall! Not where you would expect it to be. So is there a similar obscure entrance to the Advent journey and if so, where exactly did GOD place it? Sounds like the kind of query the JYG is known for so sleeves were up this Sunday and the task was taken on: to determine the where and what and why of this “Journey-of-all-journeys”. Advent, however, seems to imply that we are preparing ourselves for GOD’s coming, as if we know what we’re doing, but if you think about those young warlock heading for Hogwarts, they didn’t have a clue. They couldn’t get to the right platform if not led by someone who had already been there! Beyond that, everything about their journey was prepared for them, to go somewhere they didn’t know, to develop something inside of them they didn’t fully understand for some important reason. So maybe Advent could be better understood if we looked at GOD’s preparations in calling us to go, we’re not sure where, to develop, we’re not sure what inside of us, for a purpose we may not also be very clear on. Now that’s more like it! To visualize it better we drew a large G on the top left corner of a Cosmic Journey Map (very much like your own) and placed a simple pot with a lid, an earthen vessel, in the lower right corner: appropriate symbols of GOD and us. The exercise was to list all of GOD’s preparations on the way to creating something important within us or inside that pot, so to speak. What were the preps and what was in the pot? (Hopefully not just macaroni and cheese as one JYG hopeful gleefully wished for.) With the parameters of our discussion set for the next 45 exuberant minutes on this cold Sunday morning we would also keep asking ourselves a variation of that time-honored query for any note-worthy journey; not, “Are we there yet?” but more specific for this Grand Journey: “Is it done yet?” (Food Network beware!)
So the JYG began with GOD, at a time when according to scripture there was nothing else. What happened next? “Those two atoms collided!” “The Big-Bang thingy!” Okay, no problem with that; GOD certainly could have orchestrated that. Of course we got into a discussion of how immense the universe is, how it may still be growing and the possibility of other universes, one of them maybe being called “Goldilocks!” (Aliens probably went to check that one out.) OK, so is that it? “No. GOD made the Earth.” “Well technically GOD first made the Sun, then Mars, which kind-of broke up after a collision and…” OK, so that’s it? Is it done yet?
“No GOD made dinosaurs, animals, plants mountains.” Fine, is that it? “GOD made people.” GOD made how many in the beginning? “Two.” Alright, so why didn’t GOD just take those 2 folks and finish it right there? “Because, it would be boring!” OK, so GOD makes billions of us. What happens next? Anyone know who Hammurabi is? (Everyone! Good job, History teachers!) “Code of laws was made”. Right. Why? “So you know how to treat others”. (Which works most times?) “So you don’t kill each other in wars”. (Not always so successful.) Okay, so now it’s done! What’s in the pot? “We’re not there yet!” assert several JYG. No? What’s missing? “Jesus has to be born!” Well, alright but let’s back up. After the laws, what is one of the most important and sometimes troubling institutions that people with laws do? They create nations: different cultures; different languages; separation. How many nations are there in the world? “224!” Sounds close. And talking about laws, does anyone know where the Ten Commandments came from? “Israel.” “That is after he (Moses) broke them.” So what’s important about Israel? “That is where Jesus came from!” “And that is where the Ten Commandments came from.” Well, couldn’t GOD have done this anywhere else? “Possibly, yes.” So why there? “Because if it happened there, people would pay attention!” (Sweet).
So all this preparation has gone on and what has it taken a lot of? “Time!” Instead of asking our question, what other questions could we be asking? “When are we going to get there?” “Why is this taking so long?” “I’m hungry!” Well what’s in the pot? Can we open it now? “No! It’s not time.” “Yeah, and a saying goes: a watched pot never boils”. So what happens next? “Jesus is born!” Yes! GOD finally has a people, a nation, who have been prepared to tell the whole world what GOD is doing, but even they don’t quite understand. John the Baptist has to come to wake them up. Get ready he says. The Messiah is coming! And He does. He comes, He teaches us for three and a half years, and He dies and is resurrected. Right! And while He teaches us He gives us some amazing information regarding GOD’s preparations. He tells us what’s in the pot! “Huh?” croaked the majority of mind weary JYG philosophers at the 30 minute mark. It’s one of three things that Jesus taught about all the time. Scripture mentions them as three things that go together! What are they! “Peace!” That wasn’t one but you could say it’s tied very close with them. “Faith?” Yes, that’s one! You know the scripture, “And now there are three things …” “Hope?” Yes, that’s the second one, and the scripture says of the third one, “…and this is the greatest of these.” “Love!” Yes! That’s it! GOD’s love! GOD’s love, inside of us! That’s what GOD has been preparing inside each one of us! And it’s done, Jesus says! It’s time for you to open up the pot! Take the lid off, stir it up and see what you have! What’s the matter? Don’t you see it? “Uhhh, I don’t know.” “I’m not sure.” “I still would rather it be macaroni and cheese.”
Why do you still think you can’t open the pot? “I don’t feel like it’s time.” “Things are still going on.” “Yeah, look at the world.” “We need more time!” “We’re not ready!” But we are ready. “How do we know?” “I really don’t think so.” But GOD told us so. “When? We just followed all the steps.” “We followed all the way through.” Then maybe you missed it, just like maybe most of us do. “When?” “Where?” On the cross. At the crucifixion. What was the question we’ve been asking all along? “Is it done yet?” “Is it done?” Go back to the resurrection. Jesus said something before He died. It may have been his last three words. “What words?” Don’t you remember? You guys say it every year at the Passion play. Every year. Jesus’ last three words. “It is finished.”
It is done.
- Steve
- Steve
