ADVENT: WRONG TIME TO SLEEP
(Mark 13: 33-37)
Thank God. Advent is here again; a
time for preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The word advent is derived from the Latin
"adventus" which means
"arrival" or "ad venire" meaning "to arrive".
The Oxford Dictionary sees the
word as the arrival of a notable person or thing. In our usage of the term, the
notable personality whose arrival we are expecting is the Second Person of of
the Blessed Trinity, God who wished to
come to become man, God who wants to bring us back in order that His light may
shine us, that we may be saved.
We re-enact the waiting the
Israelites waited long ago for the coming of Christ in the flesh. We at the
same time bring to our consciousness the preparation we should embark on in
expectation for the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory.
This is indeed a serious period.
It is an important moment. It calls for sober reflection. It is not a time to
sleep. We are called upon to put up the right disposition of one who is faced
with something serious. We may liken the time to:
An examination Time
No serious student sleeps
carelessly when he should prepare for an examination. A serious student will
burn the midnight oil, remaining awake, studying. During the time preceding the
exams, the student listens attentively taking nothing for granted. He does well
all the assignments given to him by the teachers. He leaves no stone unturned.
Thus, Jesus wants us to pay attention to the instructions He gives us today
with regard to being awake and watchful. He gives us assignments to be watchful
and prayerful. These are fine guides to examination of our lives this period.
Thorough examination of conscience is called for by our Lord Jesus Christ
today. If he arrives, will He find our hearts good enough to welcome Him? He
comes like an innocent Child. He wants our hearts to be like that of the child.
He wants us to be pure and sinless. He wants us to accept His word with
sincerity of purpose. Let this coming bring a change of heart. Let it bring us
back to spiritual senses.
A Treatment Time
This is a time to treat ourselves
of our viruses. It is a time of healing.
When one is sick, sleeping without doing anything about it will be a wrong
thing to do. Force yourself up. Go and purchase the medication you need. Here,
we talk of medicine for the soul. We've got to be healed of our spiritual
infirmities. We have to be healed of that spiritual headache weighing us down
as children of God. All those things that condition your mind not to pray, should
be treated. Get rid of all those falsehoods making you no longer to watch
against the attack of sin, the entanglement by immorality and the stranglehold
of prayerless living. See the doctor of your life. Listen to Him in prayers.
Open your heart to Him in confession, remain admitted in His hospital till He
comes to discharge you, then will you savour the joy of the salvation His
coming offers you.
A Time of Navigation
It is not a good thing to sleep
while driving or sailing. As Jesus comes, He expects us to come to Him as well.
He comes to meet us, so must we go out to meet Him. We must not sleep on the
steering. This will cause accident. We must not go without following
directions, this will bring disaster. We must not be stopping unnecessarily to
enter into conversation with any person we meet, this may land us into wrong
hands. The Lord lands at the port of our world. Let us not sleep away allowing
this gracious time to slip away from us. May we go without delay to pick Jesus
and bring Him home.
Here Jesus is like that little
child in the nursery or primary school you certainly need to go bring home
after school daily. Don’t take that siesta coming few minutes to the time. You
may leave the babe stranded because that sleep may take your hours. It is wrong thing to sleep when it is time to
bring home that son of your future joy. He is hope to your world.
A Time to wake up and ask
questions
There are important questions we
need to ask ourselves in order to know whether we are awake or not. We have to know the state of
our spiritual alertness and readiness to let Jesus in.
Do not sleep on this spiritual
duty. Sleep is good. But it is good when it is natural, divine, if it gives you
the rest that comes from God. Don't sleep an induced sleep child of God.
What is sedating you? What is the
cause of your sleep at wrong times? Are you enjoying natural or abnormal sleep?
On this heavenly journey you are not supposed to sleep. Don't overfeed yourself
with things that weaken your soul.
It is time to be awake. You have
slept enough. Enough is enough of sleeping. The rising bell has gone. Let us
rise to meet the Lord.
Let us Pray
Thank you oh God for this holy
season of the Church. Thank you for ushering us into a new year of the
Church. Thank you for the wakeup call.
Help us to pay heed and remain awake in prayerful watch. May we get prepared for your Son's coming in
a manner pleasing to you through Christ our Lord. Amen
Happy First Sunday of Advent
Happy new year of the Church
Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh
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