"Knowing the Time" Advent #3

Psalm 90:12 NRSV

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.

INTRODUCTION

ST. JOHN’S GOSPEL HAS A VERY TELLING LINE ABOUT THE TIMING AND ARRIVAL OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST....

John 1:11 NIV

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

AND IT IS IN THAT POWERFUL PIECE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE THAT CHRISTIANS MAY PAUSE AND WONDER, IF BUT FOR

A MOMENT, WHETHER THE WORLD WAS READY FOR THE BIRTH OF JESUS WHEN HE CAME OR WHETHER THERE

WAS NO ROOM FOR JESUS, WITHIN HIS OWN FAITH FAMILY KNOWN AS THE JEWISH PEOPLE? WAS THERE NO

ROOM FOR JESUS IN THE TIMES HE WOULD EVENTUALLY TURN UPSIDE DOWN? WAS THERE NO ROOM FOR MARY

AND JOSEPH’S BABY BOY?

WE ARE TOLD BY CHURCH HISTORIANS THE EARLIEST CELEBRATIONS OF THE SEASON OF ADVENT WERE

WRITTEN

AND RECORDED IN THE 4th CENTURY IN SPAIN AND EUROPE......AND SINCE THAT TIME THIS IMPORTANT TIME OF

PREPARATION, REMEMBRANCE AND CELEBRATION HAS CONSISTENTLY BEEN THE EPITOME OF THAT VERSE IN

Psalm 90:1–2 NRSV

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

FOR US AND FOR OUR FAMILIES, BELOVEDS, FOR GENERATIONS BEFORE US AND THOSE THAT WILL COME AFTER

US......

Advent is not only a season for waiting. It is also a time of preparation – a time of looking for the coming of

the Lord, for the fulfillment of God’s promised restoration, for the peace that overcomes all violence, and

for that perfect love that casts out fear.

EVEN MORE BELOVEDS OVER ALL THE NOISE, CHATTER AND CLATTER OF THE WORLD THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF

THE THEOLOGIAN DUTCH SHEETS IS SURE......

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND, HE WROTE, THE TIMINGS AND SEASONS GOD ORDAINS FOR OUR LIVES,

MINISTRIES, CITIES AND NATIONS. TOO OFTEN WE TRY TO REAP DURING PLANTING SEASON, PLANT

DURING HARVEST, RUN WHEN WE SHOULD BE RESTING AND REST WHEN IT IS TIME TO RUN.

BELOVEDS, KNOW THIS TIME AND SEASON OF ADVENT IN ALL THE WONDERS OF ITS WAITING, THE POWER OF

GOD’S PEACE, AND THE SLOW AND STEADY WELCOMING OF OUR SAVIOR INTO OUR MIDST.......

PSALM 90 & ITS SPECIAL COMFORT IN ADVENT

WHEN WE EMBRACE THE PACE AND MAKE SPACE FOR THIS PSALM IN OUR LIVES WE WELCOME THE JOURNEY THAT

COMES WITH ACCOMPANYING MOSES THE GREAT LAWGIVER OF ISRAEL, MOSES WHOSE VERY NAME MEANS HE WAS

DRAWN OUT OF THE WATER, MOSES WHO WAS CONSIDERED A SIGNIFICANT SAVIOR AND DELIVERER OF ISRAEL....

WE ARE JOINING MOSES IN HIS MOST INTIMATE TIME WITH THE LORD OUR GOD....FOR PSALM 90 IS AT ITS HEART A

PRAYER OF MOSES AND AS SUCH IS CONSIDERED ONE TO TREASURE USE AND RETURN TO IN EVERY SEASON OF

OUR LIVES........THIS IS SURELY MOSES THE POET AS VERSE 4 SAYS SO POIGNANTLY O LORD:

Psalm 90:4 KJV 1900

For a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.

AND OUR VERSE FOR THE MORNING IS NO LESS POIGNANT......VERSE 12 OF THIS POWERFUL PSALM ADDRESSES

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING EVERY DAY COUNT, OF GIVING EVERY DAY OUR VERY BEST......

Psalm 90:12 NRSV

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.

The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith Biography: Notable Christian Apologist: Joseph Butler (Ted Cabal)

To number our days is to measure the time left in life and make every day count. It is based on the recognition that life is short and God’s anger swift. Thus, the goal of such numbering is a heart of wisdom. Conscious of life’s brevity, we learn to make choices through which God can establish the work of our hands (v. 17), producing something valuable to those that follow us (v. 16) and honoring to God.

BELOVEDS, WE ARE REMINDED IN THIS SEASON OF ADVENT THAT ONE OF THE REASONS FOR OUR JOYS RELATES

TO THE WISDOM EXPRESSED IN THE LIVES OF JOSEPH AND MARY, JESUS’ EARTHLY PARENTS......

Joseph and Mary couldn’t rely on experience or past parental wisdom. They were truly in uncharted

territory, WITH JESUS, but they were also never alone.

Not only had God given them family members in Zacharias and Elizabeth to support them along the way

(Luke 1), He had sent angelic messengers to both Joseph and Mary with the reassurance that God was in

fact with them, that this was all part of His plan, and that they were “not to be afraid” (Matthew 1:20; Luke

1:30).

Thankfully, Joseph and Mary held on to these words and obeyed God’s instructions, trusting in His power,

provision, and promises, rather than the oddity or uncertainty of their situation (Luke 1:38).

COULD THEY HAVE KNOWN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TIMES THEY WERE LIVING THROUGH? THEIR WISDOM

WAS EXPRESSED IN THE TRUST THEY SHOWED IN GOD.......IN THE TRUST THEY SHOWED IN THE ENCOURAGEMENT

OF THE ANGELS......IN THE TRUST THEY SHOWED IN SPITE OF THE ODDITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE AND LIVING

NOT JUST EXPERIENCED BY THEM....BUT OCCASIONALLY WHEN WE FACE UNCERTAIN & ODD TIMES OF OUR

OWN.....WE TOO, CAN BE WISE IN THE TRUST WE SHOW IN THE GOOD LORD.....AMEN?

SO TEACH US, O GOD TO COUNT THE DAYS......THE STORY IS TOLD, BELOVEDS OF GOD’S DAYS

There are two days in the week upon which and about which I never worry -- two carefree days kept

sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday. Yesterday, with its cares and fret

and pains and aches, all its faults, its mistakes and blunders, has passed forever beyond my recall. It was

mine; it is God's.

The other day that I do not worry about is Tomorrow. Tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its

burdens, its perils, its large promise and performance, its failures and mistakes, is as far beyond my

mastery as its dead sister, Yesterday. Tomorrow is God's day; it will be mine.

There is left, then, for myself but one day in the week - Today. Any man can fight the battles of today. Any

woman can carry the burdens of just one day; any ONE can resist the temptation of today. It is only when

we willfully add the burden of these two awful eternities - Yesterday and Tomorrow - such burdens as only

the Mighty God can sustain - that we break down.

It isn't the experience of Today that drives men mad. It is the remorse of what happened Yesterday and fear

of what Tomorrow might bring. These are God's Days......Leave them to GOD.

THIS IS WISDOM IN ACTION, BELOVEDS, AND THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN IN ADVENT TO PRACTICE THE

PRINCIPLES OF GIVING GOD ALL OUR YESTERDAYS AND ALL OUR TOMORROWS.....

PSALM 90 ALSO SPEAKS TO THE HEAVY WEIGHT OF OUR GRIEFS

SO TEACH US TO COUNT OUR DAYS, O LORD......HAS ANOTHER RICH MEANING IN MOSES’ PRAYER AND FOR OUR

PURPOSES TODAY KNOWING THE KIND OF TIMES WE’RE LIVING IN, AND LIVING THROUGH.....

IN THIS SEASON OF ADVENT, TAKE TIME TO REFLECT ON THE GIFT YOUR SIBLINGS HAVE BEEN TO YOU.....AS YOU

DO, YOUR JOURNEY WITH MOSES DEEPENS....ONE COMMENTATOR ON THE TEXT CONVEYS THAT AS MOSES

RUMINATES ABOUT THE ETERNITY OF GOD AND THE FRAILTY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE ON EARTH THIS IS NOT JUST A

PHILOSOPHICAL SET OF PROPOSITIONS STRUNG TOGETHER HERE IN THE 90th PSALM....

THIS IS MOSES DEALING WITH THE DEATHS OF HIS SIBLINGS WHO MEANT SO MUCH TO HIM.....THIS IS MOSES

DEALING WITH THE LOSS OF MIRIAM AND AARON.....AND HIS FEELINGS OF EMPTINESS AND DEEP SORROW.......

FOR WE CANNOT SEE THE DEATHS OF THOSE CLOSE TO US WITHOUT THINKING OF OUR LIFE’S VALUE, OUR OWN

LIFE’S POSSIBILITIES........OR ABOUT WHAT IT ALL MEANS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME GOD GIVES US HERE ON

EARTH.....AND KNOWING THE TIME, BELOVEDS.......IN THIS TIME OF PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF OUR

SAVIOR.....WE BRING OUR JOYS AND WE BRING OUR SADNESS, OUR GRIEFS AND YES EVEN OUR FRAILTIES

CELEBRATING WITH THE HYMNAL WRITER, BENJAMIN R. HANBY WHO WROTE THESE POWERFUL WORDS ABOUT

JESUS’ BIRTH:

WHO IS HE IN YONDER STALL, AT WHOSE FEET THE SHEPHERDS FALL? WHO IS HE IN DEEP DISTRESS,

FASTING IN THE WILDERNESS......WHO IS HE THE PEOPLE BLESS....FOR HIS WORDS OF GENTLENESS? WHO

IS HE TO WHO THEY BRING ALL THE SICK AND SORROWING?

TIS THE LORD! O WONDROUS STORY! TIS THE LORD! THE KING OF GLORY....AT HIS FEET WE HUMBLY FALL,

CROWN HIM! CROWN HIM, LORD OF ALL!!!

CONCLUSION

THE BEAUTY OF THE SEASON OF ADVENT, JON PAVLOVITZ, WRITES IS THAT IT DOESN’T PREPARE YOU for a singular

day, for one identifiable moment, for a 24-hour event. It helps you to see and listen and move differently as you

travel through the next part of your journey, far beyond a specific spot on the calendar. KNOWING THE TIMES

WE’RE LIVING IN WE KNOW ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS AND THEIR BLESSINGS PREPARE US TO FACE THE BRAND

NEW YEAR......

KNOWING THIS IS THE TIME ADVENT, A SPECIAL TIME AND A SACRED SEASON....WILL YOU IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS

ASK YOURSELF THE SERIES OF QUESTIONS MY FRATERNITY BROTHER/NATIONAL CHAPLAIN AND PASTOR REV DR

JONATHAN C. AUGUSTINE ASKED ALL OF US IN HIS ADVENT MEDITATION TO THE BROTHERHOOD.....HE ASKED:

As we draw closer to the Christmas holiday, a time when people often attempt to replace the authentic joy

of Jesus with a fabricated happiness found in material items, we can all learn so much from Paul’s

perspective. Can YOU find joy, in the midst of sickness, by showing someone else that Jesus resonates in

your heart? Can YOU find joy, honoring the memory of a loved one, while faithfully recognizing that they

aren’t “lost,” because you know where they are AND, because of God’s gift in Jesus, you will see them

again? Can YOU find joy, in the midst of financial constraints, by demonstrating to others that the peace of

God which surpasses all understanding creates joy in your spirit?

WE DO ALL THIS BECAUSE WE KNOW THE TIME....THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES ARE NUMBERED......WE ASK OURSELVES

THESE THINGS BECAUSE LIFE IT TURNS OUT IS NEVER EASY.....AND IN IT ALL THE JESUIT PRIEST AND

PALEONTOLOGIST PIERRE TEILARD DE CHARDIN WAS RIGHT.....BELOVEDS…I CLOSE WITH HIS REMINDER TO US

ALL:

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

LET US PRAY............