Welcome to Advent, the season of preparation and hope.
During this season, we will be reflecting on the nature of the preparation we make as we anticipate the second coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The preparation we make for the return of Christ, while ongoing, is particularly important at this time as we celebrate His birth. It is hoped that believers should note that the church should always be in a state of readiness, as we know not when the Son of man will return.
There are also many lessons that the recent passage of Hurricane Melisa across Jamaica has taught us about preparation and readiness.
Some of the themes coming from the stories shared by people on social media include:
i. Comparison with previous hurricanes, namely, Beryl, Dennis, and Gilbert. The standing view in this comparison was that, if we survived the previous hurricanes, we would survive this one.
ii. The slowness (delay) of the hurricane in arriving created doubt and caused some people to relax their preparation. Some people thought they were wasting their money in preparation, as they had used up their stock of food reserve long before the hurricane actually made landfall.
iii. A third theme which must never be lost on us is (unusual), “we have never seen anything like this before”. That has become a common refrain in reference to the hurricane.
There are other themes, but these are the three main ones that stand out for me, and indeed, they speak to Jesus’ stories in Matthew 24. In referring to the second coming, Jesus used stories to highlight the need to be watchful, alert, and awake. These principles were conveyed in the stories that speak of the suddenness of our Lord’s return. It was like the days of Noah; people ignored Noah’s warning until it was too late. It will be like two women in the fields, or two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, and the other is left; and the story of the thief coming into the house in the night when the householder was not expecting a break-in. The suddenness of Christ's return requires intentional preparation.
We must never become victims of comparison thinking or wearied by delay or delay fatigue, and become complacent. Advent reminds us of the need to be vigilant in our preparation.
Stories from Ground Zero
Preparation and Hope
Let me close with two stories I learnt about victims of the hurricane from Mrs. Toni-Jan Ifill, the presenter at last Wednesday’s Bible Study. I share with her permission.
Mrs Ifill noted that in one of her visits to the west to provide psychological first aid, a man told his story of how he prepared for the hurricane. Remembering the destruction of Hurricane Beryl, he built his house on a concrete base. He then built the four walls with windows and doors so that they were removable. He then separated the sections and buried them in a hole he had dug for that purpose, then covered them with tarpau-lin and dirt. So, after the hurricane had passed, he retrieved his little house, which he had stored away in pieces. He was prepared and so was able to survive beyond the hurricane. This is a story of preparation and hope.
The other story is one of struggle and triumph.
Mrs. Ifill spoke about a man who owned four fowls, whose lives were threatened dur-ing the hurricane due to the strong winds and heavy rains. He fought through the water to secure them, but he lost the battle with two of them. Nevertheless, he kept strug-gling with the other two. One was a layer named ‘Betsy’. He risked his life to save his precious Betsy, and eventually shared his story of triumph and success. So, despite his other losses, he was able to save Betsy, who could provide more eggs for his family.
Sometimes the preparation we make and the struggles we endure have much to do with what we want to secure or don’t want to lose. What is informing your preparation during this Advent season? What do you want to save, what are you fighting to keep? How ready will you be if Christ should return today?
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matt 24:36 NIV).
Your Pastor