Family,
There is a story that circulates around the internet about a young girl who witnesses a horrific scene. This story, though widely popular, is an urban legend. It is not verifiable. But it does tell a wonderful, powerful, moving truth about Jesus.
The young girl, whose dad was/is an alcoholic, and her mother fought him all the time. The fights would get violent, and the young girl would hide behind the couch, for her own safety. Both parents ignored her. They were too consumed in their own existence to even know that they had a daughter who watched and experienced every violent detail of their lives. But their fighting was about to escalate to a level unseen.
One night, after her dad had been drinking, yet again. Her dad and mom got into it, and it turned bad, quickly. The father grabbed a gun and shot and killed her mother and then turned the gun on himself, a murder-suicide. In a few seconds this beautiful young girl became an orphan. Or did she?
After some lovely people, from the community, decided to take her in, her story, (even if only legend), becomes historic. This new family, this loving family was different. They lived differently. They acted differently. They treated each other differently. And their reason? Jesus.
The young girls parents didn't go to church, but her new family did. And on her first trip to church, sitting in Sunday School class, she looked up and saw Jesus on the cross. She started to cry. She then said, "I dont know who that man is, on that cross, but i do know that he came down from there." Her teacher asked, "How do you know?" The young girl replied, "That night, when my daddy killed my mommy, that man on that cross was behind the couch, with me, holding me, protecting me."
You see sisters and brothers, whether the previous story is real or legend, doesn't matter. What matters is the truth it conveys. When we are in our darkest hour, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, Jesus comes down, once again, from His cross, to protect us, to nurture us, to grant us peace. In our journeys of life, it is not a matter of if we will face dark days, it is a matter of when. And our stories becomes testimonies of faith and healing, if and only if, in those dark moments we can, like the little girl, lean wholly on Jesus.
He is there, you know. In those dark moments. When sin overwhelms. When pain becomes too much. When addictions destroy. And when a young girl cowers behind her couch. Jesus is there. That is the message of Advent, and it is the message of what we need today. We are in a darker time in our church's story, and now, more than ever, we, like the little girl, must lean on Jesus. We, like John the Baptist pronounced, must repent and turn around. And we, like so many who have come before us, must trust that the little sliver of light is more than the sun trying to break through the clouds. That little sliver is THE SON knocking at our doors. Let's let Him in and find the true joy of this season. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
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