Advent 19
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
—ISAIAH 40:3-5 (NIV)
According to the prophet Isaiah, perhaps the best symbol for Advent is a bulldozer that makes every path smooth. Or maybe a forklift that shuttles the biggest rocks out of the way. God’s glory will not be hidden by any nook or cranny or mountain or valley. It was a glory that Isaiah foresaw and was echoed again by John the Baptist. (We were introduced to John in Week Two of Advent, when we spoke of his mother Elizabeth’s unlikely pregnancy at an old age.)
John announced to the crowds that God had come among them, that Jesus was the longed for Messiah. He encouraged the people to “Repent!” Now, repent is not a word we hear much these days, and when we do it may sound harsh to our ears. But what it means is a full 180 degree change of mind and behavior, orienting ourselves to the coming kingdom of love. Repenting is not a matter of first changing ourselves from bad to good so we can be worthy of loving. Rather, repenting begins by realizing the truth that we already belong. We are already loved. John was calling the people to bulldoze whatever blocks the way for you to experience the coming of the Promised One, whether it is pain or doubt or disappointment, or even self-condemnation. What is standing in your way?