Dec
Paths
Baruch 5:1-9; The Song of Zechariah; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6
Most of us can remember a time when traveling across state was a major undertaking. My grandparents on both sides lived a half day’s journey from the coast. We would leave at day break for the long hot journey to my grandmother’s home in Greensboro, NC. My father had a ritual; into the trunk would go his coveralls and work gloves, his tool box, some hoses; he would evaluate the tires, change the oil, and check the battery. Always be sure you have a good battery and good tires.
Our early morning setoff would carry us through every one-stoplight town and busy crossroads, creeping along narrow two-lane roads around sharp curves, stop sign after stop sign, as the July heat increased and the terrain became hillier. There were few clean available restrooms along the way [I still have the well-used little enamel chamber pot under my back seat]. These were the days before car air conditioning. Interstate 85 was under construction; we knew we were getting closer to our destination when we were stopped in the traffic smelling the asphalt through the open windows. My brother and I inevitably became overheated and car sick. By the time we arrived into the loving arms of my grandmother, we were weak as dishrags, put to bed in a cool dark room to recover from the brutal ordeal.
So, when I hear these words of Isaiah quoted by the writer of Luke, my mind connects to these narrow, curvy, hilly, seemingly insurmountable, never-ending roads – stop after stop. In today’s times, few of us would set out on such a journey. Per the words of our lessons, the salvation promised to us as the result of the one full and perfect sacrifice of our Lord is to be on paths made straight and hills made low. No longer are we to fear our earthly death and the wrath of punishment for our sinfulness. Our Lord has paid that price; we are not punished for our sins [though we are certainly punished by our sins.].
Luke quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah. Centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah spoke the words of God to the people of Judah who had been taken into captivity and driven from their homeland into exile. Isaiah is no longer warning the people of Judah that they will suffer destruction as the result of the lack of faithfulness; thathas already happened. Now, Isaiah is speaking words of encouragement and hope that the people of Israel should remain faithful that they will be restored to their homeland. The way of their salvation – the way of the Lord – would be made straight, the rough ways of the past would be made smooth. They were to be alert and to open their hearts; they were to prepare the way of the Lord; keeping themselves in the loving embrace of the Lord, they were to wait for the day that ALL flesh would see the salvation of God.
The centuries pass, Jesus Christ is born, crucified, died, and raised again. Luke is inspired by God to record the account his life and ministry. He begins with the account of the lead up to the Incarnation – the Word made flesh that would bring about the salvation of God – the salvation of God promised for centuries and prophesied by Isaiah. In preparation for that coming, there was a voice in the wilderness to alert the people of God, as in the days of Isaiah, that they were to prepare the way.
Still, as in every generation before and since, the people of God need words of hope. Still, the people of God need to be reminded that we are to remain alert with all our senses, alert to the presence of the salvation of God. Life without that alertness; life without that expectation of eternity with Christ at the end of our journey is a life of ever increasing rough paths and crooked roads in our earthly journey.
Our Gospel lesson is the account of John the Baptist alerting the people of God to the coming of Christ – the first Advent. In our epistle lesson, the Apostle Paul is alerting the people of Philippi to the coming day of Jesus Christ when the Kingdom of God will be perfected and complete – the second Advent. Our hearts are preparing for the celebration of the Incarnation, but our preparations do not end with the Incarnation; our ongoing preparations are centered on the second Advent. Only through our faith in Jesus Christ can we attain that harvest of righteousness where we are pure and blameless on that day. Only through our faith in Jesus Christ might our love overflow every day from the first Advent to the second Advent. Only through our faith and knowledge in Jesus Christ might we be guided by insight into all that is best for us until that day. All for the glory and praise of God.
I don’t know that I have ever heard our Lord referenced as a highway engineer – a builder of interstates. But, if you know and love Jesus Christ, you know of straight paths and rough places made smooth, even though sometimes we feel stuck in the heat with the smell of asphalt wafting into the open window.
Our celebration of Christmas, with all its secularization and commercialization and tackiness, is a foot in the door for evangelism. Like the exiled Israelites of the 6thcentury BC, like the seekers during and soon after the earthly life of Jesus Christ, like the people of 1stcentury Philippi, we remain desperate for these words of hope and assurance that the crooked paths will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth. We are the privileged who carry the message of hope.
The world is desperate for these words of hope; we are called to be the voice in the wilderness; we are called to prepare the way; we are called to have the courage of the Apostle Paul in spreading this message of hope. The journey remains difficult; we are to be prepared, maintaining a good battery and good tires. All for the glory and praise of God.
