Preparing the Way

This has been a strange Advent so far. We had to cancel our service on December 1st because of an ice storm, so this past Sunday I chose to celebrate Advent I: Hope. This coming Sunday we will celebrate both the gifts of peace and joy. The Advent journey has not been routine and easy this year!

Last Sunday we read Isaiah 40, about making a way for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. The text says that we are to fill in the valleys, the hills are to be made low, and the crooked places straightened. All of this preparation is so that the Lord’s coming can be that much easier to spot and so that people can notice that something important is coming.

In all our preparations and decorating we communicate that something important to us is coming. You can’t miss that society is gearing up for Christmas - it’s everywhere. But I also wonder about what we are doing or not doing that perhaps keeps the view of our Lord obstructed. Because even with the tree up and the goodies baked and busy schedules of events, we aren’t necessarily making a straight path for our Messiah to be revealed.

As leaders, the choices we make are an example to others. People will more likely do as we do and not as we say. Advent provides us with a time to really take stock of our relationship with God. Are we slowing down enough to really listen? Has time with God become secondary to the good works we perceive we are doing? Is there anything that is cluttering our way and preventing Jesus from fully communing with us?

I ask this as much of myself as you. There is a comfort in being busy and even in doing things for others. But am I really taking the time to examine my heart and what I need to repent of and to talk to God about to remove it from my life? Am I encouraging people by my own choices and commitment to prepare myself so that I’m ready for when Christ arrives?

This Advent I’m preaching on some of the passages about Jesus’ second coming from Luke. These aren’t nice and gentle like the narrative of Elizabeth and Mary preparing to give birth (although the context of those is gritty too - it wasn’t all sunshine and roses). Babies are less threatening than the Lord of heaven and earth arriving in power to judge us. But in those passages we are challenged again and again to be ready for when our Master returns and alert because He could come at any time.

What does being ready look like for you? Does the end time and Christ’s return fill you with fear and dread, or with hope and joy? At some point we will all meet our Maker, and in some way we will have to account for the days of our lives and our choices. That day is coming closer and closer, when our struggle against human tendencies towards sin and evil will at last be over because love has won for eternity.

As I started this sermon series it was with a bit of trepidation, but the more time I spend in these passages the more I’m enjoying them and seeing the love and care of our God’s rescue plan. This isn’t supposed to be all about fear but about anticipation and honouring our God and living in a way that enables others to see Jesus’ presence among us even as we await His return. How awesome is that!

May you be filled with hope as you prepare the way for Jesus this Advent.