Second Sunday of Advent: Preparing the Way
God is calling us to prepare the way for the Lord as God has been preparing a way for us all along.
God is calling all people to a welcome table and calling us to call others.
“For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” – Matthew 3:3
Every prophetic function with its fulfillment has its counterpart in our lives and it is up to us to seek it. What does it mean for us, as the people of God, to prepare the way for the Lord? How have those who have gone before us prepared a straight path for Him in our lives? How have events and people shaped us so that we could be ready to receive His Word?
God’s ways always involve preparation. He does nothing haphazardly or without thought and planning. When He desires to speak, He prepares the message, the messenger, and the hearer. When He is about to act, He informs His servants the prophets. He is a God of precision and perfect order. He does all things well.
John the Baptist was God’s man in God’s timing. His life was his ministry and he learned to look beyond the obvious and to seek God deeply. He patiently awaited the coming of the messiah and faithfully proclaimed the message God had given him through the days of waiting.
God never wastes time or calls us to bide our time. Everything, all time, all preparation is meaningful and purposeful.
God is working His purpose out
As year succeeds to year;
God is working His purpose out,
And the time is drawing near.
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth is filled with the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.
(Arthur C. Ainger, 1894)
Fired Up
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: - Matthew 3:11
Are you fired up? Water reminds us of Spirit and of fire. It is a strange paradox, for water often quenches fire. However, firefighters will tell us that there are some fires that not only cannot be quenched by fire but grow with the introduction of water. So it is with repentance. God observes the intention of our hearts and we long for new life and yearn for change. Jesus is who we need because He has the power to do what water cannot do. The symbolic water of outward repentance signifies the inner fire of new life.
The Son of God is the worthy one. Brother John knew that he was His messenger and that all he did and said was to point the way to Jesus. Though he was as great as any man born of woman, he keenly sensed his comparable unworthiness. Jesus himself would explain that the very least in God’s Kingdom would be greater than the greatest specimen of human nobility.
All of that was because of the introduction of a new factor in the human experience: the possibility of men and women being completely immersed in the Holy Spirit and fire. Water could demonstrate repentance, but fire would burn away all the remnants of sin through a deep cleansing process within and the Spirit would empower us to face temptations, trials and challenges with unprecedented energy.
Fire grows under the proper conditions, and it heats everything up. So, it is with those who have been immersed in God’s Spirit. His fire rages within them and brings heat and light to a cold, dark world. It is more than enthusiasm, though it often manifests itself as such. It is more than passion, though it ignites a passion so deep that nothing can douse it. It is more than energy; it is a result of divine energy. It is God’s very presence in our lives.
Like John, we are unworthy, but we are destined for greatness – not of our own making, but of His. His Spirit within fires us up.
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
In that day, there will be peace, justice, dignity, the rule of love, and all things that bring glory to God. the knowledge of God will be fully revealed. This is a declaration of the destiny of the earth - the new earth and the new heaven!
To know God is to love God.
To love God is to love one another.
Not even lions, bears, snakes, and wolves can resist that!
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will confess you among the gentiles
and sing praises to your name”;and again he says,
“Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people”;
and again,
“Praise the Lord, all you gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him”;and again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the gentiles;
in him the gentiles shall hope.”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I'm going to sit with Jesus and with you at the welcome table!
And with a little preaching!
All that divides us is contrary to God's intention. All that marginalizes our neighbor and any of our neighbors is an offense. God's table is a welcome table for all nations, all peoples, all, all, any, and all.
There is a profound tie that binds us.
We are tightly tied together with ropes of sand. We have been wooed by the loving voice and b one who longs for our presence. We have been drawn by one who knows us and has known us from eternity. We are a vast and innumerable company of humanity who are passionately sought and gathered to be together for eternity.
God has a vision for all humankind and for all creation to come into completion and harmony and God does not settle for less. God's desire to gather all things together in Christ is a burning passion. It is the fire into which we are baptized.
It is the essence of the call to prepare the way of the Lord, a call imparted to Isaiah and all of Israel, to John the Baptizer and to us.
We make a straight path for the Savior who makes a straight path for us.
This we do until the earth is filled with the knowledge and, as Micah said, the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.
I
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