Prepare the Way in a Busy World
By Bishop Chris Giesler
Scripture Text: Luke 3:1-6
This can be a loud time of year, and our ears can be overwhelmed by it all. My wife and I went to a fabric store the other day to look for some material for window coverings. When we go to this store at other times of the year, we are generally the only customers there, but this time was full of people. Since it was late November, the sound system was a steady stream of loud Christmas tunes, from “Here comes Santa Claus” to “Twelve Days of Christmas.” The volume was turned way up!
From there, we went to do more shopping, and in one store, there were several display units full of stuffed Santas, Rudolfs, and snowmen, each of which plays a song when you press the button on their hand. Santa does a rowdy Christmas rap followed by some hearty Ho-Ho-Hos. I feel sorry for the store employees who must listen to this all day long.
And now, several area radio stations began playing Christmas music soon after Halloween. It is deafening! With all of this noise, it is easy for us as followers of Jesus to take our eyes off the target and forget what’s important during this Advent season.
I remember visiting New York City in the 1970s and early 80s. It was a messy, dirty place. Strip clubs and porn shops were commonplace up and down Times Square. Drug dealers would openly ask pedestrians on the sidewalk if they wanted to make a deal, and the pimps for the sex workers would do the same. But then the mayor decided to make it more appealing for tourists who might want to bring their families to see the big city. So, all of those shops were closed down, and a police presence was made more visible to keep out those trying to make an illicit deal.
During the time that Jesus lived when a king was about to plan a visit to another city, an entourage would be sent out in advance to clean up the streets, repair the roads, and get rid of the riff-raff. They would ensure that everything was ready and the people were prepared for the king’s visit.
In the same way, John the Baptist came to announce the coming of a different kind of king. “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” What a perfect way to depict the preparation of the world for Christ–straightening the curves, filling in the valleys, cutting away the high mountains so that the road might be level and easy to travel.
When I served the Moravian Church in Richmond, VA, I frequently traveled to Winston-Salem, NC, on church business or to visit my extended family. The road I spent most of my time on while making this trek was Virginia State Highway 360. It cuts across the rolling hills of south-central Virginia to South Boston. When it was first paved, probably somewhere in the 1930s, it was a two-lane road laid down right on top of those beautiful rolling hills. But in the 1980s, the road was expanded to four lanes, with the east and west lanes separated by 50 yards or so. But the new road was paved using modern technology and heavy equipment to level off the hills and fill in the valleys. So, going east, you ride up and down, while it is a reasonably level road when traveling west.
This season throws all sorts of loud and busy hills at us. This is on top of the stressful nature of political tension and the polarization that all of this can bring.
But today, Luke says, lay all that aside. Level out the hills. Fill in the valleys, and make a straight path for the coming son of God. Only when we do this will the true glory of the Lord be revealed to us. So, take some time this Advent to slow down, be still, and be aware of God’s coming to you and the world again. A tiny, vulnerable baby is about to do something extraordinary; we will only know it if we prepare the way!
