Verse for the week of December 6th:
As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’’
(Luke 3:4)
In many ways, this is one of the classic Scripture texts for the Season of Advent. It proclaims the voice of one who announces the coming of the Lord. We know this one as John the Baptist. John the Baptist is one of the major figures for the Season of Advent.
However, I wonder if sometimes we overlook the true message of John the Baptist. At this time of the year, the entire culture is geared towards Christmas. People begin to up lights on their home. Children begin begging to put up the Christmas tree and all the other decorations consisting of evergreens, candles, red bows, Santa, and everything Merry. People begin to check their list of presents that still need to be bought. People begin making preparations for baking cookies, Christmas dinner, etc. And on and on the lists goes as we get closer to the 25th of December.
But all of this is not even close to the message of John the Baptist. The voice cries out, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ The verse immediately prior to 3:4 tells us that John the Baptist went into all the region proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:3).
John the Baptist’s message is one of repentance and calling people to change their ways. John the Baptist does not tell people to go and buy presents because God is coming. He does not tell the people to decorate their home in anticipation of the coming Messiah. He does not tell the people to cram their calendar with all kinds of parties, get togethers, and white elephant exchanges as a way to celebrate the Lord’s coming. NO! He calls people to think about their own lives and their relationship to God. John the Baptist challenges all the people out of their own comfort zone for when the Messiah comes, it will be a sign that God is doing a new thing and we need to be ready. This new thing will bring about drastic changes—‘every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth’ (Luke 3:5 which is a quote from Isaiah 40)
While it is not bad for us to decorate our homes and put up Christmas tree and participate in gift exchanges and all of the other trappings of Christmas, we need to make sure that we also STOP and reflect upon the Season of Advent. Do we hear the message of John the Baptist? Or do we allow John the Baptist to get drowned out by the messages of our culture? Do we take time and do the true preparation (repentance) in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah? Or do we get bogged down in all the preparations of cleaning, buying presents, baking, etc?
Do we celebrate Advent or simply skip over Advent and go directly to Christmas?
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