Prepare the Way
Luke 3.1-6
We hear a voice in the wilderness. We hear a voice shouting, crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
And naturally, naturally and of course, we head out to the shed to get our shovels and picks and rakes, whatever we can find that might be useful in moving dirt and rocks.
We hear a command, a voice. A voice crying out in the wilderness and commanding: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
And thinking, naturally, quite naturally thinking, This means you. This means you and me. We head out to the shed. Here’s a shovel for you, a pick for me. You, over there, grab that rake.
It looks like we’re in the road building business. We’ve got some valleys to fill, some mountains to make low. We’ve got to straighten things up and smooth things out. We’ve got to prepare the way of the Lord. It looks like we’re in the highway construction business now, my friends.
And, after all, it is Advent. Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the season before Christmas. And Advent is like Lent, the season of the church year before Easter. Advent, like Lent, is a season of preparation. We prepare for the coming of the Lord. We prepare for the coming of the Lord, the birth of Jesus Christ.
And I guess we better get busy. Prepare the way! A command. So we better straighten things up. We had better straighten ourselves up. We’ve been meaning to, haven’t we? Now is as good a time as any, I guess. To work on ourselves to straighten up and smooth out our lives. Heaven knows we could do better. And Lord knows, I could be a better person. Well, then, let’s get to work. Let’s prepare the way.
Prepare the way! A command. We had better get busy. We’ve got some valleys to fill, some mountains that need some moving. We can do better, my friends. There are so many who live in poverty, quite a few who are hungry, and far too many needlessly suffer. We can do better than this, can’t we? Things could be a whole lot better than they are. Let’s get to work. Let’s prepare the way.
A voice. A commanding voice. Prepare the way.
And thinking, quite naturally thinking, This means you! we obey. And off we go with our shovels, picks, and rakes, out there into the wilderness to move mountains and fill valleys and make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth. Scooping, digging, raking away are we when…when something truly incredible happens.
Incredible, for we are all like harried mothers thinking, If anything is ever going to get done around this house, I guess I’m going to have to do it.
Incredible, for we know how the world works and how, if anything is ever going to change or be different, it is because we changed it, because we made a difference.
And naturally, of course, we would think, This means you! If that valley is ever going to be filled, if that mountain moved, well, we had better get busy.
A voice is heard. A voice commanding, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
And straight. Straight on into Jericho, with crowds lining the way, the road, into the city of Jericho.
Look, there’s the top of someone’s head bobbing up and down behind the crowd. Do you see it? That’s the top of Zacchaeus’ head. He is short. He’s also the chief tax collector in town, which means no likes him, to put the matter politely.
He seems kind of anxious, jumping up and down like that. He seems pretty anxious to see, wanting to see pretty bad. Well, look at that, will you? He’s climbing that sycamore tree over there. He seems pretty excited. It’s like he’s waited all his life to see this. Indeed, he has been. Waiting. He’s been waiting his whole life to see this.
The Lord sees him. Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today. The crowd grumbles. He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.
But Zacchaeus. His name. It’s a Hebrew name. It means righteous and upright, pure and innocent. Zacchaeus jumps out of his tree explaining how he will give half of his possessions to the poor. He will pay back four times the amount any of the tax collectors under him have stolen. He will, he says in Greek. And that is the meaning of the Greek; that, but more. In Greek, Zacchaeus says he will, he will continue. He will continue to do what he has been doing all along. That’s the meaning of the Greek; he will, he will continue.
And straight on into Jericho, the crowds lining the way, the road, into the city of Jericho.
And Zacchaeus, giving half of his possessions to the poor and repaying four times those defrauded, his very name meaning pure and innocent, righteous and upright, he climbs up a sycamore tree.
He is anxious. He’s been waiting for this his whole life. Anxious to see, finally. He’s been waiting his whole life to see this. He is seen and, Hurry. Come down. I must stay at your house today. As if the road went straight to his house. Today. Today salvation, salvation has come to this house today.
And there was a man, another man in Luke’s gospel, named Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel. An old man, he had been looking and waiting his whole life. For it had been promised to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Looking and waiting his whole life.
He is in the temple and a couple enter with their newborn child. Simeon says, Can I? Could I hold?
The child is placed in his arms, right there in his arms. All of his life, looking and waiting, he now sings, Lord, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Prepare the way! A command. Prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight, is the commandment.
And, quite naturally, we think we had better get to work. We had better straighten ourselves up. I mean if anything’s going to get done around here, if there’s going to be any righteousness, any goodness, any faithfulness around here… Well, let’s get to work. I mean we could do better. We could be more faithful. We could be more righteous. We can be better. Righteousness, goodness, faithfulness, we get to work.
And digging and scraping and raking. You know, this mountain here, it isn’t getting that much lower, is it? Here it is, already the second Sunday of Advent, and this old mountain…
And it starts to shake beneath us.
Prepare the way! A command, indeed. Prepare the way of the Lord!
And the mountain rumbles and crumbles beneath our feet. Its valley rises up. The crooked is made straight and the rough places smooth as far as the eye can see. And…
Unto you a child is born! Unto you a son is given!
Given to you. Placed in your arms. A child who is all faithfulness, all goodness, and all righteousness. The faithfulness, the goodness, the righteousness of God. All of the faithfulness, goodness, the righteousness of God, all of it, comes to you. Incredible, truly incredible.
Today. Today salvation. Salvation has come to this house today.
Neal Kentch, Salem United Church of Christ and Corydon Christian, December 7, 2003