Prepare For Peace
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:76-79)
There is no doubt that this is a season of preparation. We decorate our homes, we buy gifts, we cook special meals (or plan to attend where someone is doing the cooking), we invite guests or plan video calls. We prepare for the celebratory acts of the season. But are we really preparing for Christ? Are we clearing space in our hearts and minds for the lordship of someone besides our selves?
Are we setting a place at the table for Peace?
John (who would become the baptizer) was in the wilderness when God spoke instructing him to prepare the way for the coming Messiah by proclaiming repentance and the opportunity for forgiveness - a clean slate, a new start. Biblically the wilderness is a precarious place of uncertainty and potential danger and, simultaneously, a place where God's presence and power are unmistakably apparent. The wilderness, then, is exactly the right place for God to declare nearness to a people who have become distant, to restore peace to
hearts and minds burdened and crowded with cares.
Often, the peace we envision is a time when everything is as it should be - at least in our view. But that is elusive at best, and impossible if we are honest. If, instead, we understand peace as a surrender to the unknown - a determination to focus on the One who holds all time and space rather than on the uncontrollable content of our days - we can have peace in the midst of what feels like chaos swirling around us. Our reality may never look like a Thomas Kinkade painting, but we can trust that we have what we need, and that God will order our steps. May we prepare the way within as exuberantly as we deck our halls, and may the peace of God shift our focus to the only one worthy to be Lord of our lives.
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 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. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" (Luke 3:3-6)
