Prepare and make straight the way of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 11:1-10  • 

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19  • 

Romans 15:4-13  • 

Matthew 3:1-12

The second week of Advent we always meet up with John the Baptizer in the wilderness. Some authors have noted we can't get to Jesus without going through John. We encounter him wearing the skin of a camel, eating locusts and honey, like Elijah. A firebrand, who calls Pharisees and Sadducees who have come to hear him, a brood of vipers, and calls for repentance. Like the apocalyptic vision Jesus gave us last week, we hear ominous words about gathering wheat and burning the chaff by someone greater than him, who, unlike John, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire instead of water.

What do we make of the first two Sundays of Advent with images of wilderness, darkness, winnowing, fire, and light? Why do we get these passages in Advent? Is there more than apparent gloom and doom? A new light is coming into the world. A new hope, as we wait and prepare, the apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome. Read The Rev. Marcea Paul's "Repent, Live Into God’s Dream," and Debie Thomas' "The Voice of One Crying," for thoughts on how to prepare and make straight the way of the Lord.