Prepare the Way

Isaiah 40:2-4

Introduction

Most of the best things that we can imagine require some sort of preparation. There are only a few things that can be done spontaneously with no preparation whatsoever. This covers just about every area of life. When I was in university, my summer job was painting. Much of the actual work that we did was prep work. We would have to scape off the loose paint, fill in any holes, sand it down, and apply primer. While we could have just painted over what was already there, doing the prep work makes the end result much better.

We have recently started offering pickle ball at the church. This was only possible once the gym was prepared by taping down the lines for the court. Everything in pickle ball relies on the boundaries, and without the preparation, the game just does not work. 

What would happen if I just announced to the deacons that we were going to have a surprise communion service this morning? They would not be happy with me, as we do not have the elements prepared. 

While I could stand up and just start talking for a half hour, things go much better if I prepare a sermon ahead of time. In fact, there was a recurring dream I used to have in which I suddenly realized it was Sunday morning and I had no sermon prepared. Not sure if teachers have that same dream as well.

Preparation is always important. And in fact, much of what we do in Advent is preparation. We could, and many churches do, just go from our regular kind of service and then suddenly have a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. We observe Advent as a form of preparation. The arrival of Jesus, the Son of God, as a baby was a miracle beyond what we fully understand. It I much more than just a virgin birth. Any time we take to prepare ourselves spiritually for recognizing this is time well spent. Let us take a look at the importance of preparation.

Preparation for God

Let us start with a passage from Isaiah, one that may be familiar from the way it is used in the New Testament. The Isaiah passage was written during a very difficult people. Israel was surrounded by enemies and they were facing an extreme threat to their existence. And that could have happened. Notice the lack of people today identifying as Moabite or Amorite. The people knew that there situation was fragile and they called out to God. There are a number of passages in Isaiah that offer promises regarding their salvation.

This particular promise is for the arrival of God coming to his people. That really is the ultimate promise of salvation. It is so important for God to get there, that voice cries out regarding the preparation of the road that God would travel. We are meant to visualize a landscape made up of high mountains and deep valleys, such that would make travel on this highways treacherous and slow. The preparation is to lower the mountains and raise up the valleys, to flatten the highway to maximize the speed of God’s journey. That is very symbolic language as physical features do not limit God in any way. It is meant to be a word of encouragement that any potential barrier will be removed and God will arrive at exactly the right time.

Preparation for Jesus

I want you to be considering that as we shift to the New Testament. When we think of the Christmas story, we usually focus on Matthew and Luke, as they describe the birth of Jesus. This is how the Gospel of Mark begins:

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way; 

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
    “Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight.”’

Mark then goes on to identify the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness with John the Baptist. Notice that John is preparing the way for the Lord. The Lord in Mark is Jesus. The Lord in Isaiah is God. Mark understood the arrival of Jesus to be equivalent with the arrival of God.

How did John prepare the way for Jesus? He preached a message of, and offered a baptism for  repentance. What is repentance? We often equate repentance with an emotional display of sorrow. We might catch a child doing something they should not have done and then expect them to show regret for their actions. A few tears might help. While that might happen in Christian repentance, that is not really what it is. It literally means a change of mind. An example would be someone who had once been racist, coming to understand that racism is wrong, and then actively seeking to develop relationships with the people they once rejected. For Christians, this does not mean we must be perfect to please God. For us, the change of mind is from a life moving away from God to a life moving toward God. When driving, have you ever made a wrong turn and even though you are convinced there must be a way to your destination in this direction, your GPS keeps demanding “Make a U-turn”? That is the call to repentance. That was the preparation for Jesus. John did the prep work so that Jesus could come in with his preaching about the kingdom of God.

Preparing for Jesus

We can look at these passages, from Isaiah and Mark, and think that all of the preparation has been done. But there is a place for us to prepare ourselves for Jesus, right here and right now.

Before going too far into this, I want to clarify what I am trying to say. I am not suggesting that this preparation is about getting us to a certain level of perfection before Jesus has any interest in us. There is no indication of that in the New Testament and all of the people Jesus spent time with, including the Apostles, were far from perfect. I do believe in the grace of God and that God shows love to us apart from anything we have done to earn that love.

At the same time there are things that we can do to prepare ourselves for that love. The first things that might come to mind are prayer and Bible reading. These are important but there are other things. When we pray, we can also take some time to be silent in God’s presence. We can actively work against the strong temptation to seek out only what we personally want instead of what God wants. We can embrace the way of love, not just with those we see as loveable but with all. We can ask ourselves what God wants us to do in this particular moment. This is not about a striving to be good enough but rather a helpful preparation within our own spiritual life to allow Jesus to work in and through us.

Conclusion

There was much preparation for the coming of Jesus into the world. Part of that preparation was all of the prophetic activity that we find in the Old Testament. There were also historical circumstances that were a part of the preparation. There was the announcement to Joseph and Mary. The birth of Jesus was not an impulsive event that happened at the last minute. We cannot even comprehend how fully this was prepared for.

During this season of Advent, we are also invited to prepare ourselves. This is more than just preparing for Christmas and all of the hectic activity that goes with that. It also invites us to prepare for a deeper understanding of what it means to have Jesus in our life. Do what you have to do to prepare, it will be well worth the time and effort.