Preparing for what?

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

It’s hard to read, “prepare the way of the Lord” without hearing that Godspell song in our mind’s ear. For those who don’t have that remembrance check out the original soundtrack: HERE

Or, there is another grander arrangement of the text from the Prestonwood Baptism Choir and Orchestra 2009 Palm Sunday service: HERE

As I scrolled down the huge number of musical arrangements of the phrase, “prepare ye the way of the Lord,” I became overwhelmed by the super-Christianity being conveyed, namely--repentance for our sinful ways that offers us a savior who died for our sins.

However, the words from the book of Isaiah, probably written 600 years before Jesus was born, was from a different time and context. The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon, far from home, and wondering if they would ever return home. Preparation of the desert referred to an old poetic depiction of God as a mighty warrior riding in from the southern desert leading heavenly armies to bring deliverance to the people. Images of straightening winding desert paths, lowering mountains, and filling valleys, might make that arrival quicker and easier.

Nowadays, we have taken that desert imagery as symbolic of the inner preparation. Rather than physical path straightening, it’s about straightening out our lives. Instead of lowering mountains, it’s about reducing our arrogance and entitlement. Filling valleys with earth are changed to filling valleys of despair with hopefulness.

Now, almost 3000 years after the prophetic words of Isaiah, we are preparing for . . . what?

What are we preparing for? Knowing the “what” might help us to decide on how to prepare.

Growing up I recall, “stir up Sunday,” as a time to prepare a Christmas pudding. The term comes from the opening words of one of the prayers on the Sunday before Advent:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O God, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In my family, we had a tradition of inserting a silver threepenny (pronounced thrupney) coin into the pudding as we each took turns stirring. On Christmas day when the pudding was served, we each searched for the coin to see who was going to be wealthy that year. I still have several of those coins for the rare occasions when I actually make a pudding.

Stirring up Christmas pudding as preparing the “way of the Lord” seems a long way from Isaiah’s message of preparation which leads to our

Advent Exploration question for today: In this Advent season, what are we preparing for? And how are we preparing?