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?
