Wandering in the Wilderness

Rough placesAdvent
December 2, 2014

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:1-10

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.’ — Isaiah 40:3-5

When I read the above quoted part of our scripture today, I began to wonder what it would be like if we had no mountains to climb and no sharp rocks or hidden holes in our paths. What is it we are working toward in this Kingdom of God anyway?

We are called to prepare the way for God to be revealed and realized among us. We, after all, are often the creators of the mountains and the rough plains that separate us from God. If not the creators ourselves, we are the ones who accept the presence of the mountains and rough places that get between us and God and do not work to smooth them out. In many instances these mountains and rough places are found in interpersonal relationships and international relationships that require us to deal not only with our individual dependence on God, but also with our interdependence on God and each other. God calls us to a higher ground where our interactions with God and with each other creates synergy not available without God. The Kingdom of God is now and is becoming a whole new way of being. And it is good.

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
 How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.
 For poor on’ry people like you and like I…
 I wonder as I wander out under the sky.*

Prayer: Lord, help us clear the clutter from our lives that separate us from you and from each other as we journey once again toward the realization of the meaning of your coming to us. Amen.

* Words and Music collected by John Jacob Niles
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.