Advent

December 5, 2020

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-8

The Proclamation of John the Baptist
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 1:1-3

How do we, as Christ-followers, prepare the way of the Lord? How do we make the path to the Lord straight? If we had it to do over again, would we have become Christ-followers based on observing the ways of those of us who proclaim to be Christians in our world today? We should heed Gandhi’s comments:

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

I find myself judgmental of others I perceive as thinking they have the corner on Christ, the only corner. And the rest of us do not count. My sense is they are seeing me in the same way. How do we bridge such a gap? At times, if I had the power, I would put a moratorium on all the hot button issues that divide us and only allow us to interact and work together on things with which we agree. The problem I fear is more profound than those issues or any issues. The forces of evil are stealthy and will quickly adapt to our search for common ground.

Our hope lies in faith. I do not know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but I appreciate their help to make the path to Christ straighter for me:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. (Hebrews 11.1-3)

My electricity was off a few weeks ago. I searched my house for a lighter so I could light some candles. I never did find it but had some flashlights and managed. A few days ago, I got a call from a new neighbor ready to bake something. Her pilot light was out, and she did not have anything with which to light it. I told her that I could not find a lighter just days earlier, but as I talked, I dug through a catchall drawer checking again, and there it was. I met her in the middle of the street to give her the lighter. She just moved here recently and is from another country. She told me later that she could not find the place to light the pilot and waited until her husband got home to do her baking. I did not solve her problem, but I unexpectedly gave her the gift of trusting me to help if she needed it. She is already a Christ-follower. I did not need to straighten her path to him. I did need to show her we shared the same source of love.

Prayer:
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing spirit. Amen. (Psalm 51:10-12)

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.