Advent

November 29, 2021

Scripture Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Are we called to prepare the way for the Lord in real-time today? What does it mean to prepare the way for the Lord? How do we make straighter the way to finding the love of God, including God’s wholeness, oneness, and justice in a world of divide and conquer?

As I have mentioned before, I live in tornado alley, and while we may take warnings of pending storms for granted, we take precautions. For example, in Oklahoma City, every Saturday at noon, the outdoor tornado sirens are tested to make sure they work if the need to sound them arises. In addition, I have a weather alert system on my cell phone that gives me immediate warnings when dangerous storms are approaching.  Failure to follow those warnings may lead to disaster.

God’s prophets came to warn God’s people that their actions were missing the mark and they must change their ways if they are to experience the blessing of being in sync with God. In the scripture above, Malachi foretells God sending a messenger to prepare the path to the Lord.

 I drove out to see a new apartment complex recently built a few blocks from my home. It looked very nice from my vantage a block away. There was a rough road leading into the complex, but it was so new the city street that would at some point be the paved way to it had not yet been built. Some people already lived there, but others will be more likely to cross the entry from a smoother, easier-to-follow path.  We are called to show others the way to God’s love.

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to see those who might benefit from our opening doors to accessing God’s love. Amen.

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.