Advent Day 17: Path/Way
“I asked, ‘If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live life with who shared openly their search for God,
allowed anyone to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven would you be interested?’
‘Yes ’ was his reply. ‘Are there churches like that?’”
allowed anyone to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven would you be interested?’
‘Yes ’ was his reply. ‘Are there churches like that?’”
― Hugh Halter & Matt Smay, The Tangible Kingdom: Incarnational Living
Prepare
the Way
by Rev.
Emily
We were on a long, winding road in the Great Smoky Mountains—switching campsites from one part of the national park to another. The visitor's center was about thirty minutes back and cell reception had trickled to a battery-sucking "search for signal" when our drive came to an unexpected stop; A fallen tree blocked the two-lane road and there was no getting around it.
Our options were to turn around and find an alternate route or wait for a road
crew (both of which would take hours).
So we made a judgment call and did what seemed most logical: we chopped down the tree. (To be fair, by "we" I mostly mean my husband Matt and our friend Wil--they did most of the actual work. I took pictures--and by "logical" I mean that both men were fiercely bearded and the tiny camping axe was near at hand).
At first, the task seemed impossible. The axe handle was flimsy and quickly broke, but more and more people began to park their cars and help. By the time the official park volunteer drove up (with no tools, mind you—just traffic cones and a walky-talky) we had two or three axes and about seven guys working simultaneously. Bit by bit, the tree grew less menacing until the final branch fell with a mighty CRASH (and cheers from onlookers) and a team of strong arms pulled it to the side. The whole adventure took less than forty-five minutes, but never has a stretch of road looked more triumphant! In Isaiah's words, the rough place was plain and the way in the wilderness was prepared for any and all to drive through.
...because that’s the point, isn’t it? If we seriously believe Christ (the kingdom of God) is breaking into our reality and our lives, don’t we want to make it as easy as possible to get there? If we knew of anything separating us (or separating others) from God’s peace and love and justice—wouldn't we want to cut it down? If we knew prejudice or hypocrisy in the church kept others away, then we should take an axe to it. If we know there is sin in our lives, we need to repent of it.
So we made a judgment call and did what seemed most logical: we chopped down the tree. (To be fair, by "we" I mostly mean my husband Matt and our friend Wil--they did most of the actual work. I took pictures--and by "logical" I mean that both men were fiercely bearded and the tiny camping axe was near at hand).
At first, the task seemed impossible. The axe handle was flimsy and quickly broke, but more and more people began to park their cars and help. By the time the official park volunteer drove up (with no tools, mind you—just traffic cones and a walky-talky) we had two or three axes and about seven guys working simultaneously. Bit by bit, the tree grew less menacing until the final branch fell with a mighty CRASH (and cheers from onlookers) and a team of strong arms pulled it to the side. The whole adventure took less than forty-five minutes, but never has a stretch of road looked more triumphant! In Isaiah's words, the rough place was plain and the way in the wilderness was prepared for any and all to drive through.
...because that’s the point, isn’t it? If we seriously believe Christ (the kingdom of God) is breaking into our reality and our lives, don’t we want to make it as easy as possible to get there? If we knew of anything separating us (or separating others) from God’s peace and love and justice—wouldn't we want to cut it down? If we knew prejudice or hypocrisy in the church kept others away, then we should take an axe to it. If we know there is sin in our lives, we need to repent of it.
John
the Baptist came preaching repentance, but not because of judgment or anger. He
preached repentance because he knew that Jesus was coming (“The true light,
which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world”) and he didn’t want anything—no
sin or prejudice—to get in the way.
So
today’s questions are these: Do we want others to come
to Christ? What are we doing to make that way easy for them? What needs to be cleared out
in order for all of us to follow the Way and Truth and Life?
Prepare the way (2x)
Prepare the way of the Lord
Jesus...Jesus...Jesus
Tomorrow’s word: Path/Way →
Comments
Post a Comment