Prepare the Way for the Lord

 All day, Marge & Matilda tried to impress each other with how religious they were. Finally, Matilda left. Marge turned smugly to her husband Mike. He'd been quietly smoking his pipe. "Mike, Matilda is a good Christian. But I believe I live closer to the Lord." Mike frowned & thought. "Ain't either of you crowding Him." In our verses, Israel wasn't crowding the Lord at all. For 39 chapters, God has been warning Judah. Repent! Or God will discipline you. You'll go into exile. In Babylon. ~150 yrs. later, in 586 B.C. she will. For 70 long years. God's people will feel defeated, disillusioned, bitter, & abandoned. Will God abandon her? Even before they go, God assures His people. Yes, they'll suffer. But He'll be watching over them. And when the time has fully come, He'll return for them. That's how Israel heard our verses. But there's an even deeper meaning. Someday, God is coming for all His people. Jew & Gentile. He announces it 1st, here in Isa40:3-5. The King is coming. And by ANE custom, runners will go before Him to announce it. 3aA voice of one calling in the desert: "Prepare the way for the Lord. He's coming! But roads are poor. Washouts? Common. People can cross hills & mountains on foot. But a king's chariot? Nope. Before they can travel, roads have to be rebuilt. So, criers go out. 'Prepare the way. The king is coming.' This won't be just any king. The Lord is coming to His people. How? In Jesus Christ. Who's calling out? Who's the crier? In Mt 11:13-14, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the Elijah who'll come before the Messiah. It's John who will call in the desert. 'Prepare the way.' 3bIn the wilderness make straight a highway for our God. He's coming! How will John prepare the road for the King? How will clear the barriers? Level the ground? One message. "Repent!" Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness of human sin. Raise up what sin & sorrows have cast down. Conquer pride & self-sufficiency. Instead, practice humble self-denial. Forsake evil. Make smooth & straight the crooked paths of dishonesty. Level the ridges of oppression that keep people in chains. Fill in the ravines of human need by practicing acts of kindness & mercy. Practice righteousness. That's the road this King travels. The preparation we need is moral. Not physical. For Christ to come we need to prepare the road of our hearts. That's what the Lord says in Hos 10:12. 12Sow for yourselves righteousness. Reap the fruit of unfailing love. Break up your unplowed ground. It's time to seek the Lord, until he comes & showers righteousness on you. His coming doesn't depend on our preparation. But to receive Him, we must prepare our hearts. How? Repent. Before God comes to His people, 4Every valley shall be raised up. Every mountain & hill made low. The rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. No barrier can keep our King from coming to His people. He says so in Rev 3:20a. 20aHere I am! I stand at the door & knock. But we have obstacles that hinder us from hearing God's word. They keep us from opening the door. Yet we have to open it. He won't. That's what He's telling us in Rev 3:20b. 20bIf anyone hears my voice & opens the door, I'll come in. Before He arrives, we need to prepare the way for the Lord. Remove all sin. The King wants for no barrier to prevent us from reaching Him. He wants every obstacle cleared out of the way. When they're gone, He'll come. And if we've prepared His way, we'll be able to open the door. And then? 5aThe glory of the Lord will be revealed. How? Jn 1:14 explains. 14The Word became flesh & made his dwelling among us. We've seen his glory, the glory of the One & Only, who came from the Father. Back in Isa 40:5b, God says 5ball mankind will see it. But wait. God is invisible. How can we see His glory? In Jesus. His humble life & shameful death. It isn't power or majesty, though God is all-powerful & majestic beyond our grasp. God shows us His glory most clearly in love, mercy, kindness, & patience. He showed us on the cross. The Father sent His Son to die in our place. Jesus humbled Himself & took our sin to give us His righteousness. Jesus so loved His Father (& us) He was obedient unto death. That's glory. After washing His disciples' feet, just before His death, that's what Jesus says in Jn 13:31. 31"Now is the Son of Man glorified & God is glorified in him." Jesus the Christ, God's Messiah is the glorious light that entered our dark world. How sure is this prophecy? 5cThe mouth of the Lord has spoken. Let's wrap up. What do we need to do to prepare for the Lord to come in our hearts, again this year? <Checklist> Level the ground between us & Him. So, what voids do we have? What needs (valleys) need to be filled? What deficiencies in our walk? What problems or barriers (mountains & hills) need to be brought down or made low? What broken relationships make His way rough & need to be smoothed out? What crooked or wicked ways need to be straightened? What twisted behavior needs to be straightened? All these are ways of asking what sins or unholy behaviors keep us from fellowship with God? Whatever they are, remove them! From whatever direction we face, turn toward Jesus. Let's pray. Lord, help me remove any obstacles that block your access to my life. In every place, fill the voids with Yourself. Level the mountains & hills between us. Straighten out any crooked way in us. And grip us with Your glory. In Jesus' Name, amen. Prepare the Way for the Lord - Isaiah 40:3-5 Page 1 of 1