Preparing the Road (Dec. 5, 2021)

You are traveling along the road and see the signs: Road Work Ahead. You think to yourself just how bad can it be, after all this road needed some work anyway. Then you hit the backup from the road work. While it takes some time to get through this, you eventually get to the place where the work is taking place. There you find the that the work going on is not what you expected. Instead of paving the road or at least patching the pot holes, they are digging up the road. How can that be helpful?

A few days later you drive along the same stretch of road and find a road that is stripped of asphalt and that is in worse shape than it was before they began work on it. What gives? Why is the road in worse shape and how is that going to help? (You might have noticed this same thing when they were recently working on the street in front of the church.)

And then, while driving along later, there are signs that the road is being worked on again. This time you don’t know what to expect. You find that the road that was stripped of asphalt is being worked on, at least half of it is. The half that you are driving on is the one that is stripped but the other half is having new asphalt placed on it. And when you finally get the chance to drive on the new road, it is smooth and pleasant. The road just needed work. But to get the work done, some prep had to be made. There had to be work done to prepare the road to have new asphalt laid down.

This is what is happening in our text for today. There is preparation for the coming Messiah. It is the time of Advent, the time of expectation and the time of preparation.

What we find first in the text is a timeline that Luke gives us to know when this all is taking place. We are told who the emperor is, who the Roman governor is, who is ruling the Palestinian kingdoms of Herod the Great and who is leading the religious life of the area. Why does Luke give us this information? Why tell us all about who the rulers are and who are the bigwigs in the area? We are given this information to let us know that the preparation for the Messiah occurs in real time. In real history. This is not some mythological setting where the vague words “sometime during the reign of…” occur. No, we are given a record that tells us when this is all taking place. This would have been taking place around 27-29 CE by the best estimations. Luke wants us to know exactly when things were taking place and how they figured into the world of the Jews and Palestine.

The world of Palestine was one of turmoil. The people were under the oppression of rulers who were not of their people. These rulers were either from far away or they were ones who had been given the posts by the Romans. They were not popular. The religious leaders would have been just as bad. They were Sadducees who were the collaborators with the Romans and had a stake in making sure the status quo remained just that, the status quo. And so it is in this mix that we find the people in an expectant hope. They knew their prophets and they were awaiting the one who would come and prepare the way for the coming of God to the world where things would be put to rights once again.

And into all this mix comes a man named John. The son of some lowly priest named Zechariah. Now we know who Zechariah is because of his introduction to this story in chapter one of Luke’s gospel. We know that he was a priest who had been visited by an angel and whose wife was barren. But then the angel told him that he and his wife would have a son. And this son is the one that we see here, in the wilderness of the Jordan valley.

This is the one to whom the Word of the Lord came. All the others listed before him, the ones who made a big splash in the world around them, are not the ones to whom the Word came. They probably would have not been happy to know that their names were associated with this new sect that was coming up and making noise. They would not have wanted to be associated with it at all. And so, it is that an unknown is coming among the people. One who makes it clear that the Word of the Lord is upon him.

What exactly is John doing in the Wilderness? The text tells us that, “He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…[1]” This baptism is one that would have been known to the people. Baptism was one of the rites to enter into the group known as the Essenes. They baptized to purify themselves so that they would be ready for the day of the Lord. The baptism that John is performing is one that takes away the sins of the people who have come to hear and see him preach preparing them for the day of the Lord without them having to separate themselves.

John is a traveling preacher. We are told in the end of chapter one that he had been in the wilderness until he was publicly announced to the people. His message was one of repentance. This was not a feeling of remorse for things that had been done wrong, though there was that. No, this is the word metanoia, which means to turn around. It is a word that tells us to take a whole new direction, what we would call taking a 180 degree turn, and to make a new life for ourselves. It is a call for the newness of life and to make a change to live for God.

This is what John is preaching. His call is one that reflects what the First Testament prophets proclaimed. The people were to turn from their wickedness and they were to live new lives that were wholly devoted to the God who had delivered them from Egypt and the desert wanderings that they had endured. John is the embodiment of all of that as he preaches in the desert.

But there is a prophet that stands out among them all. That is Isaiah. His words ring out in this text telling us what is happening here: The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”[2] John is to prepare the road for the coming Messiah. He is the one of whom the prophet Malachi spoke.

Have you ever seen a road built through the mountains? It is a fascinating sight. The hills are cut down and the valleys are filled. What had been twisty turns are now made straight and smooth. Fleming Rutledge tells of the time that her family traveled over hills and valleys to go visit relatives. She and her sister loved this as they knew there were more hills in the distance. And then one year there was a new road. One that had no hills, was wider and where they could travel faster to their destination. It was a much easier ride for the driver and they arrived sooner than before. But Rutledge says that she did not enjoy the ride as much as she had before. But this is what Isaiah is saying will happen with the one who is proclaiming the coming lord. That all the obstacles that have been in the way will be taken away and the road, once rough and difficult to travel, will be made smooth and clear. The road will be prepared and the one who comes will find it ready for them.

I know something about preparation. Yesterday I ran a 5K In Winston-Salem. I had to prepare for that. Running in the early mornings and some afternoons. Stretching and warming up. And yesterday, the preparation was over. The cannon went off and the race was underway. I had marveled at the prep that took place for this race as well. The planning, the getting of sponsors, the lining up of vendors, the recruiting of volunteers. And yesterday it was all-ready and the day of the race was there. Now, about half a mile in I realized that I had not prepared that well for the race, but it did not matter. The day was here and I was doing what I had prepared for even if it meant I was a bit slow.

During this Advent time are we looking for the preparation of the road ahead? Do we find the preparation of the road to be tedious and just a tad aggravating? That can be what Advent does to us sometimes. We can have a John the Baptist who calls us to repent (and just wait until you hear what his preaching was like) to make the way straight for the coming one. But when we realize that the coming one is the one for whom we have been waiting, then it all changes. We find that we want to be ready, that we want to hear the message of repentance, that we want to turn around and go in a new direction. The hope and the love are there. The road is being prepared. Listen. Can you hear the call? Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.