“ prepare the way, make straight “

 “ In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God “ Isaiah 40:3

We are preparing to celebrate Christmas one more time. Some people I know do not like the holiday at all. They say that is too commercial, and too much pressure is put on presents, money and family. They just want to get to January. It is tough to go against the flow of the present Christmas,  and find a more meaningful or less stressful celebration of the Birth . There are too many lights, feasts and trees to fight for a different way of honoring the Saviour’s coming as a human baby.

Christmas today is about excess, but the original birth was also about excess. It was God becoming like us, human. God of out there, came close to all of our lives by being born a boy with a mom and dad. The excessive love of God for the world is found in that lonely birth in Bethlehem. Soon after the birth, Jesus and his parents became refugees. What if that part of the story, about refugees, is central to Christmas ?

How can we make straight the way of God ? What does that mean for the church today ? God is going to do what God is going to do, after all God is God ? But, how do we align our lives with what God would want us to be about for Advent and Christmas ? Any ideas that you are exploring this year ? A constant set of questions for people who want to follow God.

The passage from Isaiah talks about a desert. A desert is normally a place of thirst, heat and sand. For me, there is also a sense of loneliness with a desert, but that does not have to be the case at all. But Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of making a desert straight for the Lord. Do we have to go to the desert in order to live a better life for God ? We all want to live in oases for all time. We want to be healthy until we are about 85, and then we can die quickly with no pain or disability ? Is this right for you ?

Does Christmas for you have aspects of the desert ? There might be family problems, not enough money for food and presents, and you have lost your job ? How can we experience a desert in our lives as a gift this Christmas. In the desert of life, we might a new gift of dependence on God ?

I met a man this fall from Palestine, and he lives near the little town of Bethlehem . He is a Christian, and he works at the trauma center for children. He said that all the children in his community are traumatized by the occupation of Israel in his town. Through checkpoints, arrests, tear gas, and identity checks, children are shaken by these events. Tarek tries to give the children skills to overcome the trauma that sets in early in their life. This is a real desert for the communities around Bethlehem, for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, for everybody. Christmas, and the excessive love of God,must infiltrate once again to the Holy Land and beyond .

In verse 5 of chapter 40, it says, “ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all the people will see it together. “  This is my hope for Advent.

Fred Redekop