Prepare to Listen. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Prayerfully Read Isaiah 40:3-5 3A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’ Prayerfully Wonder In ancient times, highways were built to make a smooth way for the homecoming of a victorious king and his army. The prophet uses this image to assure God’s people of a homecoming that includes God’s forgiveness and restoration. He paints a graphic picture of a straight road through the desert (symbolic of exile, loss, abandonment), unimpeded by the ups and downs of mountains and valleys and rough places. Use your imagination and visualize yourself on this smooth highway. As Brueggemann notes, highway is “a powerful metaphor for the Christian gospel,”[1] because the highway leads to salvation, to God’s power demonstrated in God’s willingness to forgive and restore, in other words, our own homecoming. And this is God’s glory revealed. When God’s glory is revealed “all people [not just God’s people] shall see it together.” There is a welcome for all people in the salvation promised in Messiah Jesus. God’s grace and forgiveness crosses all boundaries and embraces all people. This means that there will be people on the highway with us who won’t be like us, won’t believe exactly as we do, won’t obey the same moral codes as us. It’s up to us to welcome them in all their otherness, as God has welcomed us, and give them the same opportunity for life in all its fullness. Seeing the glory of God together with many others is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Messiah. Prayerfully Reflect How can you live so that others see God’s glory in your life? Prayerfully Respond Lord, you prepared a highway for all to walk together towards your forgiveness and wholeness. Help me walk with them so that others see your glory shining through me. Amen. Live obediently. Live so others see God’s glory through you. [1] Brueggemann, W. Isaiah 40-66. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, p. 19.
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