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Read: Luke 1:68-79
For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways
Luke 1:76b
This is a season of preparation. We are busy preparing our homes with trees, lights, stockings, and wreaths. We are preparing gifts to exchange. We are preparing food and cookies. We are preparing cards to mail. Preparation is a word I often associate with Christmas but not as much with Advent, but this year this word is capturing my mind and heart. How is this as season of preparation?
John the Baptist’s calling was to prepare the way of the Lord. This Psalm is a prayer his father, Zechariah, said over John when he was just an infant, a prophecy naming God’s calling and purpose over his child. And John fulfilled these words. His life and ministry was centered on preparing others to meet and be transformed by Jesus. I picture John as a bridge between what was and what was to come. He helped usher in God’s kingdom and through him, people were prepared to receive God’s salvation, forgiveness, mercy, light and peace.
This season feels we are living in between times. We are somewhere between what was and what is to come. But due to all that the last two years have held and all the ways our lives, families, work, church, and community have changed, we feel so much uncertainty, so much unknown, even, at times, so much darkness. But hear the good news, “the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
So join me in preparing the way for Jesus to come in our midst. As we light the peace candle on the Advent wreath this morning, let the light, even if it is just a small flicker, break into your heart and illumine the darkness. The light helps us know that Christ is one the way. Let’s prepare the way!
~Amy Stertz
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