Bungee Cord 12-12-12

Hello,

     I am returning from vacation on the road, Interstate 74, a four lane road that bisects the state of Illinois.  It is a road that doesn’t take much driving skill to navigate.  Straight.  Smooth. Scantily busy.  The scenery to the north and south of the road is identical; flat, black dirt fields, buzzed like a short cropped haircut, extending as far as one can see.  There’s not much “civilization” along this road (except of course, Champaign/Urbana…the home of the University of Illinois...where civilization blooms like a rose in the wilderness).  It is a road whose arrow straight construction and unchanging scenery might be considered boring by some, but I find it more akin to a quiet room for uninhibited reflection.  So, here’s some Advent reflection:

     This is the season of Advent in our church, a four week stretch leading up to Christmas that bids us to go out in the wilderness, make the roads straight and level in order to clear out the way for Jesus coming (advent means “arriving”) and to clear out our minds for when he arrives.

     If Jesus was the enemy, someone to be feared, we would want him to approach on winding and roller coaster roads so that his approach would be time consuming, difficult to stay on, and easy to ambush.  Is it possible that the devil, who really is the enemy, has so spun and turned, raised and lowed this four week road to sidetrack Jesus and make him an easier target for his arrows?   

     On the other hand if Jesus is the savior, the secret weapon that will destroy everything that attacks us and waits in siege of us, we would want his approach to be as easy as possible and as quick as possible.  “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Make his paths straight.”

     And we who travel through life, if the road is full of traffic racing along at 80 miles per hour as it does on the express ways of Chicago….if it is winding and curvy with hair pin turns on mountain inclines as it does on the ridges of Pennsylvania…if it is lined with beautiful and breath taking scenery as it is along the Sky Line drive of the Appalachians … it is easy to get caught up in the journey and forget where we are going.  Might it be that the devil, who is who we really seek to get away from, so fills our lives with traffic, with the treacherous curves of this life, and the delights of this life that he hopes that we forget our destiny and goal?

     On the other hand, if the road we travel is so empty and barren, the scenery so monotonous and unchanging, and it requires no steering at all … then might we find ourselves more anxious for the journey’s end, more thankful for the company of those who travel with us, and more attuned to the one who bids us “come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Make his paths straight.”

     This week, hear the voice of John the Baptist who invites us to join him in the wilderness with these words, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.  Make his paths straight.”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace. (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger