Advent XIV (Radical Change)

Advent is about radical change.  The gospel lesson which pushed the church into this Second Week of Advent is a word about John the Baptist that takes us back several centuries to the prophet Isaiah.  This Old Testament prophet spoke of one who would come as a "voice in the wilderness."  (Isaiah 40:3).  The language of preparation is powerful as we consider the images created with the ancient words.  The one who would come to prepare Israel for deliverance would come in such a way as to "make a highway in the desert."   

The making of the way for the deliverer would be like valleys being lifted up, mountains being made low, rough ground being made level, and rough places being made easy to walk.  (Isaiah 40:4). What we hear is not a prediction of some cataclysmic earthquake, but instead, a word which speaks to the fact that His coming will be about radical change.  John the Baptist was the one who prepared the way of the Lord by calling for radical change of the heart.  His call for radical change was framed inside a message which called people to the work of repentance.  Repentance is about radical change of the heart.

If we miss the Advent word which calls us be about radical change then we have missed its message completely.  We have drifted off to sleep as did the disciples in the Garden or as did the bridesmaids who waited for the bridegroom.  We have decided that Advent is about Christmas trees, gift lists, and church programs and have drifted off with these visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.  The truth is Advent is about being ready for imminent coming of the Lord.  The place where readiness is truly required will be unseen by others for it is the radical change of the heart that will enable us to live in sync with the will of the One who is out there just beyond sight and, yet, still somehow already here among us.