Topography
Do you have a favorite biblical character? Besides Jesus, we all love Jesus. My favorite character is John the Baptist. During Advent John steps out on the stage and calls the people to prepare, to get ready for the Christ. John calls the people to repentance and the forgiveness of sins quoting Isaiah. He says in Luke 3:4-5:
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Back in the day, before seminary and ministry, I worked in construction in the Pittsburgh area. If you have ever driven out the parkway to the airport and noticed the big blue and yellow IKEA store up on the hill, I worked on that site. Before and during the building of that store, all the hills in the area were moved into the surrounding valleys and the whole site was made level.
An enormous amount of dirt was moved. In fact, so much dirt was moved that the IKEA store is built on solid rock. We had to use dynamite to put the catch basins and storm sewer lines in the parking lot.
Leaving behind the environmental impact, the site was prepared, and a nice level area was created for all the stores that are now clustered around that IKEA store. It made access to all the stores easier and created level parking areas.
Isaiah used these words to welcome the people in exile home to Jerusalem. All the stumbling blocks were removed as they returned home. John the Baptist pulls these verses from Isaiah to make the point that we need to prepare for the coming of Jesus, now during Advent, and at the end of time.
John’s message is to prepare the topography of our hearts. Fill in the valleys of hatred, with hills of love. Make the crooked rough paths of anger straight with the smoothness of love. Then all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Here in early December all the world is in a rush to Christmas, but John reminds us that there is work to do: valleys to be filled, hills made low, crooked paths made straight, and rough ways smoothed. It is time to prepare the topography of our hearts and our communities for the coming of the Christ. It is time to make it easier for everyone to see the salvation of God.
Peace,
Dave