Prepare the way for Jesus

We are in the season of Advent – a season when we are called to prepare the way for the Lord.  We are called to make a straight path for the Lord.

John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness – to the southeast of Jerusalem – near the region of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  There is a high probability that John was a member of the Essenes – another religious sect of Judaism.  From the description in the Bible, I want to say that he was a crusty old character – but he wasn’t old – he was the same age as Jesus.  Since they were cousins, they may have spent time together as children.  We know he had spent time in the desert because the Bible tells us that he appeared in the wilderness and he wore animal skins and survived on locust and wild honey.

Now think about today – if you heard about someone outside of town who wore strange clothes and was yelling and carrying on about the wrath of God, would you feel compelled to go see this strange phenomenon?  We’d probably be more prone to say, that’s just a crazy out there – a moon-struck lunatic – maybe a Jesus freak.  Sure, he might get press on the TV or maybe a short article in the Chronicle – most definitely a number of you-tube videos, fifteen minutes of fame and then he’s gone.  If you actually went out to see him, it was probably out of curiosity.

But this people – these Jews who were waiting for a promised messiah – they needed hope, and they went out to the wilderness seeking hope.  John fit the description of Elijah – and he said things that rang true to their Jewish ears.  They wondered if he might be the promised messiah.

“Prepare the way of the Lord – make straight his paths.”  This means to go out and make the road smooth; get rid of the potholes and the rocks.  Straighten out the curves.  This is what you did when you knew the king was coming.

How do you get ready for a visitor?  If they are coming for dinner, then you might spend the day cooking and baking for the meal, polishing the silver and setting the table.  If they are overnight guests then you might clean out the spare bedroom and make room for extra people to sleep.  John is calling us to prepare for the coming of Jesus.

John is using this phrase "Prepare the way" metaphorically – the path that the Lord wants cleared is the road to your heart.  The ministry of John was a bridge that gap between the Old Testament prophetic word and Jesus, the incarnate Word.  The Word of God, once uttered by prophets, now lived in human form.  John’s call to repentance precedes Jesus’ call to new life.  It’s about getting rid of those things in our life that separate us – that draw us away from God.

Think about what it is like after a hurricane or flood, a fire or even destruction like the twin towers -  piles of debris in driveways and roadways – tree branches, parts of houses, lawn furniture, scattered over the ground.  That is quite often what the road to our heart looks like – littered with the debris of our life.

That debris might be the stings and arrows that have assaulted us – abandonment and betrayal are two of the big ones – being so hurt that it affects our whole life.  And then there are the rocks and potholes that have caused us to stumble and fall – the addictions and temptations we have given in to.  The human condition – self-centeredness – is being so involved in ourselves and our own problems that we fail to reach out or even to notice the struggles of those around us.    

Look at the last verse of our Gospel lesson today.  Where John speaks of Jesus saying, “His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear the threshing floor and will gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”  Too many people have a simplistic view of this and see judgment, either you are wheat (good) and get into heaven, or you are chaff (bad) and you burn in hell.  But I don’t think this is at all what John is alluding to.  If you look at the elements of this story you will find evidence that John means something different.

It starts by understanding that wheat and chaff are both part of the same plant.  Wheat refers to the small grain, the fruit of the plant, and the chaff is the light covering that covers the grain.  The chaff is stripped off the grain by beating it or tramping on it, leaving both lying together on the threshing floor – most often the open ground.  This winnowing fork has been translated by various versions of the Bible as a fork, or a shovel, or a fan.  It is an instrument used to toss the mixture of grain and chaff into the air allowing the wind (or a fan) to blow away the light chaff leaving the heavier grain to be gathered for storing until it is used for making bread.

The Message is a modern day translation of the Bible and it says of Jesus, ”He's going to clean house — make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

Now all of a sudden this makes perfect sense.  If the chaff and the wheat are part of the same plant then they represent two parts that make up every person.  The wheat represents that which is good, that part of us that is holy and godly, that connects us to God.  And the chaff represents that which is less than holy, that which separates us from God.  It is that debris in our life that needs to be purged from the pathway to our hearts.

That which is not of God cannot exist in the presence of God – There is something good in every person – but in all people, that good exists alongside that which is not of God.  Jesus has come to ignite a fire within us that will help us cast off that part of us that cannot exist in the presence of God.  It will be blown away like chaff from the wheat.  Removing the chaff from our life is necessary for us to be able to stand before God.

We are in the season of Advent – it is a season when we are preparing our hearts to receive Jesus.  So I ask you to consider today, “What are the things that God wants to purge from your life?”  What are the things that you need to let go of, in order for your heart to be ready to receive Jesus when he comes?