The King is coming. Make way for the King! So it’s time to get ready – for God is the king and he’s on his way back.
The trouble then – and the trouble now – is that the people weren’t at all ready for the king to come back. If you knew that the king was about to turn up on your doorstep for a visit, you may well wish to give your home a once-over and finish that spring-clean.
John the Baptist prepares the way for the coming kingdom by calling us to repent – to turn away from anything that is getting in the way of the homecoming of God.
As we continue through this season of Advent we can’t fully understand Jesus without first listening to the great Advent figure of John the Baptist. We meet him in Matthew chapter 3 as the figure preparing the way for the coming king by calling the people to repent.
The wild man John calls us to understand what we really prepare for when Christ comes. God is doing something new. I mean really new. Something that is the most wonderful thing that any of us could ever imagine.
But when most of us think about Christmas we maybe only think about the new stuff that we will get as presents this year. John calls us not to settle for something so small, something so useless as just more junk to clutter our lives.
What the king is bringing is new life and freedom. He brings justice and joy to the world. But we need to get ready for this by clearing the road, and burning any rubbish that blocks the pathway.
We can receive so much more than new clothes, new gadgets or a gift card. We can receive healing for our family relationships, or broken lives to be restored. Don’t settle for something so small, when the pathway to Jesus can be made straight through repentance and humility.
Journey Radio Program
Advent, Sunday 2, Year A
- I am away this weekend attending the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Melbourne.
- Post #300