Word to the Wise
Sunday, December 6, 2009 - Second Sunday of Advent
[Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6]For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God. [Baruch] The voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low..." [Luke, quoting Isaiah]
As one who has lived in the American West and spent time in the Rockie Mountains in Colorado and visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona, I cannot help but think of these great places of natural beauty when I read the images in Baruch or in Isaiah concerning the deliverance of Israel. Level the mountains? Fill in the age-old depths? Why would anyone want to do that? [When I lived in Kentucky, some coal-mining companies were trying it there!] Poetic license can give rise to some terrifying possibilities. We, of course, see it all from the ground level. The prophet tries to see it from the God-level - the BIG PICTURE! Advent is a time for seeing that Big Picture. Where does this season fit into the Big Picture? We celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we often see it more as an "anniversary" than an event of present or future significance for our faith. Our frame of reference, of course, is geographically larger than that of Isaiah or John the Baptist, but we may tend to dismiss the poetic in favor of the "way we've always done Christmas!" Advent is the lead-up to something that shapes time and the universe! Mountains and canyons are dwarfed by it in significance! If our thoughts are only cemented to the local needs of the season (as important as they may seem), we are really missing out on the birth of the Child who IS the BIG PICTURE. AMEN
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