The Message of Advent

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Is. 60).

 

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Lord comes "suddenly" to His temple.  Until then, we walk in darkness, with a "veil" covering our hearts, in the words of Paul, who above all men, should have known by experience what he was talking about, "because only in Christ is it taken away" (2 Cor. 3):

 

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God....For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 

Yesterday, I quoted the Book of Malachi, saying, "First, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me.  Then the Lord you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple."  The end of that passage, which I did not quote was this:  So I will come near to you for judgment.  I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord Almighty.  

 

Perhaps this passage, along with all of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets, helps to explain better than anything else the meaning of "fear of the Lord."  Those who oppress others, deny justice and fairness in wages or treatment to others, especially the weak and the alien, have no "fear of the Lord," who hears and answers the cry of the poor.

 

When John the Baptist came, these are the ones to whom he gave warning:  The Lord is coming, and His winnowing fork is in his hand.  He will clear the threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. 3).   John's message was "Prepare ye the way of the Lord."  But we have sung that song since childhood, a time when we could not even begin to apprehend its meaning.  As adults, it has no more meaning for us than our other childhood verses.

 

We have heard forever that the word "Gospel" means "good news."  What we have not been told is that the word was originally used in a Roman context to herald the "good news" that one of the generals was returning to Rome triumphant from conquering outlying areas:  The Punic Wars; the Gallic Wars, etc.  He was on his way home, bearing captives in chains ahead of him.  The "forerunner" or herald was supposed to run ahead of him, announcing his imminent arrival and proclaiming that the roads were to made smooth for his victory march.  The old roads were often in disrepair or neglect, but now they were to be filled in, smoothed out, built up where they had fallen low, so that the chariot carrying the victor would not be bumping along or falling over.

When John the Baptist arrived on the scene, he proclaimed that the "roads" or way was to be cleared for the coming Messiah, because he would take captives of those who had no "fear of the Lord," those who were cheating others, oppressing widows and aliens, and hoarding the goods of this world.  Many came to him, confessing their sins, and being baptized in preparation for the coming judgment.  He "turned the hearts of the fathers toward their children," in the words of Isaiah.  So the world was ready for the arrival of Jesus.

As we approach Christmas in the 21st century, we no longer believe that the Light of the World is coming through the darkness of our lives.  We believe in Santa Claus more than we believe in the coming judgment.  If we want Light to shine in our hearts, maybe we need to hear once again the message of the John: prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight paths for him.  Put away the works of darkness and turn toward the Light!