Roadwork.
A reflection for Sunday 5th of December
Last week I gave a very skimpy overview of some of the themes that occur in Luke's gospel. One of those themes is repentance and forgiveness and I pointed out that only Luke has the story of the prodigal son. In his gospel Luke points to his pet theme. “John the Baptist went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Notice please where John the Baptist is preaching. He's not preaching in the city of Jerusalem, the top end of town, the plumb parish. No, he is preaching in the desert in the region of the Jordan. This is not salubrious and lush countryside. It’s hot, dusty, rocky stuff. No wonder he uses the imagery of Isaiah.
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;"
It would have made a lot of sense to those who were listening to him because all around them would have seen wonky, rough roads that needed some workmen in high vis vests and lollipop signs. They would have walked over these wonky rough hot dusty roads in order to get to hear John the Baptist.
Now the imagery of the wilderness and bumpy roads operates on at least two levels. There is the outward physical dimension that we would see and experience if we were fortunate enough to go to the Holy land. But there is another dimension as well. The voice crying in the wilderness is often that still small voice within us which is easily ignored, overpowered and silenced by other distractions and procrastinations. You could call it our conscience, or the voice of the Holy Spirit but every so often we know that something needs fixing. The rough ways need to be smoothed. The valleys of our inadequacies and shortcomings need to be filled. The potholes need to be sorted and the tarmac sealed, shiny and ready. This is hard work that goes on at the deepest level within us. It is not always comfortable and pleasant. It is often confronting and disquieting for us. It can’t be just fixed in a day and then left and ignored. Just as our roads needed to be continuously worked on, upgraded and painted and a whole lot of other things I don’t understand, but expect to happen, so too the highway of our souls will always need to be worked on. Sometimes its good to have a chat with someone who is just a little ahead of you or walking with you. Someone who perhaps has fallen headlong into the ditches and can give you a bit of a hint as to what might lie ahead. And when you fall in the ditches as we all do, get up, dust yourself and begin the important work of making all things smooth and level and straight. And perhaps you might be able to reach out your hand and help someone else out of the same ditch. Perhaps you might look them in the eye and say “Courage. I know all about this ditch because I fell into myself last week and this was the 4th time I have fallen into this trap.
Two things that occurred to me while writing this homily. First, why did the crowds leave their home to venture out in the blithering heat to hear this crazy guy dressed in the latest camel hair caftan. Why bother? Surely it would have been much more fun to sit quietly under the cool of a palm tree sipping a refreshing beverage. I reckon it because John’s homilies were corkers. He preached a baptism of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. And this is just the best news ever. It is what we all crave for and long for deep down. We need to know time and time again that we are forgiven because time and time again we bungle it. We need the refreshing water of forgiveness poured over us to cleanse us so that we can set out again. To start again with hearts that are lighter and ready to love and in turn pass on that forgiveness to everyone we encounter. That's why they went out in the midday sun. They shared that same deep longing and if it took a couple of days of rough sleeping and a bit of sunburn and tired sweaty feet, then the trek would have been well worth it.
The second thing I wonder about. Why is this theme of repentance and forgiveness so important to Luke?
One day I will ask him but here’s what I reckon. I reckon Luke was a fallible, failing, sinful regular guy. I reckon that he might have fallen from grace in spectacular fashion. We know that he would not have actually met the Risen Christ, but he must have seen the good news in the message that was being handed down. Luke knew how much he needed it and of course he responded and wrote his message to us. Repent and believe the good news of forgiveness. So deep in your souls
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Fill up all those valleys.
Flatten the hills and mountains
Smooth out the rough edges and then
You too shall see the salvation of God.
