December 6: Prepare for God's Arrival
♫ Music:
Day 7—Saturday, December 6
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40: 1-5
PREPARE FOR GOD’S ARRIVAL
Rocks and dirt are the stuff of the California hills that I see and live among every day. As well, they are the stuff of the Judean Hills, home to Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus Christ. This was known only too well to those who traveled the hills with frequency, including Jesus’ parents Joseph and Mary. Thus, their journey to Bethlehem to be registered (cf. Luke 2:1-7) was a difficult one, especially for Mary, pictured so well in Hugo van der Goes’ detail from the Portinari Altarpiece.
Such rugged terrain is not easily traversed; therefore paths and roads are absolutely necessary. Consequently, the call to “clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God,” comes as a challenge, for it will not be an easy task. Rocks are not malleable. The hearts of the Israelites (and our own for that matter) are as rocky and unkempt as these hills. Clearing the way and making smooth the path are obstacles to the arrival of the promised Messiah.
This prophetic call, issued amidst Israel’s captivity, promises that God will return should the people prepare the way of the Lord. Though He comes to all in numerous ways, He comes in particular to those who prepare themselves for His arrival. Israel’s task is to “let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley” so that they will be comforted. Yet this historically situated call still hangs in the air today and rings afresh in our own ears. For we too hear this call as we make a way for the Lord each Advent: come Lord Jesus and comfort us, we pray. For we, as “scattered stones,” “prepare for heaven’s eternal heir,” laying bare our souls and preparing our hearts for the arrival of the Christ child.
And though we experience godly consolation each and every day, we eagerly await its full and complete arrival in the Advent of all Advents. We look back not only to the first coming of Jesus Christ but we eagerly await His second coming, for “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end” (Nicene Creed). On that day “the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together.” The rocks and the dirt will no longer be an obstacle but even they too will cry out: Amen. Come Lord Jesus!
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the paths of your Only-begotten Son: that we may worthily serve you with hearts purified by His coming: who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end.
Amen.
Greg Peters, Associate Professor, Torrey Honors Institute
Portinari Altarpiece (detail)
Hugo van der Goes
Oil on wood
Galleria degli Uffizi, Italy
About the Artist and Art
Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes (1430 - 1482) was one of the most important Early Netherlandish painters. His most famous surviving work is the Portinari Triptych, an altarpiece commissioned for the church of San Egidio in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence by Tommaso Portinari, the manager of the Bruges branch of the Medici Bank. The triptych arrived in Florence in 1483, apparently some years after its completion by van der Goes. As it was the largest Netherlandish work that could be seen in Florence, it was greatly praised in its time.
About the Music
All Who Hear Lyrics
A desert voice calls out
Lend him your ear, your heart
Though we are scattered stones... We’re not alone
So we, the road, prepare
For heaven’s eternal heir
At last, our Savior’s near
Let all, who hear, make way
And may these hearts
Prepare, a place
What is this grace divine?
That earth and sky align
With leveled souls laid bare...
Let all, who hear, make way
And may these hearts
Prepare, a place
For ‘God with Us’
Will come to save
And surely He shall comfort those he loves
And so we wait
About the Performers
Young Oceans grew out of New York City’s Trinity Grace Church in 2011, when musicians from the church and community gathered to explore and experiment with hymns that had been written at TGC. They began recording their songs in 2012, and their latest album, I Must Find You, was released in September 2014.
http://www.youngoceans.com/