Advent, prepare your heart

Kim Mitchell Pastor First United Methodist Church

It is Advent. A time of preparing. A time of renewal. A time of arriving! We learn this through the definition of advent: the arrival of a notable person, thing or event. The season of Advent marks the most notable of notables, Jesus the Christ. Jesus is the full characterization of Advent as we see the Christ-Child as the one coming in the flesh (person), for the one purpose (salvation), through the blessed birth (event). The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14).

The Gospel of Mark begins with the advent message: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the lord, make straight paths for him (Mark 1:1-3; see also Isaiah 40).’”

John the Baptist was that very messenger Mark was speaking of. John, a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early 1st century AD, was sent to herald in the coming of deliverer Jesus.

John was projecting his voice above all other voices to prepare the people for the grand event that was about to happen; shouting out the good news about Jesus the Messiah for all to hear. This was a voice that was a long time in coming. There was 400 years of silence from the time of the last prophet Malachi to the arrival of John. Out of the silence John is born. John’s purpose as a prophet was to herald in the good news so that those within hearing might prepare their hearts to receive the message with a readiness, a willingness, a holiness.

John came to break the silence. So, the voice shouts, “Prepare ye the way of the lord!” The voice of one crying in the wilderness says, “Make his paths straight.” What John meant by this cry so long ago is the same meaning for us now: Take time to hear the call. Prepare your heart. Remove the debris along the way and make room for the Christ-child today.