Into the Wild

A Reflection on the Gospel for December 9th, 2018:
Second Sunday of Advent

Luke 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiber'i-us Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturae'a and Trachoni'tis, and Lysa'ni-as tetrarch of Abile'ne, 2 in the high-priesthood of Annas and Ca'iaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechari'ah in the wilderness; 3 and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

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While all the muckety-mucks (as my mother likes to call them) were busy reigning over the lands, governing all the peoples, imposing all the justice, and rushing around buying Christmas gifts, John was “in the wilderness”. And it was there that the Word of God came to him.
 
Last Sunday, I arose slowly. I’m not a morning person, so it is typical for me to move at a snail’s pace first thing. But this particular morning, I made an intentionally slow rise — like the sun.
 
Just as the sun first peeks over the horizon, giving the earth beneath it time to adjust its eyes to the coming of the all-consuming light, I yielded to the Son, giving my heart time to adjust its settings to His time and His way. After this time of surrender to the Light, I stepped through my front door to be confronted by an experience of immersion (baptism) in peace. The stillness of the outside world captivated me. I just stood in it, surrounded by it, mesmerized because of it, and so thankful for it. It was almost eerie to experience this quiet in the middle of the city during this time of hustle and bustle. Because it was so odd an experience, I was arrested by it. 
 
My soul was nurtured by this encounter with God. Because I was faithful to Him this day by setting Him as the first thing on my “to do” list, His grace dissolved my struggles, stresses and agendas. He set me on a straight path, my valleys of darkness filled with Light, the mountains before me made low so that my view of Him, of His coming, was in clear sight. The stillness in my heart generalized to my surroundings and through it, my perspective was changed. This is how we see the world through God’s eyes — by fixing our gaze on Jesus, laying our struggles in His hands, and allowing Him to baptize us in His redemptive peace.

"This is how we see the world through God’s eyes — by fixing our gaze on Jesus,
laying our struggles in His hands, and allowing Him to baptize us in His redemptive peace."

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It’s not often that these opportunities line up for me. I impose lots of hustle and bustle into my life. I fixate on the mountains before me, and I get stuck in the valleys. I am governed by this world much of the time, and it steals my peace.
 
God is calling us out of the busyness and into the wilderness. He calls us into His creation, not into the constructs of man. He has created a vacancy within us (a wilderness) where He wants to reside. It is from this internal room that, when we adorn it with the trimmings of Christ, His indwelling peace affects our view of our circumstances and of this world.
 
I desire His peace every day, but do I desire it enough to make time to go into the wilderness of my soul, repent, and be set free from all that is not of Him?
 
Let us Pray:
 
Father of my soul, lead me into the wilderness to clear a space for You within, so You can then clear a space in the clutter that consumes me each day. Amen.

Lori MacDonald

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