Highway to Heaven

 December 6, 2021

“And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”” —Luke 3:3-6

John preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but we don’t always know what repentance means. We have images of craven groveling, the wringing of hands, and flowing tears, but that isn’t what John had in mind. The words of Isaiah which he quotes tell us exactly what he meant by repentance. 

Repentance means straightening out that which is crooked, filling in that which is lacking, tearing down obstacles, and smoothing the paths so God has ready access to our hearts and we have clear and unobstructed access to God. Repentance often involves words, but also needs the corrective action that changes the direction of our lives. Where once we were thrown off course by every twist and turn of life, repentance paves the way for the newness of life offered in Christ. When we truly repent, we need not always be talking about it; people will see the salvation of God at work in us. 

The wilderness is where all this happens; those barren, harsh times that strip away every comfort, reducing us to elemental matters, where life is raw and dangerous, and survival is not guaranteed. We tend not to repent in times of ease and success. It is in the wasteland of failure, of sorrow, of sickness and loss where we are forced to face the emptiness of our lives. We don’t like the wilderness, but it is there we are most likely to meet the God who creates out of barren nothingness a people tested and purified for holy purposes. 

“Lord, we shrink from the desert, but you still beckon us forward into it, that we may be stripped of all the false gods to which we cling. Straighten that which is crooked and deformed in us; fill in the empty valleys of self with the glories of Christ. Level the mountainous obstacles we have erected to protect ourselves, but which only hinder the work of your Holy Spirit in us. Stride down the highway of repentance into our hearts, that we may return to you.