the road of peace

One message that rings our loud and clear
in our bible readings this week
is the message –

“Prepare a way for the Lord,”
make a straight highway for our God”.

---

The way of peace they do not know;
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
    no one who walks along them will know peace." Isaiah 59:8

But the prophet Isaiah who is quoted in our readings
is not talking about using bulldozers
to straighten winding roads,
he is talking about the highway of our life.

What we are being called to is a straightening of our attitudes.

In this context, we can substitute the word “Straight”
with words such as honesty, compassion, righteousness.

How often do you hear people telling others
they need to straighten themselves out?
We know what that means.

To go straight means to reform
after being dishonest, deceitful or after
cheating, and so on.

It can be a crooked way of dealing with people,
a crooked attitude,
a crooked way of living that needs
to be straightened out.

So how do we find the straight path?

We find the path by acting with integrity,
treating people fairly,
refraining from any form of discrimination
or oppression, by not making life more
difficult for anyone,
tending to the marginalised,
sharing with those in need.

This is the way to seek God.

Peter, in our New Testament reading (2 Peter 3:14-15a),
described the way as being at peace, without sin,
and in patient hope of the Lords salvation.

Micah put it even more succinctly,
“This is what God asks of you: That you act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

The path to the Lord however is not always as easy
as you might think or hope.
To walk the straight path requires inner strength,
wisdom, and single-mindedness.

The crooked path, which only leads downhill,
is the path of lying and cheating and deviousness.
It may seem easier at times
but it is the road to a diminished vision and darkness.

The straight path, on the other hand,
leads upwards,
and although it may seem steep and difficult at times,
it leads to an ever-expanding view
which compensates for the difficulty of the climb.

Do you have a crooked attitude?
Then lets decide right now to choose a
different attitude, because our attitudes
are a choice. As Christians we have the
help of the Holy Spirit to change our attitudes.

Do you have a crooked habit,
something that stops you from living your life
in the fullness God wants for you?
Or a crooked relationship that needs straightening out?

Let's try to do just that.
This advent,
let us make a commitment to truly prepare
a way for the Lord to come to us more fully
and to come to others though us.

Lets try to do just that.
This advent,
let us make a commitment to truly prepare a way for the Lord
to come to us more fully
and to come to others though us.

Let us ask the Lord to take the blindness from our eyes,
the weakness from our wills
and the hardness from our hearts,
so that we, our families, our friends, our community,
in fact the whole of creation may be flooded
by the grace of his coming.

The Lord Be with You!

With Blessings

Rev Jenny