Voices in the Wilderness

"A voice of one calling: In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)

Wind. Gusts of it. Gales of it. Night-long restless tugging and blowing. Pushing banks of clouds over the morning sun, briefly glowing behind the curtains. I can often sense the mood of a day, long before the drapes are drawn back. On misty days, there is a hush. Birds are silenced and the world seems far. Soft rain brings a gentle nostalgia to a morning, a freshness that steps out from the layers of dust. Icy frost locks the cold into a fierce grip, lending a sharp biting edge to the day. All creation rejoices over a jubilant sun breaking through the dark of night into the brightness of a new day. One can close your eyes and see the birds spread out their wings to soak it up, chirping and singing at the joy of it. Lizards scurry out of hiding to find a warmed rock or stone. The roof creaks and stretches as the rays reach down and with gentle hands lift everything from its sleep. But wind is chaos - all nature in a struggle to hold onto what the wind wants. I have to remind myself of its purpose, its origin, what it is trying to bring near. And as the world waits and thirsts, the winds of August persist - bringing in a new season, new life. Blowing away abandoned cobwebs, giving flight to pollen and small seeds, all in a seemingly crazy dance to usher in a new season. On days like these, I too have to let it blow, lean into to its jarring rhythms, be willing to hear the Voice, whom all nature and its elements obey.

We tend to resist change. Even when we know that it is inevitable and necessary. It can be painful and uncomfortable. We hold onto the now, the familiar, even if it has become so stale, so tasteless. Like a child hearing it's mother's call to come home, but just wanting to play or linger a bit longer. He is tired, hungry and part of him longs for the warmth of his home, but still he resists.

This analogy took me back to a verse that speaks of change, a beckoning. In many different places in the bible we read of a "voice calling in the wilderness". The first is in Isaiah 40:3:  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.(King James Bible). The beginning of the "Turn toward Hope". At the beginning of Isaiah 40, the people of Judah are in captivity in Babylon (scholars date this part of the book around 550-540 BC). One question loomed large for the exiles. Since they had clearly failed to be God's people, did they have a future? Would God again work in their midst, or would He simply abandon them? Could God act? In this crisis of faith, God again speaks to the community through the messages of Isaiah 40-55.

The imagery is that of the heavenly council with the voice unidentified. The intent is that God's decree (ruling) of comfort and pardon to the people of Israel was already in process. The preparations were to be made in the wilderness, a desert highway made for our Lord God to return to His people. The highway refers to a large processional avenue for the triumphal entry of the King, as was common practise in the ancient world.

Then follows two beautiful poetic verses: v4 - Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. Emphasis that no obstacle would come in the way of God's forgiveness and deliverance of His people. v5 - And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." The glory of the Lord was a symbolic way of describing God as present and active in the affairs of human history (Exodus 16:6-10; Isaiah 6:3). God is again acting in human history for the deliverance of His people. All mankind will understand that God is at work.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke use the same words as Isaiah the prophet, to begin the story of the "good news" (the gospel) of Jesus. How John the Baptist prepares the way for the Son of God, the Redeemer. In John 1:23, we read that John the Baptist replied in the same words of Isaiah, when asked who he was, and he said: "I am the voice calling in the desert..." (Remember that the book of John was an eye-witness account of the disciple (John) whom Jesus loved).

When I thought of this verse this morning, it felt like Christ was calling me (us), to once again, be voices in the wilderness. Actually, reminding me of what we should be doing all along. At first I thought - that is a bit arrogant to think that I could begin to compare myself to one as great as John the Baptist. But then I was reminded that John preached in the spirit of Elijah, and we have been given the authority to "preach" in the spirit of John. We do not compare ourselves in any spirit of arrogance, but with the awe-inspiring understanding that Jesus gives us when he says, "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptiser, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11).

In fact I found that the story of John the Baptist is of great encouragement to us. He was a voice quite literally crying in the wilderness, since he preached in the wilderness of Judea under trying circumstances. But there was in his time a religious or spiritual wilderness too. I found it interesting that the Hebrew word for wilderness is "tohu", which means formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness. The people were in confusion and under a spirit of deceit as much as people are today.

Aren't all who tell people about Jesus voices crying in the wilderness? The wilderness that we have been brought out of, but so many are still trapped in. Spreading the word "in season and out of season" (2 Tim 4:2). John preached with great spirit and power despite all that was against him. He lost his head (Matthew 13:1-12), but he never lost heart.

At times I feel a deepening pressure on my heart, an ache, a hunger for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also an urgency to cry out to those who do not, or will not, know, love and acknowledge Him.

John the Baptist’s preaching turned many sinners to righteousness and made "a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:16-17). He prepared the people for Christ's first coming, yet he remained deeply humble and reminded people that he was not even worthy of tying the shoelaces of the One who was to come after him. 

The realisation that it is my (our) "job" to prepare the world for Christ's second coming (Matthew 28:18-20), makes me exited and a bit apprehensive at the same time. Am I worthy of this calling, will I know the right time, place, have the right words?

John the Baptist preached not only in the spirit, but also in the power of Elijah. We can and should preach in the spirit and power of John. For it was from God that both Elijah and John received their power, and it is from God that we will receive ours.

We don't have to worry about whether God has given us that power or not, for it is in the very gospel we speak (Romans 1:16). All we have to do is to be obedient and steadfast in sharing the good news, and the power will be in our preaching, for it is in the word of Christ that we will speak. Don't be put off by the word "preaching". It may evoke images for you of a starched collared priest or dominee, who hardly ever found a way into your heart as you struggled to stay awake (yes, that was me). The Hebrew meaning of preacher is "a collector (of sentences)," a son of David. Adopted sons and daughters of David, heirs of the Kingdom of God through Christ, let's collect the words of Jesus and offer them to a hungry world.

Trust that as you are faithful, He will be faithful. Our voices will not ring out in a dull echo through a barren wasteland. Your words will find fertile soil, and the heavens will reward it with streams of living water to give them life. No act of obedience to God is futile. It cannot be. For He cannot be unfaithful to Himself. 

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:7)