Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord

I love Godspell – both film and stage show… I love how Stephen Schwartz can make a song out of 7 words…

‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord’… Isaiah ancient prophecy… quoted by John the Baptist, the fearless prophet calling for people to repent and be baptised… preparing the way for Jesus

…And I love the baptism in the fountain!

Prepare… If anything important is going to happen we have to prepare… The party celebration, annual holiday… getting married, the birth of a baby, the family funeral… a new puppy, car, job… retirement…

Isaiah and John are both saying ‘Get ready! This is important’

Ye… It demands a personal response. This ‘preparation’ is not nice a idea to think about, or a performance to watch others doing from a discrete distance. This calls for involvement, participation, activity…

They’re saying that you can’t remain passive and do nothing!

The Way… It’s preparing a road, a highway… through the wilderness and wasteland, down valleys,  over mountains, across rough ground.

We’re familiar with the picture of the life’s journey. The message is that we shouldn’t sit back and let life happen to us. We should prepare the road, make sure we’re travelling the right way in the right direction

Of the Lord… Isaiah says: ‘The Sovereign Lord comes with Power… He tends his flock like a Shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms…’ (Isaiah 40:10-11)

John says: ‘I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’ (Matthew 3:11)

Isaiah and John both say: ‘Get ready!… This isn’t any old random journey that you happen to be travelling on…The Messiah’s coming!’

Musing… What does preparing the way of the Lord look like for me?… How can I do my bit?… Should I to be an Isaiah or a John, calling others to prepare…