Preparing the Way-Building a Bridge to Christ.

This week I will be writing reflections on the theme "Preparing the Way-Building a Bridge to Christ." 

The season of Advent is a journey and process.  The process can be stark at times as we are forced into a wilderness, life outside our of comfort zone as we face the bitter facts about our flawed nature and reflect on our transgressions.  It is in the wilderness, we learn that water on the earth can only quench our thirst so long.  In the wilderness, desert heat dries up sustenance, leaving us thirsty, desperate and afraid.  It is often in that fiery furnace and hopeless dark abyss that we first grasp, albeit in our weak human understanding, our need for God.  We rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us, to make our paths straight out of the most twisted and treacherous of trails.

We take a step forward on our journey, acknowledging are dependence on God.  Yet this realization is often a combative interlude.  Though we desires to rest in the peace of God, our cynical human nature denies this gift of peace and hope.  Kicking and screaming we declare our independence, as a defensive mechanism we fear relinquishing our so-called control.

It is as if we are trapped with limited air, say stuck in a coffin or in a car that crashed into a lake, sinking into the frigid depths.  The more we panic and fight for control, the quicker we run out of air.  We have the gift of free will, yet we are not self-reliant creatures, we need God's loving care and guidance.  We are dependent on God, and in accepting that dependence we also find freedom.

In accepting dependence on God we are able to understand our flawed nature and to willingly seek redemption.  Humbly trusting in the power of mercy. 

In Advent's spiritual journey, many of us are standing at the crossroads between doubt and belief, hope and despair, forsaking and accepting, forgiveness and holding grudges, hate and love, anger and mercy...

We must go through the wilderness in order to be refined by the fire of experience, in order to understand the power of the spirit on a deeper level.  We have to understand what we did wrong and the pain it caused to be able to repent and seek redemption with a bold meekness of heart, the faith and perseverance to not only ask forgiveness, but to forgive, to not merely seek redemption, but to fully accept absolution. 

No one likes to talk about sins, about their shortcomings, fears and hesitations.  It is the grime we'd rather sweep under the rug and leave in the drain of the kitchen sink.  In truth, we must first acknowledge our sins. In Greek, the word 'sin' is hamartia, which means missing the mark. In acknowledging the transgression, the failing we must analyze why we acted in such a manner and in approaching God in prayer ask for guidance to make our path straight, so in forgiveness of the sin, we are not merely forgiven, but reborn in understanding with a kindled spirit so that we can learn and grow in the faith and knowledge of Christ, even in our flawed human state. 

When we ask God for forgiveness of sins, we can be assured through Christ's sacrifice that our sins are forgiven.  Things get trickier when we linger onto our sin, plagued by guilt, ruminating on the pain, angered by the grief that sin has caused.  The truth is this cyclic pattern only burdens us with negative energy and fuels confusion, separating us from God. We allow fear to drive us instead of trusting in God's grace.  Christ died and rose again, his promise of redemption is fulfilled in his life, death and resurrection. 

Not only must we seek redemption, in preparing the way for Christ, we must also forgive others, even when they have wronged us beyond repair. 

From Matthew 6:
"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

This seems counterintuitive to the message of grace, yet to truly be one with Christ we must open our hearts to the spirit of God.  There is not room for God's grace in our hearts if we clutter our souls with vengeance over wrongs committed against us.  Our spirit is not yet ready to accept the gift of grace fully in that state.  We still need to build the bridge and work to cleanse that hate and bitterness before we can find complete peace in the Holy Spirit...

I have experienced betrayal in my life that makes it difficult to merely forgive, yet Christ calls us to forgive.  That doesn't mean we don't judge certain actions as good, but rather we don't allow that person's negative actions to stir our hearts towards revenge, hate, envy, greed....we turn over the burden of judgment to God.  The act of forgiving another is as much for our own psychological and spiritual well-being as it is for the offender.  It releases a dark mass that strangles and oppresses.  The act of forgiving might take time.  You may acknowledge your desire to forgive, but wander in the desert, learning bit by bit the power and understanding of forgiveness, peeling back layer by layer and letting go emotion by emotion.  In this process, dark and treacherous as it may seem, the Holy Spirit works through us, preparing a place for Christ in our hearts and helping us to embrace the joy of God's Glory - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is in this wilderness journey, building a bridge from Advent to the joyous glory of Christ's birth that we learn to trust God with an obedience heart, by the volition of hope, faith and knowledge that he makes all paths straight and leads us out of the desert into peace and feeding us with the spiritual food that sustains us in tests, trials and quiet waters.  Pray to the Lord with bold humility...Repent for the kingdom is at hand.  Out of the wilderness we are called, from the fiery despair and endless thirst to forgive and be forgiven, to hope in the coming glory of Christ and the unquenchable fire of the Holy Spirit that guides and shelters us in crooked paths to find a straight road to life in Christ...

Luke 3:
"During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of the one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

Psalm 72: 12-14
'For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.  He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.'

Matthew 18:21-22: Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?  As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23-35....You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?  And in anger, his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.  So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Matthew 6: 5-14...
...your father knows what you need before you ask him. "Pray then in this way; Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our trespassers.  And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescues us from the evil one. 
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.