When I read in Isaiah 35 about the Highway called the Way of Holiness, it reminded me of a couple songs I’ve heard over the years about highways. One of my favorite bands, AC-DC, sang a song called Highway to Hell. The lyrics go like this:
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don’t need reason, don’t need rhyme
Aint nothing I'd rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too, yeah
I’m on the highway to hell.
The other song I always enjoyed is called Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane. Some of the lyrics to this one are:
Road so rough, this I know,
I’ll be there when the lights come in,
Tell them we’re survivors.
When I was thinking about these two songs and their lyrics I realized that there is a reason Isaiah chose to speak to the people about highways. Highways are a wonderful invention made by humans to get from point A to point B more quickly and with fewer problems. Highways may go around bends or up slight hills but for the most part, we try to make them as straight and smooth as possible to make our travel faster and safer. The lives we lead may be considered a journey and on our journey we have many highways and roads to choose from.
For this reason, we can call ourselves pilgrims, and as we go about our daily lives, we choose different paths for different reasons. Sometimes we choose a path because our best friend or spouse is on that road. Sometimes we choose a path because we know at the end we will have something we desire or need. There are other times when we may choose a path not knowing where it will lead us, but we felt like that was where we supposed to be right now. Sometimes the paths we choose are good for us, things we needed to do to become stronger individuals. But sometimes the path leads us to hardship and pain.
It is when we get to the end of one highway and we are about to choose another that the two songs I mentioned become important. One speaks about life being a real party. Things are easy; the person is living free with nothing to impede him. The other person talks about how sometimes this highway is rough, but he has confidence that there is nothing he can’t do because he’s a survivor.
I have to admit, I’m rather drawn to this idea of life being one big party. Of everything coming easily, with little work or fuss. Wouldn’t it be nice to just wake up every morning without worries or cares? To no longer stress out about paying bills or figure out how to resolve the fight from the night before? To not care what happened yesterday or what is going to happen today? The person in the song doesn’t even care that he’s on a Highway straight to Hell. Matter of fact, he tells everyone to leave him be because he doesn’t care about that. He’s too busy having a good time now.
Don’t we all know someone who doesn’t really care about tomorrow or who they’ve hurt in their life? They live for today and they live for themselves. It can be easy to envy someone who is so free spirited. It can be easy to want to emulate their actions in the hope of making our own messy lives less complicated. However, there is something about this type of life that is not worth envying at all.
The only problem with life being a constant party is that someone always has to clean it up when it’s over. Someone has to take responsibility for what has happened or what is done during that time. If you lead a life without worries or cares, that just means someone else will be picking up the slack for you. Perhaps it is your parents or your siblings or your children. But someone always ends up paying the price. For Christians, it is Jesus Christ.
Verse four in Isaiah 35 says, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” The result of the Lord coming to be with us is then described in the rest of the chapter. It says, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs”.
What is being described here is a gift only God could give to a people of the desert. These people had known many hardships because at this point in Isaiah the Israelites were captured slaves and indentured servants to the Babylonians. They were poor and without the comforts of home. So to hear that the Lord would come to save them, it meant that their needs would be satisfied. They would have enough water to drink, they would have food to fill their bellies, and those that were in pain and suffering would be healed.
And to insure all of this happened, Isaiah 35 talks about a highway called the Way of Holiness where only the saved will be able to walk. This is a special highway reserved for those who know God. As Christians we know the only way to know God is to know Jesus Christ. We have invited Jesus into our hearts and his Spirit rests within us every day and because of that, we know God. We have been blessed with this great gift just as the Israelites had been blessed.
We are not alone on this journey. Jesus Christ journeys with us. He lights the way like a lamp to our feet. He is always guiding us and helping us around obstacles. Jesus is the Way of Holiness, that highway Isaiah speaks of. He is the one that smoothes out the rough patches where life has created potholes. He is the one that straightens our crooked ways so that we can get back to place we are supposed to be. With God. Our place is with God. Our whole being longs to be with Him.
Isn’t that what we proclaim during Advent? Isn’t this what we look forward to each and every year? For a little child to be born, a child who is so much more. The promise of a Savior who comes to be with His people. God in the flesh. Because as John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling place among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”.
Let this advent be a time of joy for each of you as you wait for the coming of your Messiah. As you wait for the One who is full of grace and truth, the One who lights our way as we journey down life’s path. Let us give him glory and honor and praise, for God is with us.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment