It’s a minor point, but I’ve always been fascinated by one particular claim that Isaiah makes in today’s reading. “A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way;…no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray” (Isaiah 35:8). Maybe it’s because I’m a guy and culturally predisposed to avoid asking for directions, but the thought of a highway where even fools can’t get lost is appealing, comforting even. And as a metaphor it offers a myriad of uses which interests the preacher in me.
How wonderful, how amazing life would be if we simply could not get lost, if we were always going where we ought to go. Granted, there is grace to be found in the detours of our lives, events we would have missed if we had stuck to the path we were on, but that’s really the point. The path we are on is almost always based on our assumptions or our ideals and not on the will of God. As the man lay dying in the ditch it was the Good Samaritan who stepped aside from his own route to help. He alone remained on the Holy Way while the others foolishly continued in wrong directions.
Where are you going today? To the store for last minute shopping? To the home of friends to celebrate the season? To a candle-lit service of worship? Those are all appropriate destinations for Christmas Eve. But will you remember to follow God’s path as you travel? Will you trust in God’s directions, God’s GPS as it were? For now we do best to follow the stars, and the shepherds, and the angles we encounter, even asking for directions if we have to. But Isaiah promises that someday we will walk a path so clearly marked by God’s grace that we cannot go wrong. What a wonder that will be.
May each of you experience a Christmas full of joy and peace and may the world be filled with hope in the coming of a Savior.
Prayer: Lord of love and life, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ and ask for your help in following along the path you set before us. Amen.
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