Advent Day 17

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.'
And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel."

    ~Luke 1:76-80

As the prophecy shifts back to John, we see what a great impact his life will have. A prophet for the Most High; someone who will prepare the way for God to spread His message and make the ground fertile for His ministry, which will lead people from darkness and death to light and peace.

And yet John is not perfect like his cousin. He is a flawed, sinful person. But he is a flawed, sinful person that God uses to usher in salvation. To pave the way. John is one of those figures in the Bible that we can put on a pedestal because of the ministry he led as the harbinger of Christ and how miraculously God purposed him, and yet he was an ordinary man. We have the potential to be more like John than we often realize.

Through the unfathomable, awe-inspiring grace of God, we are vessels of His Kingdom work. Our lives are part of paving the way for His return. In a lot of ways, we have been given the John role. We don't have to be perfect to serve the perfect King. We can be a tool for building His Kingdom, for making a difference in the world to His glory, for planting the seeds for God to open hearts to the truth. Even in the midst of our imperfections, God uses the flawed. And that means we can never discount an imperfect person from Kingdom potential. God has a long history of partnering with humanity for its restoration, and out of that entire history, He has only ever used one person--our very means of partnership--who lived a perfect life.

Knowledge won't lead to salvation, but salvation can never occur without it. When it becomes supreme--our end instead of our pathway--or when we measure the value of our salvation against the breadth of our knowledge, it becomes damaging. No longer a tool for truth but a cover for control. But like John, we are not called to spread knowledge for knowledge's sake or for the glory of our own name but to make God known. To bring understanding. To plant the seeds of knowledge that can only grow to their fullness when watered by the blood of Christ, our Savior. We get to be knowledge-bearers. Harbingers of the light. We get to come into a dark and oppressed world and lead people into the peace of God. The peace that cannot exist in ignorance and confusion but only in trust and surrender. The peace that can only be found in Christ's light, which illuminates everything before it.

John's purpose required much of him, even his very life, yet God required absolutely nothing from John to purpose him in the first place. It wasn't a response to John's competence but only God's equipping. Before he had ever done a single thing, even taken his first breath, God called John to partner with Him. And that is only an act of God's grace and mercy. It has no conditions to meet. It is freely given in a way that can never fully be comprehended. And it is the same call that is placed on our lives. The call to make Christ known. To prepare the way. To testify to the truth. We are unworthy of the honor, and yet it is hours. We cannot earn it or keep it except that Christ gives it to us. 

And yet that purpose can look different over the course of our lives. That purpose is true of the youngest Christian to the oldest, and it was true of John's entire life too. And yet John was given time to grow; he wasn't sent out as an infant to proclaim the way of the Lord. Though his life could still proclaim truth, God prepared him for his public ministry through a life of faithfulness before stepping out onto the public scene. 

Some of us feel purposeless at times. Others of us feel a strong and specific calling that we are not yet able to step into. And others of us are living within that specific call in this very moment, facing its joys and difficulties. But no season is useless. God is preparing our hearts, and in every season we can work with what is before us to make His name known. As we walk with God today, we can remember that we can be faithful and purposed before we ever step into or even discover a specific calling. In a world that badgers us to find our calling without delay, we can rest in the purpose we know and which has the deepest call on our lives: to prepare the way for the Lord, to give knowledge of His salvation in forgiveness, to know His tender mercy, to make the One known who will give light to those in darkness and guide their feet into peace.