"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  (Luke 3:4)

One thing I had never done, until fairly recently, was walk the length of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, partly because there are a number of really interesting guitar shops in Edinburgh that seemed more interesting. For some reason I’d got it into my head that, in days long gone, the Royal Mile was a route of royal procession: that the monarch would process, in pomp and majesty, from the castle to Holyrood. That was never the case - he’d never get through the crowds of tourists and probably couldn’t resist the urge to drop into one of the tat shops for a Castle snow-globe.

That kind of procession, though, is perhaps what we ought to have in our minds when we think of Luke’s words, but with a more religious quality. In many parts of the Middle East it was traditional for the king to lead a procession in which an image of the local god was carried along a processional way to symbolise that god taking up residence with the people of the city. John is quoting the prophecy of Isaiah. Many scholars think that the part of Isaiah John is quoting was written by someone who lived in Babylon during the time of the Exile. If so he would have been familiar with these processions - there was a splendid processional way that led from the famous Ishtar Gate to the heart of Babylon. He may even, cheekily, have nicked a bit of a local hymn that included the line, “Make Nabu’s way good; renew his road. Make straight his path”, as if to say, “Aye, we’ll make the way straight, but for our God”.

So the idea of ‘the way of the Lord’ is about God coming to be with his people. The Jewish people, when they returned from the Exile held onto that idea. For them God dwelt in a particular place in Jerusalem. His presence - his shekinah - was believed to dwell in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. For Christians, when we talk about God living with us we mean that he comes to live in our hearts. So prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight.

If we’re talking about God making a processional way into our hearts, what sense do we make of that? Luke precedes his quotation by noting that John was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Sin is what gets in God’s way. It’s what separates us from God. It’s what keeps us from being what we’re meant to be - the children of God, made in the image of God. Part of the journey to Bethlehem we make during Advent is to examine ourselves and to ask ourselves, are there things in our life that are getting between us and God - that God would have to skirt around to get to us? Are there patterns in our behaviour that we should be clearing out of the way?

Do we get judgemental sometimes? Are we so caught up in other aspects of our lives  - jobs, family, hobbies - that we crowd God out? Do we too readily pass on gossip if it’s particularly juicy, forgetting that every word is heard by God. Do we want to hide parts of ourselves from God because we’re not awfully proud of them? When I’m talking about sin I’m not necessarily talking about the big axe-murdery things; I’m talking about attitudes and patterns of thought and behaviour that make us less than we should be.

That’s why we make the journey to Bethlehem: to encounter Jesus. To encounter the child in whom God completed his processional way and came to dwell with his people - with humanity. To encounter the child who would grow up to fulfil that baptism of repentance and forgiveness that John offered. To be the means by which we can let go of all the things that hold us back from being all that we are meant to be, the means by which we are refined and cleansed and free to allow God into our hearts and let him reign there.

I’ve done a bit of a swap there. I’ve gone from talking about the processional way - about God coming to us - and started talking about us taking the road to Bethlehem to meet God in Christ. That’s the thing about roads, though - they’re a two-way street. We, all of us, make the journey to Bethlehem all our lives. One day each of us will meet with Christ and our journey in this world will be over. And if life is a journey on that road, are there things that are weighing us down?

Do we sometimes think our faith a burden? Do we get caught up in the trappings of the faith and forget that it should make us feel that we are walking on air? Do we cling to traditions - to ways of making music in church and to forms of liturgy simply because they are ‘what we are supposed to do’? Do we throw back the sheets on a Sunday morning and punch the air and shout “Yes! Church this morning!” Don’t feel you need to answer that. Do we get the idea that we have to buy into a whole bunch of doctrines and attitudes to stuff like sexual relationships to walk the road to Bethlehem? Do we forget sometimes that faith is simply trusting the guy who’s walking that road ahead of us?

We are, all of us, walking home to God. The road we are walking on has been prepared and made straight by Christ. We have the opportunity, in this life, to make that road clearer for those around us. Just as every step trodden on a beaten path beats it down a bit further and eventually makes it a path that everyone can follow, we are here in this world to walk the path on which Jesus leads us so that others can find their way.

What do I mean by that? We live in a world where the folk we meet are told that to be a Christian means being anti-Science. They are told that Christians are homophobic and intolerant - that all religion leads to hate. They are told that going to church is simply about standing up and sitting down in the right places and saying the right words - that it is empty ritual. These are things that hide the road to God for them

We get the chance, each and every day, to show them something different by walking the road that Christ laid out for us. By demonstrating, in the way that we treat people, the way that we care for people, the way we insist that everyone matters, what it really is to walk in the way of Christ. By putting doing what is right before ambition and greed. By standing up for folk who can’t stand up for themselves, by standing beside folk when they’re going through hard times, by having their backs when they are in trouble. By being a voice of compassion when refugees come to our doorstep or using the spaces we worship in to be places of welcome in our communities.

Think you make no difference. I am here today partly because two people who were close to me talked to me about their Christian faith. They showed me the truth behind the parody. They lived by their faith. They prepared the road for me. At this time of year, perhaps, people are more susceptible than most to look again at our faith and ask , “What’s it really all about?” Maybe that’s someone you know. Prepare the way of the Lord,.

Lord, may we prepare your way. May we prepare the hearts of those we meet to find you and embrace you. May we tread down the falsehoods that hide you from people. May we walk always in the way of your son.

Preached at Gretna:St. Andrews Parish church