Repentance as Preparation
Eliminating the darkness might take some intentionality.
Lent is a season of preparation through repentance prior to Easter. Advent serves as much the same. This is why John the Baptist’s story is so prominent during Advent. John’s role in the story of the arrival of the messiah is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He serves a prophetic role, telling the people of their need for salvation. Even chidingly, his message demands change.
It’s one thing to recognize this element in the story, but another to bring it to fruition today. For sure, this is a season of the recognition of a growing light amidst the darkness. That is good news. But it’s not all warm and fuzzies, especially as we realize that it might require our own selves to take inventory of how we might be contributing to the darkness.
Luke 1:14-17
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Malachi 4:5-6a
Look, I am sending Elijah the prophet to you, before the great and terrifying day of the Lord arrives. Turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to their parents.
Prayer1
God,
You have examined me. You know me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up. Even from far away, you know my plans. You study my traveling and resting. You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways. There isn’t a word I speak, Lord, that you don’t already completely know. You surround me—front and back. You put your hand on me. That kind of knowledge is too much for me; it’s so high above me, I can’t reach it.
Where could I go to get away from your spirit? Where could I go to escape your presence?
Search me, God. Look at my heart. Put me to the test. Know my anxious thoughts. Look to see if there is any wicked way in me, then lead me on the eternal path!
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
Adapted from Psalm 139.