The lectionary scriptures this week are all about preparing the way. In our progression thru the season of advent, this is second step after the keeping awake of last week. Isaiah 40:1-11 speaks of the redemption of Israel that is to come, which is fortold by a voice calling out in the wilderness "prepare the way of the Lord!" The passage envisions a leveling and a straightening that will enable all to see the glory of the Lord. Mark 1:1-8 begins with a paraphrase of a portion of the Isaiah text, linking that text to the figure of John the Baptizer. In John's world, preparing the way involved undergoing a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; his ministry was going ahead of the one who was to come, who would be more powerful and more worthy and who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 3:8-15 provides the early church (and us!) with a picture of what sort of people we ought to become as we wait, how we might want to be when the Lord returns: living lives of holiness and godliness; at peace, without spot or blemish.
I think it trips us humans up a little bit when we start trying to imagine oursleves living lives of holiness and godliness, without spot or blemish. At heart I think we sense that we aren't really capable of being spotless, of living holy and godly lives; so we begin to make comparisons of our sin over and against someone else's sin; we make rules to follow that will ensure our righteousness-- if only we are able to follow all of the rules, which is nigh on impossible. We begin to see holiness and godliness as boring and too hard to achieve, so why try? Or we fool ourselves into thinking that we alone (or along with a select few of our buddies) are capable of meeting standards, and so it's up to us to make sure everyone else is at least trying. And so, in our attempts to be sinless and spotless and blemish free, or in rebellion against too many rules that are just too difficult to follow, we end up sinning just as badly as if we never tried to be holy and godly at all.
The good news is that Christ will return, and as followers of Christ, we will be ready. We have already, by virtue of believing in him, set ourselves apart-- which is what it really means to be holy. We are godly because we believe in the God, Christ, and Spirit that exist in our lives. If we are beleivers we have already recieved Christ and therefore the way has already been prepared for his return. And if we know people who aren't believers, then it is up to us to share the stories of how Christ is in our lives, so that they may recieve the promises too.
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