A voice crying in the...
Illustration
A voice crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" It is the voice of John the Baptist. Eccentric, mysterious; a life without the customary trappings and amenities of social success. His presentation inauspicious. His demeanor and deportment are without the conventions and insignias of wealth, power and privilege, but the word of God comes to him, in the wilderness. The word of God comes to a most unlikely person in a most unlikely place. Why then, should we heed his warnings of preparation when he himself is the epitome of disorder and disarray? How can we bring ourselves to believe that God would use such a person as this to proclaim God's word? Why not Tiberius? Why not Pilate? Why not Philip and Lysanius? Would they not be more likely candidates? They are establishment men; men of order and valor. They vouchsafe the social traditions and are curators of the status quo. John is everything we would not become, but the word of God comes to him. He is Robert Bly's "wild man," Dostoevski's "underground man," Nietzsche's "superman" and Ellison's "invisible man." Why then should we heed this man who heralds our preparation for Christ? Who is he to tell us and on what authority can he claim to know how and when the Lord will work in these troubled times? -- Stewart
