Advent: It's All About Accessibility

Read: John 1:19-27

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
  Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.” (Isaiah 40:3-4)

For generations, people with disabilities have sought–and often, by necessity, fought–for the right to have the same level of access to buildings, institutions, and opportunities that TAB members of society largely take for granted. Indeed, there is little that is as frustrating for a person with disabilities than to discover that your disability excludes you from, for example, going to a certain restaurant or attending an event because the venue isn't wheelchair accessible or because service dogs are not allowed. Experiencing this kind of exclusion, whether deliberate or not, can leave a person with disabilities feeling demoralized, devalued, and isolated.

The Scripture readings for today indicate that God is also very concerned with issues of accessibility. The accessibility issue that God is most concerned about is sin. Our human proclivity to sin and break God’s law creates a huge barrier between us and the holy God who created us and loves us. No feat of human engineering, no matter how skillful, could ever succeed in bridging that gap between us and God. However, Isaiah 40 is a prophecy about Christ coming to become the bridge that restores our access to God. Later, John would echo Isaiah’s words to announce that Jesus had come to fulfill this prophecy. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus paved an accessible path back to God for all who acknowledge Him as the Way (John 14:6).

Lord Jesus, Thank you that you do care about accessibility issues. You demonstrated that during your earthly ministry by repeatedly making yourself accessible to people who found themselves shut out by their society. But thank you most of all for coming to bridge the chasm that our sins created between us and God.  May we, in turn, as your followers, be bridge-builders who help make level paths for others to find reconciliation with their fellow human beings and with God. Amen.