God created the world to be a garden, a beautiful place of life and abundance. Isaiah the prophet speaks of God: “The creator of the heavens, who is God, the designer and maker of the earth who established it, not creating it to be a waste, but designing it to be lived in.” (Is 45,18) God intended that life would be a garden in which we could experience life in abundance. He did not create it to be a waste. The world that we experience today seems far removed from that garden. The world that we live in so often seems to be a vast wasteland, a desert place, full of emptiness. There is division and enmity everywhere we look. There is hatred, jealousy, civil strife, terrorist threats everywhere. Marriages and families are torn apart, leaving broken people in its wake. Today everyone stands accused. Sin and evil rob the world of its beauty. We seem to have lost our way. Every day we are forced to confront unimaginable acts of violence and destruction. Vast numbers of people are homeless, refugees and displaced persons who wander aimlessly looking for a place to lay their head. Is this a place to be lived in? Can we ever get out of the wilderness, the desert, the empty wasteland and find our way back to the garden? Will we ever come to the Promised Land or will we perish in the desert?

When we look around at this vast emptiness of life that is all around us we begin to wonder if there is a way out. What will give us hope? Lost in the wilderness of sin and corruption we need someone to come to us, someone to find us and lead us into new life. We need a guide who knows the way home. Jesus is the gift of God, the one sent from above to find us and to carry us home. “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom and leading the ewes with care.” (Is 40,11) Israel remembered God: “He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them and cared for them, guarding them as the apple of his eye.” (Deut 32,10) Jesus is the Emmanuel, God-with-us, who comes to save us. Jesus is our hope and our peace. Jesus comes to us to find us and to lead us to new life. God does not forget us, “I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have written your name;” (Is 49,16) God is patient and doesn’t want anyone to be lost: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2Pt 3,9f) When all seems lost, Jesus comes to us to redeem us and carry us home to the Father.

When we find ourselves surrounded by an empty wasteland, we need a way out. We need a path, a way, a road, a highway that will lead us into new life. We need something, or someone, that we can follow. God says through the prophet Isaiah: “See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.” (Is 43,19) John the Baptist begins the work of laying a foundation for a new way: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1,2ff) John prepares the way out of the desert waste through a baptism of repentance. The way out of the desert begins with turning away from sin and all that has destroyed the life of grace within us. Jesus will come to be the Way, the Truth and the Life and to pour out his Spirit upon us. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1,8) The Holy Spirit will fill us with new life, a holy life of joy and peace.

Advent reminds us that God has not forgotten us and left us alone in the wilderness of our sin but that he has sent Jesus, who comes to save us and to lead us back to the Father. He comes to be The Way out of the desert and into new life. The desert wasteland is not only an exterior reality but is also an interior condition of our interior lives. Jesus comes – not only into the world but also into our hearts. Repentance opens a way into our hearts and to a new holiness of life. If life seems empty and without direction, Advent gives us new hope that Jesus will come to us and lead us into new life, “but according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2Pt 3,13) Let us set aside the obstacles of sin and prepare ourselves for his coming. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!