“So strengthen
your drooping hands and your weak
knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that
what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.”
--Hebrews 12:12-13
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way… When I hear this phrase, I always think of John the Baptist and the baptism of our Lord (cf. Mk 1:3; MT 3:3, etc). I always imagine a bony finger pointing toward the desert, or a raging fist shaking against the horizon, and a prophetic cry to clear the way—God is coming! For me, this image usually comes with locust and honey and a scraggly beard. But today as I was studying the mass readings for this Sunday (21st Sunday in Ordinary Time), I suddenly heard something new in the text. I didn’t hear a warning, or a challenge, I heard a kind of invitation, and a curious note of compassion; concern for the traveler. And that opened my eyes and my ears to see and hear this image in a new way. A way touched by concern not just for the honor and glory of God, but also for those who struggle with their faith journey, for those who may stumble along the way.
Before I go any further, let me say a word about the Letter to the Hebrews. First, we do not know who the author was, though some have speculated it was written by Paul or one of his followers. Second, though it is often called the Letter to the Hebrews, scholars now refer to it not as a letter, but as a sermon. And last, it is one of the most influential “letters” of the New Testament, a powerful influence on both Christian theology and the liturgy of the church. This is the book that develops the theology of Jesus as high priest, and employs the visionary image of the community of believers as a “cloud of witnesses.” If you have never read it, I highly recommend you set aside a little time and read it through. It can easily be read in one sitting—probably less than an hour. You will find it an inspiring book, reverberating in your soul long after you finish; perhaps the rest of your life.
I don’t have anything profound to say about this verse, only that I was deeply touched by the way it brought together the prophetic call to make a straight way with the detail of an injury. It humanized the call for me, and made it personal. That concern for weak knees and drooping hands, speaks to my heart. I often feel exhausted in both my faith life and my family life (forget about work). And so, that call to renew my strength and to be careful and avoid turning a minor injury into something worse, made me stop and think. This verse, this prophetic cry, it has a real life application. When we are feeling overwhelmed, weak, exhausted, we need to be careful, to give ourself grace, and let our strength be renewed, so that we can continue our journey. What I hear in this is good coaching. It is a word of encouragement wrapped around some good advice: You can do this. It isn’t going to be easy, but you got this. Be careful. Pickup your feet, and take it slow and steady. Walk a straight path and you won’t get lost, and it will be easier on your knees. Don’t overdue it or start walking just any which way. That’s how you got hurt in the first place and that’s how you make things worse: you’ll end up disjointed.
Yes. But I also hear the coach telling me—this isn’t just about you! Make a straight path. Others will follow. You don’t want to lead them into the ditch or out into the wilderness. Just walk the straight path; and know that with every step you take will make it that much easier for the person behind you. That straight path in the wilderness that Isaiah and John the Baptist proclaimed, was a prophecy of the coming of the messiah. But in the light of Jesus’s life and sacrifice, it becomes a prophetic call to live that path, to become that path of kindness and compassion, to live a life of hope and peace and simplicity and love for your neighbor—even the ones you don’t know or notice. What I am hearing is this: the straight path isn’t a geographic or geometric line, it is a line that runs straight through every human heart. Walk that line. Walk that path with care not just for yourself and your reputation, but with concern and compassion for those that walk with you and those who will come after you. Make straight the path not just for the sake of your own weak and crackly knees, but for the sake of those who will come later, with their own infirmities and injuries, souls who may find themselves struggling in ways I could never imagine.
What I hear most decidedly is a call to clear away every obstacle you can, that those who follow will find a path clear and straight and smooth and paved with love.
