Disruptive Salvation

Scripture — Luke 3:1-6 (NRSV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius . . . the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Devotion

When we think of God’s salvation, we understandably envision the benefits it provides, including eternal life with God in this age and the age to come, forgiveness of sins, freedom from oppression, healing of brokenness, restorative justice, peace in our hearts and relationships, and so forth. We are right to associate all of these and so much more with divine salvation.

But there is an aspect of salvation that we might overlook, especially if we live comfortable lives. God’s salvation doesn’t gloss over what’s wrong in the world. It doesn’t pretend as if a nice coat of white paint will fix everything. No, God’s salvation includes making all things right, not nice. And the process of right-making can be quite disruptive.

John the Baptist made this point strongly in his preaching, paraphrasing a passage from Isaiah 40,

       Every valley shall be filled,

          and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

     and the crooked shall be made straight,

          and the rough ways made smooth;

     and all flesh shall see the salvation of God (3:4-6).

Talk about disruption! As a native Californian, I’ve experienced several traumatic earthquakes in my life. When the ground shakes, mountains and hills move, but usually only a couple of inches. If we were really to experience the kind of geological change envisioned in Isaiah 40 and Luke 3, it would be mind-blowingly disruptive. Perhaps the closest thing to this in my lifetime was what happened when Mount Saint Helens in Washington exploded in 1980. A tall volcanic mountain lost about 1,300 feet in elevation in just a few moments (see these photos).

Of course, John’s quotation from Isaiah isn’t really about actual mountains and hills. Rather, the point here is how God’s salvation disrupts many things in our world on the way to healing them. When God comes to save, the unjust systems of this world will be disrupted. Ungodly rulers will be displaced. The lowly will be lifted up. The oppressed will be set free. The salvation of God will disrupt the world in order to make it right.

What is the result of this right-making disruption? According to Isaiah, when God’s anointed comes to make things right, “there shall be endless peace” (Is 9:7). The peace that comes with God’s disruptive salvation isn’t glossing over what’s wrong with the world. Rather, it’s making what is wrong right. It’s doing things like making what’s crooked straight.

Cornelius Plantinga defines biblical peace in this way:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be (Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, p. 10).

In the season of Advent, we look forward to the day when the salvation that began with the first advent of Christ is completed in his second advent. On that day, God’s disruptive salvation will make what is wrong right. God’s peace—“universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight”—will fill the earth. With this hope we seek first God’s kingdom and justice today, enjoying the first fruits of God’s peace while living as peacemakers by God’s Spirit.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Heralding Voice.