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<DIV><FONT size=4>A second feature is the radical newness that is unfolding
here. The metaphor of the "Highway" in Isaiah picks up the idea of a new act of
God. That is a major theme of the section of Isaiah from which the quotation
here comes (42:8-10,43:18-19, etc; cf. 35:8) as the prophet speaks of the return
from Exile. In that sense, the First Advent was one of those acts of God that,
metaphorically, could be described quite well as a new "highway" of God's grace,
a new historical self-revelation of God. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Being careful not to move to allegory, the implication for
people’s lives should be clear: There is a newness with God in which He will
remove the obstacles to proper relationship. </FONT></DIV>
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href="http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Cadvent2nt.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Cadvent2nt.html</FONT></A></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Dennis Bratcher</FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4> v3. Only a Gentile convert to Judaism would
be baptized (a sign of regeneration), but John demands that Abraham's children
must now be baptized. It was as if Israel had reached the river Jordan and must
again cross the river to enter the promised land. </FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/advent2cg.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/advent2cg.html</FONT></A></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Bryan Findlayson</FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>... as one born and raised on the prairies of
Canada, I can't resist pointing out that they are already closer to Isaiah's
vision of the age to come than your so-called "scenic" rolling hills, forests,
and mountains. Take that, all you who mock our endless straight roads and wide
open clear skies. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>On the other hand, I think it is fair to also caution that
if we can put Handel's <EM>Messiah</EM> out of our heads - and any other
uplifting hymn tunes for this text - we'll realize that the images here are as
violent and catastrophic as last weeks.</FONT></P></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.holytextures.com/2009/11/luke-3-1-6-year-c-advent-2-sermon.html">http://www.holytextures.com/2009/11/luke-3-1-6-year-c-advent-2-sermon.html</A></FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>David Ewart, 2009</FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Before you know it, we're donning our own hardhats
and rolling up our sleeves to help level the playing field. Joining John and
Jesus are a host of those named in our era as in eras past, all for the care and
redemption of all that God has made. Caring for the creation, we seek to
redesign the landscape so that equality has a greater place. </FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossings.org/theology/2010/theolo759.shtml">http://www.crossings.org/theology/2010/theolo759.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Michael Hoy, 2009</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>One of the traditional icons of John the Baptist portrays an emaciated,
bearded, ecstatic figure in a rocky place, dressed in skins, and winged like an
angel.</DIV>
<DIV>Icons are silent stories, and because they are intensely traditional –
being copied from one generation to the next, with minor embellishments and
variations – they often transmit very ancient understandings about scriptural
people and incidents. (Some scholars believe that three of the faces we
see in old icons are based on actual portraits of Jesus, Peter, and Paul.)</DIV>
<DIV>So why does the iconographic tradition show John the Baptist with
wings? Because angels are usually the messengers of God in scripture, and
John’s task is to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.</DIV>
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<DIV>For me, “crooked” means the obvious stuff: avoiding the bars and the
sex clubs, the porn, and the promiscuity (actual or imaginary, the thought being
as “crooked” as the deed) that are so much a part of secular gay
culture.</DIV></FONT>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://gospelforgays.com/?p=614">http://gospelforgays.com/?p=614</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Jeremiah Bartram<I>, </I>2009</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV align=left>What is unique to Luke’s account, and significant for this
Sunday of the church year, is the placement</DIV>
<DIV align=left>of John in the drama of world history and salvation-history and
the declaration that, in John’s</DIV>
<DIV align=left>prophetic words and deeds preparing the way for Jesus,
</FONT><I><FONT face="Times New Roman">God </I></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman">was at work putting everything</DIV>
<DIV>together to bring salvation to all flesh.</DIV></FONT></FONT>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/11-4_Confirmation/11-4_Kolden.pdf">http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/11-4_Confirmation/11-4_Kolden.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=4>Marc Kolden, 1991</FONT></DIV>
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