Advent 13---Continuing Our Blue Ridge Parallel

[HKHaugan]

Let’s look again at the three-fold purpose of the Blue Ridge Parkway: first, preserving a way to behold the beauty of Creation for all future generations, second, putting people to work during the Great Depression and third, building an accessible road through the mountains.

Right now we will look at the first one, preserving a way to behold the beauty of Creation for all generations. The parallel here is to return humanity to its source, our Creator God. It’s interesting to note that the plan was not just to meander through the mountain wilderness but to make a high road across the high ridges making the ascent to the highest peak, Mt. Mitchell. There you have a vista that stretches for hundreds of miles in any direction.

Shifting into the spiritual dimension what did God do but give us a vision of Himself through His Creation. When you stand up there you can see what God has given us to see, the beauty of His Creation and the Glory that is Him. It is as though every peak gives glory to the highest peak and from that peak, that ridge, all the others receive their glory. It was the Parkway that got you there but the ’Way’ to really see it. Paul hits it squarely when He says, “But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse (Rom.1:20 The Message).”

So what you are really looking at is the glory, the beauty and the majesty of our One God beheld by His people, directly, personally and eternally. When the first believers described their daily experience of Jesus, they called it ‘The Way (Acts 9:2).’ This as their response to Isaiah 40:3, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” which John quoted. Jesus repeats this affirmation of Himself in John 14 when He says He is the “Way.” Jesus has given us spiritual eyes to see what our physical eyes can’t see.

This is the vision, thus the mission, the Lord has given us for each human heart, to make Him our ‘Way’ to and from each next heart. He is the ‘Way’ from ridge to ridge, (each heart an image of God waiting for us to share Him). He is the ‘Way’ from valley to valley (walking with one another through the wilderness that is this world). He is the ‘Way’ through forests (walking together through the uncertainties and fears that surround us). He is the ‘Way’ from peak to peak (worshiping, praying and sharing our spiritual natures together). Wasn’t this the journey of Abraham and Isaac to the mountain of sacrifice? Wasn’t this the journey of the Moses and the Hebrew People through the wilderness? Wasn’t this the giving of the Law on Mt.Sinai? Wasn’t this the building of the Temple and Jerusalem on Mt.Zion? And what more clear message than the journey of Jesus through the hills of Galilee to Jerusalem and the Cross on Mt.Calvary? Ridge to ridge, person-to-person, heart to heart.
The earth is filled with many mountain ranges. People are drawn to them in every part of the world. Some climb them, some just view them and some keep pictures of them. There is a fascination built into the human heart and mind about mountains. There’s something about being at the top, on the top, climbing to the top wherever we are professionally, socially, economically and spiritually. When we connect that fascination with the Lord Jesus then we see His plan. It is to bring each heart, each ridge into His heart like a mountain range with its highest peak, considered such because they were formed together to be recognized as a range like the Blue Ridge, the Appalachians, the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Alps and so on. “In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then he didn't leave them without a clue, for he made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops (Acts 14:17 The Message).” The rain of His Spirit will give us the bumper crop of insight, growth and wisdom in sharing the fruit of His kingdom as we see Jesus as ‘The Way’ to every person we meet. Each one a heart, a ridge, a peak waiting to be connected to the highest peak as the whole spiritual world becomes one big glorious range reflecting His Glory.

Next we want to consider the second part of the Blue Ridge plan, putting people to work during the Great Depression.