Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-13 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
December 4, 2015
Second Sunday of Advent
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. - Isaiah 11: 1-10
May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name’;
and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;
and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him’;
and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15: 4-13
Encouragement is found in the most unexpected places.
A few weeks ago my friend Diane was about to step into her business when a young African American woman walked up to her. The woman asked how to get to the Work Force Office on Jordan Lane. Diane asked the woman if she had a car since her destination was miles away. The woman had used the light rail and she was afraid she would miss an important appointment. Listening to the woman’s anxious voice, Diane offered to take the woman where she needed to go.
As soon as the seat belts clicked the two women began to talk. Diane was struck with how much they had in common: they both had a love for babies, they had both been single mothers struggling to support themselves and their children, and they both had family connections to Jamaica.
And then the woman opened up about the situation she was striving to overcome. The woman’s husband had been incarcerated for domestic violence. The abuse she incurred had been so oppressive the woman nearly lost their baby, a little girl who is now fourteen months old. The woman was on her way to the Work Force Office to apply for a job that her pastor was helping her to get. As she talked about her faith in God, Diane was inspired by the hope resounding in this young woman’s voice.
Right before the woman got out of the car she looked at Diane and said, “When I take the light rail to downtown, I usually exit out the tunnel the other way, but God sent me a different way today.”
Out of a dead end situation God provided a tangible hope to both of these women.
As Isaiah prophesied to God’s people, they were at a great loss. Assyria had invaded the Southern Kingdom of Judah, turning against King Ahaz’s corrupt deal to form an alliance. As a result God’s people had no one to turn to in hopes of leading them out of this oppression.
Authoritative leaders could not be trusted. The Syro-Ephraimite war devastated the people. Widows, orphans, and the poor were neglected. Everything seemed like a dead end. Where or who would the people of God turn to for encouragement and the hope of peace?
Isaiah’s words convey a resurrection promise from an unexpected place. From this dead end situation a tangible hope will rise up with the promise of new life from the stump of Jesse. What was left of the Davidic kingdom looked like a lifeless stump. But God wanted the people to look back into her roots for the divine encouragement promised in David’s lineage.
Not a lot is written about Jesse, the father of King David. But Jesse was a humble man. He was a farmer and a sheep herder. He was from Bethlehem and a descendent from the tribe of Judah (1 Samuel 16:1; 1 Chronicles 2:12). He was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz and within the promised lineage of God’s eternal kingdom (Ruth 4:12, 17-22). And from Jesse’s humble roots God’s promise is revealed as a divine gift.
This gift is none other than the Messiah whom we know as Jesus Christ. The Messiah is a tangible hope like no other. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him for he is anointed with divine credentials to redirect the course of all humanity and creation. The Messiah’s reign is an honorable one with divine strategy and discernment, sound advice and the valor of a warrior, as well displaying God’s truth and reverence.
The Messiah is who the people of God needed then and still need today for he does not make decisions based on the appearance of individuals, situations, or selfish desires. The Messiah lifts up the poor, the lowly, and the meek with right relationships and equity.
The greatest gift of the Messiah’s reign is peace where fear and violence are redirected by the hope of steadfast relationships. The predators and the prey within creation will lie down together in harmony. Humanity is encouraged by a keener awareness of God’s grace and hospitality to be one another’s keeper. This gift of peace not only rewrites the livelihood of the oppressed into a just and hope-filled reality. This gift of peace is a divine invitation for all creation and humanity to participate in revealing.
When you and I think of peace we often consider hardships and struggles will be resolved with an absence of conflict. But if we dig into the language of the Scriptures that is not how peace is described.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It means God’s actions are bringing about wholeness, completeness, and welfare from brokenness and oppression. Shalom is also a hope-filled word in which an individual bestows God’s best upon another as we wait for all things to be reconciled in God’s timing .The Greek from the Romans’ text describes peace as tranquilly awaiting the return of Christ for all things to be transformed.
Despite all the hard things we face in the world today, the season of Advent reveals that God is sending us a different way. We are not to get caught up in the tunnels that lead to dead ends and hopelessness. Rather we are to walk in the ways of the Messiahs’ Kingdom for Christ is among us as a tangible hope to lead us in the ways of peace. Therefore Christ is calling us to be a tangible hope to others to pray and work together for God’s shalom.
This past week we have heard so many people and places crying out for peace. When the cries are coming from places close to home we cannot help but listen to their stories and look for hope rising.
The latest addition to the south east forest fires has been in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It has been amazing to hear of fire departments coming from as far as Washington State to restore peace from a fiery chaos. I have been touched by the local stories of ordinary people doing their part as well.
Ric Morgan is a longtime resident of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. As the wildfires Monday night quickly spread to his neck of the woods, Morgan saw rivers of fire. His home was on Ski Mountain and it was blazing red. Morgan waited for two hours without luck for authorities to rescue him. Morgan escaped the wildfire with the help of a neighbor who spotted him waving a flashlight in his window as flames raced down Ski Mountain toward his apartment.
Morgan, 66, has two prosthetic legs and uses a motorized wheelchair. He also holds doctorates in theology and world religion and has served as a chaplain. This past week he has been living in the Red Cross shelter with hundreds of others who are displaced from the wildfires. And Morgan has been allowing his faith to guide him by offering a kind ear for anyone at the shelter who needs to talk.
“There has to be hope,” Morgan said. “It’s just a matter of putting the pieces together.[1]
Morgan’s comment sounds a lot like God’s shalom, doesn’t it? That is what working for peace looks like.
It is working with God as a tangible hope to put the pieces back together so that God’s Kingdom will transform all things. We may not know how to be agents of peace to end world hunger, to end the wars that seize innocent women and children in the world, or to bring complete healing to tragedies close to home. But it does not excuse us from this holy work either.
Advent reframes the places of hopelessness into holy places where the light of Christ illumines the broken fragments of humanity and creation with the hope of God’s wholeness and welfare for all.
We all long for God’s peace through our prayers. And as humanity and creation groan, hope will rise. For the steadfastness and encouragement of our Messiah lead you and me to be a tangible hope to others in seemingly small ways.
Giving a ride to that woman in need.
Being that listening ear when another hurts.
Releasing a grudge to bring repairs to a relationship.
Preparing hygiene kits for the homeless.
Each small act of love and encouragement works to mend the bonds of humanity and creation a little more until Jesus Christ brings God’s shalom to completion. May it be so for each of us as we wait for the Messiah again this Advent season.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
Advent Thematic Series title "The Holy Places of Advent: A Tangible Hope" adapted from "A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series"(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), pp. 5-6.
[1] Hayes Hickman, “Evacuee Recalls Rivers of Fire,” Knoxville News Sentinel, November 30, 2016.
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