Isaiah 11.1-10, Matthew 3.1-12
The Second Sunday of Advent, Sunday 4 December 2016, Sutton Montis
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
In the Eighth Century BC the Assyrians got busy expanding their empire with extreme ruthlessness. Where once they had used international extortion to spread their kingdom, the new mode of Assyrian conquest was to destroy the very infrastructure of the societies and cultures they invaded. Which is what happened to Israel in 722BC. And in Judah, the weak king Ahaz became a vassal of their dreaded powerful pagan enemy.
Assyrian imperial propaganda proclaimed the supremacy of their god Ashur and declared that the conquered peoples had been abandoned by their gods. The tribes of Israel, the sons and daughters of David, the people of Jesse’s line, were absolutely broken. [1]
Their kings had failed them. Their cities were laid waste; like an axed-down tree stump they were cut-low. [2]
But along comes Isaiah with a remarkable vision - the vision of a shoot coming out from the stump of Jesse, the promise of a branch growing out of his roots.
The promise of a new king, from the stump of King David’s line, a Messiah who would finally lead them as a people into God’s way of peace. They would become a community of peace in a hurting world, Isaiah told them, so that one day all would live on God’s holy mountain without fear of hurt and destruction. [3]
The shoot from the stump. What a wonderful image of quiet gentle rebirth in a world where all seems broken. What a marvellous picture of hope in a world where so much hope has been abandoned.
The Shoot from the Stump in the Advent of Trump. If we open our eyes we see it nudging forth today……
I’ve been hearing this week the story of Paula D’Arcy, now one of the top spiritual teachers of our time, whose ministry grew out of personal tragedy. In 1975, aged 27, Paula survived a head-on accident caused by a drunk driver swerving into the path of her car. The accident took the lives of her husband, Roy, and twenty-one-month-old daughter, Sarah. Pregnant at the time, Paula survived the accident to give birth to a second daughter, Beth.
About a year-and-a-half later, a friend arranged a meeting with a preacher Norman Peale. He quietly spent a half hour listening to her story, after which he said quietly, “Young woman, you’ve got a huge challenge ahead of you.”
“I think I know that,” she thought. But she simply asked, “What’s that?”
“Discovering the purpose of your life.”
Again, Paula felt the anger rise in her, her mind flooding with thoughts. But she simply said, “I lost the purpose of my life when my husband and daughter were killed.”
He brought his face closer to hers, with great love clearly filling his eyes, and said, “You lost the purpose you wanted. But there is another purpose in life for you. Life has a larger purpose.”
With those words, Paula’s life began to open up to new possibilities. Within several years, it was actually Norman Peale himself who asked her to speak with him to grieving people in need of healing. That’s how her life as a speaker and spiritual teacher began. Her life which had been like a stump cut-off by that drunk driver, now had a shoot of new life. [4]
We’ve seen it many times, when we think of it. The squaddie who lost a limb in Afghanistan now competing at top level sports; the recovering addict; the hard-nosed businessman who, after surviving a stroke, gave up a successful career to become a full-time foster carer. Shoots from the stumps.
What drives people to see the potential for positive change in their lives - in the world - even at the moment when all seems lost; and to follow the hunch that makes change possible?
In some of the most outstanding lines of twentieth century English language poetry the great spiritual-but-not-religious writer Dylan Thomas describes ‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower’. [5]
But what - or who - is that force, that force which brings life out of the dormant earth? That force which from the darkness brings green growth and flourishing?
The gospel writer John knows, when he says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. [6]
And the great expositor of the faith, Paul, knows, as he tells the Colossians,
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [7]
The force which brings life out of the dormant earth, the shoot breaking through from the stump, is the One who John the Baptist came as a witness to testify to.
Now, I feel for John. He knew that he was there to announce the coming of the One who would lead the people into freedom, restoration, salvation. But John the Baptist is old school; his image of the Messiah is the vengeful old god just like the god of the violent Assyrians, a god who wields an axe and cuts his enemies down in wrathful judgement. John hadn’t grasped the other strand running through the scriptures - of the generous creator God, the life-giver. The one who comes and transforms the world peaceably; the shoot from the stump.
John the Baptist as the last prophet didn’t see it quite completely and clearly. He still implies that God’s work in the world is to lay his axe at the root of the trees of the wicked, and cut them down to stumps. It took Jesus himself to explain God’s word to us completely and clearly. He is the one who teaches us to never strike back in vengeance and to love even our enemies. Most importantly, he is the one who stood in the breach of the evil of his day and became the tree cut-off on the cross. He let himself become the stump, so that on Easter morning a new shoot of life and peace could begin to grow. And on Easter evening he passed on that peace to you and me. “Even as the Father has sent me,” he says, “so I send you.” He sends us out with the power of forgiveness and healing and new life.
I believe that we live at a special time in history when a new shoot has begun to sprout. Humankind was laid-low in the aftermath of two world wars again last century. There are now newer threats of terrorism. For the first time in history we possess weapons by which we can utterly destroy ourselves. [8]
Looking at the state of the world today we may be inclined to despair. But I want to encourage you that in the Advent of Trump, the Shoot from the Stump is growing.
The church is being slowly revived to see completely and clearly its message once again that the wrath and violence are ours, never God’s. God in the cross of Jesus absorbed our hurt and destruction and is turning it into new life.
So a widow, after sufficient healing, begins to befriend and accompany other widows. An addict laid low by addiction slowly regains his life through the spirituality of the Twelve Steps, and becomes a sponsor for another addict. A soldier suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder experiences healing and begins volunteering with other veterans. [9]
What are we to make of one of the great cities of ancient Assyria, Aleppo, today reduced to ruins, reduced to a stump, by the present-day civil war? Is it possible for us to see any green shoots, growing there? Perhaps in the new beginnings being made by Syrians who have been taken in to the homes of generous people in other, safer, lands. Or our prayer might be for those diplomats and negotiators and international peacekeepers, working hard behind the scenes to create the conditions for an end to the conflict in Syria. [10]
In light of this week’s headlines about those many young footballers whose lives were so blighted by abuse, now that it is out in the open like a shoot breaking forth from a dead root, is it possible for us to begin to imagine a coming future where a survivor of incest or abuse finds the strength and inspiration to go on to help others survive? [11]
I believe it is. I believe it because the force which brings life out of the dormant earth, the shoot breaking through from the stump, is alive and active in the world.
Notes
[1] Andrew H. Bartelt, Second Sunday of Advent, Year A. First Lesson: Isaiah 11.1-10, in Roger E. Harn, ed, The Lectionary Commentary, Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts. The First Readings: The Old Testament and Acts, p.320-23; Wikipedia: Neo-Assyrian Empire; Wikipedia: Ashur (god).
[2] Paul Nuechterlein, A New Shoot Has Begun to Sprout, Advent 2A Sermon (2013). Adapted.
[3] Paul Nuechterlein, A New Shoot Has Begun to Sprout, Advent 2A Sermon (2013). Adapted.
[4] Paul Nuechterlein, A New Shoot Has Begun to Sprout, Advent 2A Sermon (2013). Adapted.
[5] YouTube: Richard Burton reads Dylan Thomas's poem 'The force that through the green fuse drives the flower'.
[6] John 1.1-3.
[7] Colossians 1.15-17.
[8] Paul Nuechterlein, A New Shoot Has Begun to Sprout, Advent 2A Sermon (2013). Adapted.
[9] Paul Nuechterlein, A New Shoot Has Begun to Sprout, Advent 2A Sermon (2013). Adapted.
[10] Wikipedia: Aleppo.
[11] Hundreds report football child abuse to police, BBC News, 1 December 2016.
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