Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. - Pastor

The Second Sunday of advent - December 9, 2002

Lessons:

"Good news from a dead stump"

Introduction:

Ever hear of 'dendrochronology'? That's the science of dating wood by the sequence of its rings. Archeologists have studied ancient trees, and ancient pieces of wood, and discovered a sequences of weather patterns, and thus the age of the wood, going back thousands of years.

In wet and warm years, trees grow quickly and leave wide rings. In cold, dry years, they grow slowly. By matching up these patterns in wood, scientists can link one piece of wood to another, and create a solid sequence for a long, long time. The payoff is this: When scientists know the tree growth pattern for an area, they can accurately date pieces of wood they find, and thus date the things found around them. A dead old stump can tell them a lot of news.

Our OT text talks about another stump with a message; a stump that brings Good News.

I) Isaiah's Stump

Isaiah begins our OT lesson with these strange words:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit

Shoot? Stump? Roots? Branch? Trees? Lumberjacks? Who or what is it talking about?

This passage speaks in sort of a code which may not make much sense for us. The key is the name, "Jesse."

Jesse was the father of King David, the mightiest king of Israel. David lived exactly 1,000 years before Jesus. And God had promised David that a descendent of his family 'tree' would always be king. But, about 400 years after David, God punished Judah, the David's kingdom, by making the Babylonians take them captive.

Seventy years later God brought them back, but they never had a king from David's family again. Did God break his promise? For the next 500 years, under the Greeks, in independence, and then under the Romans, still they had no king from David's line. What had happened to God's promise?

In our text, back in the days of the Babylonians, Isaiah makes a promise. Jesse was the 'root' of David's family tree. David's family of kings. At the beginning of these centuries without a true king, Isaiah makes a bold promise. David's family line had been cut off like a tree. Jesse's root was just a dead stump. David's family tree had been cut down. But Isaiah makes a promise:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit At some point that dead promise of God's faithfulness to David's family forever would wake up and come to pass.

II) Why Was the Tree Cut Down?

We may wonder why the Babylonians snuffed out the king's family.. That's what you do in war. The leader is killed, so he won't rise up and cause trouble. The end of the siege of Jerusalem is filled with intrigue, a puppet king and violence.

So why wasn't a king from the family of David put on the throne when they came back from Babylon? It seems to be a combination of things. The Persians still ruled over them, and they didn't want a strong king from a hereditary dynasty. The priests of the Temple in Jerusalem had taken over running things, and they were pretty much in charge from there on out. In Jesus' day the Sadducees and the High Priest's family were politically powerful and struggled with the Romans for rule of the people. The Persians, nor the Greeks, nor the priests wanted a king from David's family.

During the short time of independence, between the time of rule of the Greeks and the Romans, the Maccabbee family were the leaders of the uprising, and so became the rulers of Israel. But they weren't from David's family.

Then, when the Romans took over, they put their puppet king, Herod, on the throne. He wasn't even Jewish! He was an Idumean, from the people east of Israel. The throne wasn't his either, that's why he guarded it so carefully, killing off most of his family to protect it!

There were good political reasons why all these forces worked at different times to keep the true king, a son of David off the throne. Obviously, if both Mary and Joseph knew they were descendants of David, his family must have kept track of their old claim and God's promise.

III) What Do We Bring Home?

So, this promise of a new beginning, sat there, waiting to sprout for more than 500 years.

But it came to pass. In God's timing, it happened.

God's promises are sure.

So is his promise to care for you for eternity.

So is his promise to keep baby Jason in the covenant God began with him this morning.

In God's timing, it took awhile, but it happened. God keeps his Word.

Just like he came the first time, he will come a second time to take you to be with him.

He will keep his Word.

As we look at a world of uncertainty, warfare, terror and chaos- we read a text like this and realize the steadiness of God's hand. His will shall come to pass.

The end-times vision will come to pass. Jesus the King will return, and he will reign. Jesse's stump has sprouted and it will flower.

A time will come when the dangerous animals on the list in our text will lie down in peace.

[2] The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--

[3] and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

[4] but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

[5] Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

[6] The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

[7] The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

[8] The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

[9] They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

[10] In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

A little one like Jason will be at peace with even the cobra or viper.

But for now, we have the presence of the Spirit, maybe you recognized our text in the baptismal service:

[2] The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--

We have the first fruits of that age; we have a Lord who is present and King of Kings.

And he will take care of you as this world goes through the pangs of the birth of the coming kingdom. Amen

December 9, 2001-Advent 2

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

[2] The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--

[3] and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

or decide by what he hears with his ears;

[4] but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

[5] Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

[6] The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

[7] The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

[8] The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

[9] They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

[10] In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Romans 15:4-13

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. [5] May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, [6] so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[7] Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. [8] For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs [9] so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name."

[10] Again, it says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."

[11] And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples."

[12] And again, Isaiah says,

"The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."

[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea [2] and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." [3] This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "

[4] John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. [5] People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. [6] Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

[7] But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [8] Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. [9] And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. [10] The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

[11] "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. [12] His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."