Stump vs. Spirit
Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's first lesson. What do you think? This was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
1A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2The 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.
3His 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;
4but 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.
5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6The 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.
7The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9They 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.
10On 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.
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2The 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.
3His 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;
4but 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.
5Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6The 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.
7The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9They 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.
10On 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.
Wow! Can you imagine such a world? Enemies at peace, justice in government, a ruler who adorns himself with righteousness and faithfulness instead of sword and spear. How can this be?
This all starts out with death—a tree stump. That means there used to be a flourishing tree growing there…but no more. What can be done? The spirit blowing over it. God’s Spirit brings life—the shoot—something not very big. What can God do with that? God’s Spirit is powerful.
God renews the nation of Israel, beginning with the shoot of Jesse, the father of King David. Jesus the Messiah is from the line of David. He was a new kind of king.
This new king will even influence nature. Natural enemies interact with each other in surprising ways. What particularly strikes me is verse 8, “The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.” That’s absolutely incredible. But that is the work of God’s Spirit—from death to life to far more than we could ever ask or imagine! I think of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:8-10).
God’s wind wants to blow over and through us. New possibilities depend on the wind, which the stump cannot withstand. The wind is blowing. Advent is our decision to trust the new wind against the hopeless stump.
As the Advent hymn “All Earth is Hopeful,” declares, “All earth is hopeful, the Savior comes at last…God’s truth and justice set ev’rybody free.” (ELW 266). Embrace that hope! The Spirit is on the move.
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