Advent 2A
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
December 4, 2022
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72
Romans 15:5-13
Matthew 3:1-12
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Emmanuel. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
We’ve seen Christmas decorations are going up all around us. Many houses have lights adorning them. Christmas tree lots are busy. You’ve seen it too, yes? I see all sorts of red and green and gold and silver. And, while I have not yet spotted an Elf on the Shelf (thanks be to God J), I do see images of Santa appearing in any number of places. Candles are lit. Ribbons and bows are tied. The fragrance of pine and cinnamon wafts from candles and cookies. Ahhh… It is all so lovely, isn’t it??
And into all of this loveliness come other images – wilderness, camel hair, locusts, and stumps.
What do we know about a stump? – It’s what is left after just about the whole tree is gone. The taking down of a tree, the loss of its leaves is such a shock to the root system that there are few signs of life and often the tree will simply die off. And sometimes, not.
The prophet Isaiah said that there would be a shoot that would come out of the stump of Jesse. Who is this Jesse? Jesse is the father of David who became the King of Israel. Clearly the greatest king of Israel. He ruled when God’s People were one nation, about the year 1000BC. About King David, the Lord said, I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. No matter what happens, the kingdom of David is made sure forever. No matter what.
No matter what.
Now, the words of the prophet Isaiah in our first reading were spoken after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom when the Southern Kingdom, Judah, found itself between a number of rocks -- the empires of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt – and a hard spot – the Deep Blue Sea. Isaiah was speaking words of comfort to people who were threatened on every side. Many of us today may feel threatened on every side.
To these and to us, the prophet describes what it will be like because of that shoot that comes out of the stump of Jesse:
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.
Wow! Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a world in which every creature on the planet is totally and completely at peace with every other creature? Yes, that seems like an illusory pipe dream these days.
There is no shortage of discord around us. In our brokenness, we too quickly embrace categories and labels that divide us, that pit us one against the other. Did you vote for him or for her? Are you “Black Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter”? Do I think that one is red or blue – or green? Or perhaps gold? Build a wall or build a bridge? Are you this and are you that?
And, into this today comes John the Baptist as he does every year on the second Sunday of Advent. Into our midst of nascent Christmas comes this wild one – this one dressed in camel hair eating whatever the wilderness might offer to sustain him. And his message is clarion clear – Repent – the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
I want to speak for a moment about that word “repent.” When our wee ones hurt someone that they play with, we urge them to say that they are sorry. They say, “I’m sorry” and the play resumes, all is back to normal. And that is good – it is good to teach that we each do things that are wrong and hurt one another. And it is good that we learn to say that we are sorry. What is not good is when our play goes back to the same ol’ same ol’ that gave rise to the problem in the first place.
And that’s what John the Baptist is speaking to. He exhorts us to repent.
Repenting is not apologizing. Repenting is a turning, a re-orienting of our view of things. Repenting means that we are willing to see things from another perspective. And then that we may even to be willing to yield to that. Repenting involves a yielding of our very self to the Kingdom of Heaven that is among us. And repenting means that our very self is wrapped up into proclaiming this Kingdom of Heaven, this Kingdom that we bear, this Kingdom that is at hand. THIS Kingdom. THIS Kingdom of which we each are a part.
One of my favorite theologians is Fred Buechner, may he rest in peace, and he describes repentance this way – To repent is to come to your senses. It is not so much something you do as it is something that happens. True repentance spends less time looking at the past and saying, “I’m sorry,” than to the future and saying “Wow!”
So, my friends, join me in saying Wow – WOW – the kingdom of heaven is among us and in us and with us
Even now as we wait and wonder.
Even now as we come to the Table
Even now as we go forth to serve.
Even now as we look ahead.
May it be so.
And all God’s people said – WOW
WOW!
