Sermon for Advent 2, Year A (12-7-25)

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Oh great, another cheery holiday message from our kill-joy vicar!

By the end of this I do hope that you, like me, will see the concept of divine judgement as Good News. But let's work up to it... shall we?

The Root of Jesse. While the other depictions of the incarnate God speak to what God will be up to in this human world, The Root of Jesse reminds us that this savior does in fact come from somewhere. Some place. Some people. Some family.

Now, a quick reminder here that Jesse was father to King David - who became the first great king of the people of Israel. And, of course, who established the royal line that leads all the way to....... Mary! Who then bears God into the world as the mother of the Christ Child. Who comes from this Root which we track all the way back to Jesse.

But take a look at the first line from Isaiah's prophesy. Jesse doesn't have a root there does he? What does he have instead?

A stump. How exciting. Someone tell me what makes a stump a stump...

Yes. While roots turn our minds toward growth and opportunity and stability and potential, stumps are basically just dead trees. And they rarely become more than that. In fact, we go to great lengths to get them out of our yards - useless eyesores that they seem to be.

And yet. A shoot shall come out from the Stump of Jesse. And a branch shall grow out of his roots. And after a lot of other things are made right "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 promises.

If you've ever seen new growth come out of a stump, you'll know it looks a little goofy. It's totally outsized, and it generally sticks out of the side at an awkward angle. And honestly, it seems relatively inconsequential. Because after all, it will take another lifetime - or even several - for that shoot to look like a tree again.

Jesse has a stump today because originally things went well for the dynasty that his son David built up, with God's help. That family ruled for nearly five centuries, and there were several bumps in the road, yes. But, they maintained power one way or another, and because that the people thought they were still in lock stop with God's plan. That they were sill entitled to God's good graces.

And then the Babylonians came, and they took that power. And they took them out of their homes, and they destroyed their temple. And seemingly destroyed their access to God. The great tree of the Davidic Dynasty had been swiftly axed, and now only a stump was left to rot in the vast forest of history.

But you've met Isaiah - you know the rest of the story. A shoot shall come out of this stump; this seemingly forgotten and thrown-away people who tried as they may to walk in lock-step with God; and who failed miserably. And who, yes, had to repent - to turn around - and to come back to the God who still held out a hand. A shoot comes out of this line and grows, slowly - oh so slowly into salvation.

John 3:16 is the most memorized verse in the entire bible: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." But it's verse 17 that's actually the Good News: "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

But as John the Baptist calls out loudly for us to hear today (and to remember always), Jesus has and will again come to Judge the world. Judge, but not necessarily condemn. Judge for the same reason we need courts and judges in our own time: to ensure justice (ideally), to point out what is wrong, or broken, or in need of restitution. Christ comes to Judge, because to leave us to our own devices would not be salvation - it would be abandonment.

But if it's not all about sheep and goats being separated, and about sending the good little boys and girls to heaven and the naughty ones to burn in hellfire for all eternity what is it about, this judgement? Isaiah gives us the assist once again:

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.

My friends, for things to be alright they have to be set right. Judgement is what restores creation to the dream that God intended for it to be. And just a bit further beyond John 3:16 we get it even more clearly: "For this is the basis of Judgement: God has sent light into the world!" And as always, we have an unchangeable, precious, and powerful gift of free will to do one of two things; walk into that light, let it's fire transform us, burn away what needs to go, and refine what is holy in God's sight.

Or, we can choose the darkness. We can go it alone. It is always our choice.

I'll leave you with a poem by Steve Garnaas-Holmes:

Expect not a regime imposed, but a wonder unfolding.
A healer, weeping, bends over a sick and wounded world.
Do all you can to resist the temptation to push away the hand.
(How have we lived, trying so hard to fix what can only be healed?)
Repentance is no great work, but allowing the miracle to take place.
Accept the wondrous mystery, cries the prophet,

for grace is so close to the surface.

Amen.