When we give or receive directions, we often use landmarks to mark the way. I have the pleasure of visiting some of the farms around Walla and Alma Park. The first time I visit a farm, I wait with interest how my path will be described. “Go passed the cemetery, turn right at the third dirt road, go on for about 2 klicks until you see a dead tree, then go over the cattle grid and turn left.” I wonder what strange and interesting landmarks you’ve heard, or used yourself, to describe a path?
Last week we heard that Advent is like walking a path. We are on the path to Bethlehem and the coming of Jesus. I likened the Advent journey to my walk up “Busters Hill” (the small hill with the mobile phone tower on the outskirts of Walla). As I walk, I look up at the hill and anticipate the destination. Along the way there are signposts and landmarks. One of the landmarks I walked passed was a tree stump.
In our Old Testament reading, the prophet Isaiah points out a landmark along our Advent path. He asks us to look at the ground. “Look at this stump,” Isaiah says.
From the stump of Jesse, a shoot will come up;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1)
The context for this prophecy is the devastation of war. The earlier chapters of Isaiah, as well as 2 Kings/2 Chronicles, give the back story. The northern kingdom of Israel had angered the LORD. They worshipped other gods and did wicked things (2 Kings 17). They were prideful and arrogant (Isaiah 9:9), and so Israel formed a coalition with Damascus to attack the southern kingdom of Judah. (The intent was that, once Judah was conquered, all three might pool their forces to fight together against Assyria). But Ahaz, the king of Judah in the south, also angered the LORD. He worshipped other gods and idols, even practicing child sacrifice (2 Chronicles 28). So the LORD uses the northern kingdom of Israel to lay waste to the south, sparing Jerusalem and a remnant. Then the LORD uses Assyria to devastate the northern kingdom, like a ‘razor’ shaving off their hair and beard, leaving Israel shamed and exposed (Isaiah 7:20). Imagine an axe swinging against a large tree, it falls and crashes down, leaving destruction and mess. Once the dust settles, all that’s left is a stump.
John the Baptiser has a similar message in our gospel reading. ‘The axe 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.’ (Matthew 3:10). The Advent message is not just a smiling mother Mary, a baby cooing, and livestock softly lowing. Rather, the Advent message is that God cuts us down to the stump. He brings us to our knees. He makes us see that we are dead and helpless — like a stump.
Advent is a time when we can ponder the fruit, or perhaps lack thereof, in our lives. Advent is a time to consider family tension (which typically rears its ugly head at Christmas gatherings). A time to reflect on our congregation, which has dwindled and aged. A time to consider the devastation and injustice that plagues our world. Advent is a time to consider the stumps in our lives and around us.
Yet amid horror, devastation, and uncertainty there is hope. A small green shoot is growing out of the stump. ‘A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse’ (Isaiah 11:1). This branch is a marker of redemption — one day, out of war and destruction, peace will spring forth. Isaiah paints what is — arguably — the most vivid picture of peace ever recorded:
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. (Isaiah 11:6)
Yet this picture of peace is unnerving. It doesn’t seem natural to us. Can you imagine wolves living peaceably with lambs, or foxes with hens?! Then it gets even more unnerving!
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. (Isaiah 11:8)
To be honest this picture makes my skin crawl. Imagine your child, or grandchild, playing with a rattlesnake. Or a red-belly black curled up on a toddler’s lap being stroked like a puppy. This kind of peace — the peace that transcends understanding, the peace of God — is unnatural to our sinful humanity. A child playing with a rattlesnake. God born as a human baby in a manger. God dying on a cross. How can these be pictures of peace?! God’s peace turns our expectations on its head.
How will God bring about the promise of this otherworldly peace? It will come about through a leader. Not like the ones who have led the people to destruction. But a new leader. One on whom the Spirit rests. One who is wise and understanding, mighty and knowledgeable. One who will act not out of self-interest, but will bring justice to the needy, poor, and oppressed.
The first shoot to come this stump is Hezekiah, the son of king Ahaz. Hezekiah perceived that Israel fell and was taken captive by the Assyrians because they had worshipped false gods. So when Hezekiah became king he initiated a time of renewal. He reopened the temple. Under his leadership, the people repaired and cleansed their place of worship. Sacred vessels, defiled under his father Ahaz, were sanctified (made holy). They resumed animal sacrifices and burnt offerings. They fortified Jerusalem against attack. Having done everything humanly possible, Hezekiah then placed his trust in God. And, for a time, the southern kingdom of Judah withstood Assyria. Hezekiah was hailed a hero (2 Chronicles 29–32). A shoot came up from the stump. (Unfortunately the peace was short lived, for there came a time when Babylon become the LORD’s instrument, sending the prideful and sinful southern kingdom into exile).
The second shoot to come up from the stump is Jesus. In Jesus’ day, the Israelite people were still under oppression, this time by the Romans. Their way of life was a stump compared to the former glory of David and Solomon. The gospel of Matthew lists the genealogy of Jesus, which includes Jesse, David, and Hezekiah in his family tree. So baby Jesus asleep in the manger is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, a marker of redemption. From this baby King, new life will come. But imagine the disciples, as they gathered behind closed doors after Jesus’ crucifixion. Their leader and hope is dead and buried, cut down. All that remains is devastation. A stump. Yet out of this stump a shoot grows. The empty tomb is another marker of redemption — a marker that new life is possible, there is something more to come. Every time we celebrate Holy Communion we encounter this marker of redemption — a sign or landmark that out of Jesus’ death comes up the shoot and promise of new life.
We can see these markers of redemption throughout history, and even sometimes in our own lives.
- St Paul was chased by the Roman authorities, fleeing from city to city. But out of this stump a shoot grew — the gospel was spread faster and further than if he’d stayed in one place.
- Martin Luther was likewise chased by the Roman authorities, having to flee for his life to Wartburg castle. Yet, out this this stump, a shoot grew — Luther had time to translate the Bible into German (the first time the Bible was translated into a vernacular language).
- A rabbi tells a story of a group of Austrian Jews who survived the horrors of a WWII concentration camp in Buchenwald. While they were imprisoned in that living hell, surrounded by war and devastation, they dreamed of settling in Palestine and starting a “kibbutz” (a religious commune centred on farming, family, and worship). They did manage to survive until the camp was liberated and they fled to Palestine and founded their community, which still exists today. They named their kibbutz “Netzer” (which is Hebrew for “branch,” Isaiah 11:1). [1] This too is a marker of redemption, a shoot from a stump.
- I have an acquaintance who discovered she was unable to have children, even though she desperately wanted them. In her particular case (and this by no means universal) she felt God gave her a different mission — she now heads up an organisation that helps to resettle refugees. Each person she resettles is like a child to her. ‘A shoot will come up from the stump.’
Have you seen similar markers of redemption in your life, or the life of friends and family? Where do you see a shoot sprouting from a stump? It may be that you are still waiting for the stump to shoot. Advent is the season of waiting. We wait for the coming Lord Jesus, who is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the Branch that bears fruit in and through your life.
May Advent be a time to consider the stumps in your life. May God show you that you are dead and helpless. But God’s promise is that a shoot will come up from the stump. May the peace of God, that transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. For Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the Branch from the root. May his resurrection bear fruit in your life. Amen.
[1] Story told by Katherine Willis Pershey, 2016, A Preacher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series, Westminster.
