Isaiah 11:1-10
A ruler brings justice and peace
11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
11:2 The 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.
11:3 His 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,
11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed 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.
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.
11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
11:9 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.
11:10 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.
I know you really don’t want to say that word, “shoot,” much these days, as with the overwhelming amount of gun violence we are experiencing as the “Nation of Guns,” that‘s the first thing people think of when they hear “shoot.” However, this passage in Isaiah is talking about the kind of shoot that plant puts forth, as it’s growing up from its roots. I guess it’s safe to go there?
Now, I have to qualify the rule I’m about to break: we learned in seminary that we should not just “steal” passages from the Hebrew Bible and say they are talking about Jesus. The Hebrew Bible—the Old Testament to Christians—does not fully “belong” to us, as for thousands of years, it has been part holy writ for our Jewish siblings. But, with apologies to my good friend and Professor of Hebrew Bible, Dr. Steven Tuell, I will hold this passage up alongside the “promise” of a messiah, and for Christians, that messiah IS Jesus. Now, I’ll hedge my bets by saying that I’m not going to say this lectionary passage is talking about Jesus, but it sure sounds like it could describe what we have come to know about our Jesus. This reminds me of a story:
An brilliant, young elementary school teacher was asked by her pastor to give the children’s sermon on a given Sunday. As she gathered the children around her at the front of the chancel, being a good teacher, she wanted to get their attention and draw them into the story she was to tell. She started by saying, “I’m thinking of something that is furry, gray, lives in trees, and collects nuts for the Winter. What am I thinking about?” Several of the youngsters started waving hands, and she called on an excited boy in the front row, who responded, “Well…I KNOW it’s supposed to be JESUS, but it sure sounds like a SQUIRREL to ME!”
In our case with the Isaiah 11(Proto-Isaiah) passage, “I KNOW it’s supposed to be the future hope of God’s people Israel who were “cruisin’ for a bruisin’” before being exiled to Babylon, but it sure sounds like JESUS to ME!” We’ll leave it at that.
Roots are important to anything that grows. They take nourishment from the earth and funnel it, as needed, to the fledgling plant. Roots are unseen, but vital to the survival of the organism. The pastor in me wants to immediately point to the myriad leaders in our local churches who “fly under the radar,” but who are vital to the organism we call the church. These are indeed people who nourish and anchor the church, as roots do most plants. Like teachers, these local church leaders have always been my personal heroes. I can tell you stories about them for days. Here are just a few.
In my first church, there were people like Jim and Julie. Jim was a “blue collar “fellow who headed our trustees. He was one of the most genuine and committed human beings I have ever met. He would do anything to help the church and its mission. Interestingly, while a welder in his daily work, he was a visionary in his spirituality. If Jim was convinced something was a good idea, he had the “street cred” to sell it to the rest of the congregation. Early on, he decided that the “young spark” I brought to his church was what it needed, and he became my most important “get it done” leader. Indeed, I could tell you “Jim” stories all day long, too, as his spirit is what gave my pastoral leadership power in that church. Together, we helped that church recover from nearly closing, to become a vital, growing body, a state that lasted well beyond my ministry there, and one that bucked the tide of what was happening in that community, economically.
Julie was the Mom of our second-youngest family in the church. She had a love for God, people, and Christian Education. She had tried for years before I arrived to “revive” the children’s ministry of that church, but I would say that the church was in such a depressed state that her efforts were often met with more apathy than would fuel her energy, and very little took root. I came along as a “wet behind the ears” seminarian and student pastor, and discovered her passion for not just children’s ministry, but congregational ministry, as well. We made a good team, and soon, aided by the enthusiasm of the only other young family in that congregation at the time, built an effective program ministry that sent shoots out into the community. Julie even feed energy and ideas into the youth ministry that I so passionately wanted to launch, and her three “kids” became the roots of that, as well. The Jims and Julies, Clints and Bonnies, and the praying Velmas not only got me through seminary, while I served as their pastor, but they provided the incredible “nuclear force” that gave that church great hope, and turned it around to be a force of love in that community for many more years. These stories are far from unusual. In fact these “root” stories are typical for every successful pastor I know. Just ask them! They will start giving you names and tales of resourceful, loving, committed people—people brilliant beyond their formal status—whose faith, compassion, and energy boosted revival like the first stage of a rocket. If I we pastors would claim any “genius” or “Holy Spirit prompting” in their saga, it would be that we FOUND them and turned them loose! I’ve often thought about writing a book about these “roots” people in my church life, but haven’t, for fear it would be boring to the readers, but would keep me crying non-ceasing tears of joy and gratitude, in their remembrance. I do that without a book. In my occasional sleepless moments, I think about the Jims, and the Julies, the Faiths and the Brians, the Brents and the Johns, and the Barbaras and the Georges. And not to forget the Bobs and the Davids, and the Garys and the…well, you get the picture.
Roots and shoots. These are still the stuff of what that old hymn says, “How FIRM a Foundation…” That hymn reminds us that Jesus is truly the “foundation” of what the church will be, and he BECAME because of the deep, deep historical and spiritual roots that gave him life. HE became the shoot that launched His church. Do you see how easy it is to put Jesus into the description of the Hero of Israel described in Isaiah 11? The SPIRIT will rest on him…a spirt of WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING? Of COUNSEL and MIGHT? “He shall judge with righteousness” and work for equity for the poor and the oppressed. This WOKE hero…sorry, I just can’t resist using this APPROPRIATE term that has been so disparaged by modern political “leaders”…this humble Savior who will both teach us how to love our neighbor AND God, and will demonstrate ultimate compassion through his own personal sacrifice. This miraculous Jesus who will not let death actually kill things, most especially God’s vision for God’s people. Do you see why this is an important Advent passage offering the currently hurting church HOPE for a future yet to unfold? The true good news is that we don’t have to GET it to GET it! God’s salvation, re-visioning of the world, and the reconciling of all of God’s people TO God are going to happen, and the lion WILL lie down with the Lamb, and hurt and destruction WILL come to an end, whether we “get” it, or not, as God is the agent of this transformation, and Jesus is the hero of the story. HE is the shoot coming forth from the ROOT of Jesse, ultimately from the very ROOT of God, Godself. This is big, friends, and the whole thing is STILL unfolding. We’re not talking just heilsgeschichte (salvation history) here, but the future that is coming. Isn’t this really the focus of Advent?
I keep thinking about all those “dormant” folk in some of the churches I served, who were trying to get something done to advance their congregations, but who just needed a spark from the pulpit and a “HEAR! HEAR!” in church meetings from their pastor to send up a new shoot. Today, because of schisms and financial challenges, changes in the spiritual mores and practices (or lack thereof) in the culture, the church has slipped into a bit of a dormant “root” organization. This wonderful Isaiah passage gives us SO MUCH hope, reminding us that, not only has God not abandoned us, but that the Holy Spirit of God is waking up the “root stock” of the church, and inspiring a new generation of pastoral leaders to feed, inspire, turn them loose, and then get out of the way of the “shooters” who will make God’s dream a reality. I know that this all sounds so far-fetched, especially for those of you in churches hurt so severely by the evils of the “disaffiliation,” or whatever other schism your denomination has endured, but Isaiah LIVES to encourage us and to turn US loose to preach this Good News. Roots run deep, and they hold us together until the shoots can launch upward.
And what is the lesson for the individual in this text? First of all don’t be afraid to ask your “tough questions” of God. The text promises that God will allow our inquiries, and the greatest spiritual advancements I have ever witnessed have come from asking good questions, without expecting pat-answers. When Jesus said “Ask, and it shall be given you,” I’m convinced this wasn’t a promise about “stuff,” but answers. “Nations shall inquire of him” is a wonderful prophecy, and as we are living in a time when nations don’t seem to know what to do to actually BE great, it seems like as good a time as any for them to “inquire” of a Higher Power for some answers. For each of us, this is surely just as true! Form your questions to interrogate the Almighty, for it is in forming good questions that roots get “rooted” and shoots may begin to grow. Only in challenging God can we gain the courage, wisdom, and understanding to form for ourselves a purpose beyond the paycheck and a faith that is fervent, not frivolous. Roots and shoots are a much better launch pad for your future than chance and blind hope. And the text is right, that a “little child shall lead them,” for who has more vision than a child, and energy to match?
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