Readings: Matthew 3. 1-12; Isaiah 11. 1-10; Romans 15. 4-13 Second Sunday of Advent- 8th December 2019
The season of Advent is a highlight of any congregation’s life. It is a time of joy, colour, light, and anticipation. And it is a time of worship. This is a season that calls us to fall to our knees in worship of the awesome God. Advent is the season where we remember that God chose to put on flesh and dwell among us. God reached down from incomprehensible light & heights to touch the life we live. And God chose to be born in the humblest of ways, in a manger, in a barn, or a cave, or on the side of the road. The Creator God Almighty crying in the prickly hay, fodder for animals. There is no proper response, other than worship.
Isaiah 11 begins with the claim that new life will spring forth from an injured stump: or a dead stump“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” What a Hope.
Isaiah the prophet tells us that it shall become a reality. It shall occur when a shoot springs up from that chopped-down tree that is the house of David the King. A new branch will appear from the roots of that stump, and it shall mark the beginning of the new age.Isaiah lived in a century when it was clearly evident to men of vision and to men of God that David’s dynasty was passing. It would soon be cut down. The prophet spoke for God and about God’s plan when he saw that a branch would come forth. It was a branch which would change the old nature of that tree, and with it would come a new age to mankind.
The concrete expression of this new future is a ruler on whom the spirit will rest (verse 2). Promise comes to Israel in the form of a person — a human king who embodies the best of Israel’s traditions: He is wise and understanding (verse 2), powerful and effective in war (verses 2, 4), able to judge for the benefit of the poor (verse 3-4), and obedient to God (verse 2, 5). This king rules the world in such a way that the poor are treated righteously, the meek are given a fair hearing, and the wicked are killed. So glorious is this reign that he is literally clothed in righteousness and faithfulness (verse 5).
Paul clearly interprets it as related to the messiah when he quotes this verse in Romans 15:12. ‘The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.’Also, the book of Revelation quotes Jesus as saying, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16).
in our text from Isaiah verses 6-7 we have a beautiful prophecy of a return to harmony among the animals,
“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.”
It reminds us of the beautiful prophecy we heard last Sunday from Isaiah about a return to harmony among humans also,
They
shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor
shall they train for war again. (Isa 2:4)
Both last Sunday’s prophecy and today’s also tell us how these prophecies will be fulfilled; the whole world will turn to God. That is how these prophecies of peace will be fulfilled, by turning to God again. In today’s reading we are told, “the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord.” (Isa 11:9) Isaiah presents us, instead, with a vision of cosmic reconciliation: of a transformation that cannot be wrought by human efforts alone, but must be received as a gift from God.
Jesus will be the one who will make all this peace and harmony possible and heal all brokenness when the whole world will turn to him. We could see Jesus as the “root of Jesse” who will accomplish all this. Jesus certainly had a powerful earthly ministry, and He continues to minister graciously in the present through Word, sacrament, and us.
Our Gospel reading today, is about John the Baptist. He is one of may favourite Biblical characters. Few days back we had a Bible study on John the Baptist in one of our Tuesday Bible studies. John was born a priest (Luke 1.5, 13). According to the regulations of law, he should have worn the priestly garment, which was made mainly of fine linen (Exodus 28. 4, 40-41; Lev. 6:10; Ezekiel 44. 17-18), and he should have eaten the priestly food, which was composed mainly of fine flour and the meat of the sacrifices offered to God by His people (Lev. 2:1-3; 6:16-18, 25-26, 7:31-34). However, John did altogether differently. He wore a garment of camels’ hair and a leather girdle, and he ate locusts and wild honey. All these things were uncivilized, uncultured, and not according to the religious regulations. He did not do any miracle all his life. And, he emerges in the wilderness to call the people to repent. But we read even in our Gospel today Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. All because he had a message from God to share with he had a word from God for the people. Therefore the words of John the Baptist in our Gospel today are words that we want to make our own also, Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. (Matt 3:8). Repent is a lot more being sorry; it is having a sense of being sorry but also turning away or going in a different way- going God’s way. Another words outward sign is useless unless there is inward change. It clearly applies to us what we do should match what we say in our liturgy. What matters here is that we should produce good fruits as John the baptist puts it. What we say and believe should be acted out in our lives. The question I would like to ask is our Christianity attractive not based on the clothes we wear and the diet that we eat but the way that we live. Next difficult question which we can ask ourselves do our action match our words or what do we need to repent as John called the people to repentance.
Whereas these prophets pointed forward to this moment, the Church (you & me) is the first fruit of God’s saving act — called into being by Christ to make his reign manifest in our common life.For this reason, Paul instructs the Romans to “welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
The invitation of our Sunday readings is, therefore, both full of hope and deeply challenging. In the advent of Jesus Christ our Lord, Isaiah’s promise of a just and righteous king has been fulfilled. As his Church, we must allow His grace to transform our relationships, so that a troubled and turbulent world might see His just and peaceable Kingdom made manifest in our common life.
In the name of the father, and of the son and of the holy Spirit. Amen.