Isaiah
11:1-10
“A shoot shall come out from the stock of
Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. .”
Isaiah is
an amazing prophet. Let’s listen to those words ready by John again, “The wolf
shall dwell with the lamb, and leopard shall lie down with the young goat…and a
little child shall lead them.”
What a
peace-filled scene. What an incredible image of tranquility, of reconciliation,
of hope, of desire, of trust in God.
But this
scene of peaceful bliss was far from the
reality in Israel when Isaiah penned these words.
When
Isaiah wrote these words, the people of Israel were confronting menacing and
constant attacks from the Assyrian Empire. The northern tribes of Israel were conquered.
And, although the southern tribes, Judah, did not succumb to the Assyrian
invasion there was an omnipresent threat of attack. Safety was not assured and
many recalled the golden age of King David as they looked to the future.
The Book of Isaiah records many prophetic
words of warning of impending disaster if the people of Israel did not change
their ways. Many of Isaiah’s warnings made him extremely unpopular. But in the
midst of his prophetic warnings there are also words of promise, fidelity and
hope. In fact, the Book of Isaiah has been so encouraging over the centuries it
has often been referred to as the 5th Gospel.
But
Isaiah had a word from the Lord and it goes something like this:
God has
been faithful to Israel but Israel continues to turn its back on God. They have
turned away.
Listen to
these words from the Isaiah 1 “The whole head is sick, the heart faints, from
the sole of the foot to the head.” (Is 1:6) A body covered in wounds and sores
in need of ointment. What a stark image of a sick body.
And here
is another image created by Isaiah, [Israel has been] “left as a booth in the
vineyard.” Just think of a beautiful vineyard, a beautiful green oasis bearing
much fruit, yet Israel is compared to an empty shack. (Is 1:8)
Isaiah
gives us images of sickness and abandon. He warns his people of God’s unending faithfulness
and exhorts them to change their sinful ways. He warns them: “Cease to do evil,
learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the orphan and
plead for the widow.” (Is 1:17)
And in
the next verse it is as if we are brought into the loving heart of God who
pleads for his children to be reasonable. God says, “Come now, and let us
reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing
you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be
devoured by the sword.”
So, in
the midst of the times in which Isaiah is writing. In the midst of all this
war, all the madness, all the selfishness, all the sin, all the hate, all the
injustices, the abandon of the weak and the needy, the abandon of the orphan
and the widow. In the midst of all this human mess. In the midst of all the
hurt and pain Isaiah prophesies of this “Rod from the stem of Jesse” and that
“the wolf shall lie down with the lamb.”
Peace is
coming; we just need to be faithful to God. We need to cease doing evil, we
must learn to do good, we must learn to seek justice, we must rebuke the
oppressor, we must defend the weakest in our land, the orphans and the widows.
That was
spoken nearly 3000 years ago by the prophet Isaiah.
Listen to
these words:
[Mr.
President your government’s policy] is positively unbiblical, un-Christian,
immoral and evil…the Bible teaches that people are created for fellowship and
togetherness, not alienation, apartness, enmity and division.”
These
were addressed to P.W. Botha in 1988 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as Tutu laid
out a theological argument that Apartheid was unbiblical.
How about
these words, “Daddy, I want to go to the swings” and you said with a hallow
voice and a dead weight in the pit of the tummy, “No, darling, you can’t go.”
What do you say, how do you feel when your baby says, “But, Daddy, there are
other children playing there.” How do you tell your darling little child that
she could not go because she was a child but she was not really a child, not
that kind of child. And you died many times and were not able to look your own
child in the eyes becaue you felt so dehumanized, so humiliated, so diminished.
Or how
about the gardener in Johannesburg who managed to build a nice home for he and
his family. One day it was announced that his home village was to be demolished
and the community moved elsewhere. The gardener askef or one favour, which was
granted him. He wanted to demolish the home he had worked so painstakingly to
build himself. He went back to the home and hanged himself.
But out
of these ashes of the defilement of God by racist who hide behind religion,
like in Israel, rise prophets. We get glimpses of them every once in a while,
even in our modern age and they come from the dignified, glorified, holy use of
Scripture to call us to repent from our evil ways and to respond with
faithfulness to God as God has remained faithful to us. Dietrich Bonehoeffer,
Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandella to
mention only a few. Their prophetic voice comes from God but it echoes of the
same themes that God has been making known to us since the prophets of Israel.
This is
what a modern day prophet sounds like. This was MLK’s last speech before being
assassinated.
These
people saw that there are vicious, sinful systems of injustice that are powered
by human greed. The Gospel teaches us that humanity is interwined. We are all
fallen; we are all sinners saved by grace. We are lifted out of despair by
hope. And we are not to participate in the broken systems of the world which
lead to the misery of so many, including ourselves.
Oh, and
here is Daniel… You know Daniel
from the book of Daniel. The prophet of Israel while the people of Israel were
in exile in Babylon. When he and his friends were charged for not following the
law of the empire which they knew to be unfaithful to God they refused. Here is
their response to King Nebuchadnezzar. “We have no need to present a defence to
you in this matter. 17If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. 18But
if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and
we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.’
You see
the Bible is the most inspiring document you can put in the hands of those who
suffer from injustice and oppression. If you want people who are in darkness to
find the light give them the good book about understanding the darkness and the
path to the light. If you want to free someone from slavery, give them the good
book that leads all of us from slavery to promised land.
Where is
Christianity growing the fastest? In places where people know injustice, where
people are poor, where people don’t have material wealth; people who know the
real forces of dehumanization and despair. Where people are hurting and crying
out to God for hope to the living God who is whispering into their ear saying,
“I love you, I have called you by name, pick yourself up, you have dignity
because I gave it to you, now listen to me. When you walk through the fire you
shall not be burned.” In these parts of the world people are being thrown in
jail for standing up for the light in the midst of darkness (Mandela spent 27
years in prison)
Where is
Christianity dying the quickest? In places where we are so comfortable in our
material wealth that we don’t even think we need a Saviour. All we know is that
we got lots of stuff; but what we need to hear is that all that stuff is spiritually
killing us. Christianity is dying in the rich part of the world because it is
not Christianity that is being preached but some silly notion of self-serving
salvation that has been reduced to escapism to heaven instead of the salvation
of gracefully getting on with the will of the Father. Grace-filled action now
in the midst of the muck of the world is Christianity with muscle, the
Christianity of faith, the Christianity where we fear neither life and death
every moment of every day because we know the promises made to us by God
through Jesus. We know we need to get dirty in the muck of the world just as
Jesus did. So that we can get dim glimpses of heaven now knowing that in the
last great day we will see clearly. That’s Christianity of trust. That’s
Christianity with passion. That’s Christianity of hope. That’s Christianity of
the wolf lying down with the lamb.
I don’t
know where this Sunday morning country club came from but if the devil doesn’t
quiver in his boots every morning when your feet hit the floor you don’t know
the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives, to change village, to change
cities and to change the world.
Nelson
Mandela said, “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who
never stopped trying.”
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of
his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if
they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more
naturally to the human heart than its opposite." — Nelson Mandela
Now, back to Isaiah and the
hope he spoke of. Here it is in Is 11:1, “A shoot
shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots.”
Isaiah leads us to visualize another image. The
base of a tree. The trunk and the roots of this tree are named Jesse. Jesse is,
of course, the father of David the great King. So the image is literally one of
a family tree. But our attention is being directed to a new branch from the
house of Jesse – evoking the royal linage of David.
The following verses go on to explain the
various attributes of this new King: These include “wisdom and understanding”
with “counsel and might” “knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
These attributes are hoped for in a ruler.
This new ruler will rely on the coventanatal
qualities of righteousness and faithfulness.
The beneficiaries of these covenant commitments
will be the poor and meek and the wicked will be killed by the breath of his
lips.
It seems righteousness and faithfulness to
doing the will of the Father involves the welfare of the most defensless and
marginal.
The Gospel writers, indeed early Jesus
followers, assert that this prophesy was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus
the Messiah of Israel.
What is the Spirit saying to the Church today?
Do these verses resonate: Cease to do evil, learn
to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless and plead
for the widow
James
1:27, “Religion that is pure and
undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in
their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Thanks be to God for people like Nelson Mandela
who knew God’s plan for reconciliation of all people. Where the wolf will lay
down with the lamb.
Thanks be to God for Isaiah and the hopeful prophesy
that that wolf will lay down with the lamb. Isaiah went on to write in 12:
You will say on that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.4And you will say on that
day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
The root of Jesse has
come. His name is Jesus and he has taken upon himself all your burdens. We have
a hope, a living hope, an eternal hope. This hope is based on God’s
immeasurable love for you. You did nothing for it, it was all done for you, by
God. This is God’s gift for you, to make things right again in hopeful
expectation of the root of Jesse’s coming again.
Accept this eternal gift.
And do no evil, stand up
for justice; protect the orphan and the widow. Amen.
