COMMUNION SERVICE
Readings: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 , Isaiah 11:1-5; Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3:1-12
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, December 4, 2022
In Chartes Cathedral in France is a beautiful and unique stained-glass window dating back to the thirteenth century. Known as ‘The Tree of Jesse’ it is based on the genealogy of Jesus that appears in Matthew’s gospel, tracing His family tree from King David’s Father (Jesse) to his birth in Bethlehem. At the base of the window is a picture of Jesse with a tree sprouting from his body. At the top of the window is Jesus, the generations of his descendants lining the branches.
Our Old Testament reading gave us this messianic verse;- “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” The description of Jesus being from the root of Jesse, or the root of David appears a number of times in the New Testament. (Romans 15:12, Rev 5:5, 22:16).
Jesse had an important part to play in the history of Israel. He fathered eight sons at a time when Israel was going through great changes. It was a time in history when they had moved from being a nation governed by priests and judges and had instituted a monarchy; the first ever King in Israel being King Saul.
But all was not well. King Saul had not turned out to be a King who always had the things of God in mind. Though he had many positive qualities, in some significant areas he was sadly lacking. A new King would be anointed, a newly chosen one, and it turned out to be Jesse’s youngest son, David.
You may recall the bible story of the prophet Samuel coming to Jesse and lining up his sons one by one, but each son receiving the thumbs down from the prophet because they were not the one God had chosen. Then David, who had been left out in the fields to take care of the sheep was sent for, and he turned out to be the one on whom God’s favor rested.
There was considerable conflict before he ever ascended to the monarchy, family jealousies and giants to be overcome, but when he did, Israel enjoyed a time of prosperity never seen before or since.
By the time Jesus was born, such a time was a distant memory. The Romans were the dominant power. Israel was fragmented and without a cohesive political or religious system to hold them together. They still had a king and priests and a palace and a temple, but it was a mere shadow of the glory that had been around when David, the son of Jesse, had reigned in Israel.
Then appeared, on the banks of the Jordan, a prophet, like the prophets of old, with a stern, yet inspiring, message to the people. His name was John, the original Baptist, who called people to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand; to turn around because God was doing something new and unexpected. From the dry stump of the Israelites ancient religion, a new, green shoot was rising up and it would grow to be a strong and powerful branch whose glory would be greater than that of the tree from which it came forth.
That image of Jesus rising up from the dying stump of Judaism is captured in the words of this 15th Century Advent hymn;
“Lo, how a rose e’er blooming, from tender stem have sprung,
Of Jesus lineage coming, as men of old have sung...,
Isaiah twas foretold it, the rose I have in mind...,”
That ‘Rose’ of course was Jesus Christ.
As we look forward to celebrating Christs birth, let’s explore Isaiah 11:1;
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
(Revised Standard Version).
The Stump
The gospel authors were keen to include all those lists of names and genealogies in their Good News. Like a great tree that had been cut down so that only the stump remained, at the time of writing, the ancestry of Jesus represented in David and his father Jesse had been reduced to obscurity and insignificance.
It was important for people to understand, that though Christ was born in the poorest of circumstances, in a little-known town, in a distant corner of the Roman Empire, He was the inheritor of great promises. His life was intimately tied into the work that God had been doing since the dawn of Creation. His roots were deep in the salvation history of Israel, a history that her own people had forgotten and abandoned. From out of that stump, from that forgotten root, would come hope for the world.
There is nothing particularly attractive about a stump. It is all that remains of a once proud and lofty tree that has been cut down. Sometimes they become covered with ivy so you can’t really see them, If you have one in your yard it can function as something to put a potted plant on. They don’t look good, just left bare, sitting there without a purpose. People tend to either uproot stumps altogether or to cover them up.
You know we’ve all met people who can identify with the stump. Life has cut them down and so they either try to cover up the hurt or just let others use them. They feel all beauty, all sense of attractiveness has gone from them. But why just talk about other people? What about ourselves?
We all involve ourselves in ways of thinking and being and doing, that stunt our growth in the grace and love of Jesus Christ. We have all been at some time or other cut down by what life has thrown at us; bad experiences, stupid actions we later regret, unkind words, misunderstandings. As scripture describes our situation, We are all sinners who fall short of the Glory of God. There are so many things about being human that cut us down to size.
It’s not possible to uproot and move on, because our roots run so deep. We cling to what we have, because whilst it isn’t all that it could be, it’s all that we’ve got and all that we are. To prevent our sinfulness being revealed we have numerous mechanisms for covering up, ranging from religion to role playing.
That’s one reason why John the Baptist got so mad at the Pharisees and their like. They were stunted, stumped people acting like Cedar Trees looking down on everyone else. They needed to acknowledge their real selves. Hear John’s blistering words in Matthew 3:10 “And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”. Better, it seems, to recognize your own faults than be cut down for them!
The great Advent hope in this verse?
Out of stumps can spring fresh shoots that grow into strong branches.
The Shoots
Because Jesus came to us, our stunted lives can blossom with fresh shoots that cause us to grow and become strong. That can cause us to rise up and stand tall.
Jesse was a regular guy, a farmer, living his life as best as he could. He never expected that God would bless his family in the way that history has revealed. He never dreamed that to his family line would be born the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Yet we read,
Isaiah 11:1;
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
This Verse has 3 applications.
a) It applies to Jesus.
He is one this prophecy refers to. He is the one who came from the root of Jesse. He is the one on whom the Spirit rested mightily and whose life was filled with wisdom and understanding, with knowledge and an awesome appreciation of His Father God.
b) It can be applied to us.
We are the ones who are stunted and often stumped. We are the ones that life has cut down to size. We are the ones with low expectations and who feel frustrated and unfulfilled. Through the Grace Christ offers, we can build something new. Through the love of God, we learn to love others and allow ourselves to be loved.
Under the living touch of the Holy Spirit, whatever is lost can be saved, whatever has died can be reborn, whatever has been bankrupted can be redeemed, whatever has been cut down can sprout with new, tender, green shoots that grow into strong branches.
c) It applies to God’s Church.
Isaiah’s words were addressed to a community of faith. Churches, like people, can become stunted and stumped. But if their roots are in Christ, then new shoots can spring out in all directions.
Being an active member of your church is not an obligation, it’s a privilege. God places God's children in families of faith, so that they can grow, so that they can be nurtured and together bring the things of Christ's Kingdom to people who need some good news in their lives.
Conclusions
Jesus loved the unlovely. God looks at the stump and says, “I can see shoots coming out of that thing, I can make that branch grow, I can work with this, just give me some room!” That’s what Advent is about. Making room in our lives for the love of Christ. Preparing to receive the message of Christmas in such a way as it changes the way we live.
This image of the Jesse tree is a wonderful reminder that the story neither began with us nor will end with us. The family line of Jesse led to the birth of Jesus. On the branches are pictured many characters whose stories we often forget and may never learn.
As we break bread and share wine, we are taking part in something the church has been doing ever since Jesus first invited His followers to remember Him in this way. It is an opportunity, as John the Baptist suggested, to turn around and get our lives back on the right track. To consider the legacy we will leave to those who come after us.
We can be stumped. We can be stunted. Yet under the touch of God's Spirit, when we place ourselves in God's hands, new life can blossom. And our lives can be branches that bear good fruit for the Kingdom, to the glory of God! Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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