The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for December 9, 2007

Texts: Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12

Title: “Move Over”

              As they sat around their crude campfires in prehistoric times I can imagine our very ancient ancestors pondering important questions.  “How long can I provide for myself and my family?”  “Will the food last?”  “Will this shelter protect me from the cold, the rain, the wind?” “Can I defend myself against attack of an enemy or a wild beast?” 

              Perhaps not vocalized, but somewhere in his consciousness those questions coalesced into one very basic question, “how long can we keep living like this?” “How long can we keep living like this?”  Surely a very practical question, but a question that also embraces another subject, the transcendent. “If we can’t keep living like this, then what?”  “What will become of us?”

              This question of “What will become of us?” has never been far from the human consciousness.  As a hedge against the bad things that might happen to them our ancient forbears struck bargains with the fates. They created gods of earth, sea and sky, gods whose favor they sought to win through gifts of the harvest, through elaborate rites featuring artifacts, music and dance.  The sacrifice of human life, the most cherished possession that could be offered, was not uncommon.

              No religion has been able to duck the question “What will become of us?  The ones who have failed to give convincing answers have not survived.  For those that have survived the question never goes away.

              The Christian faith reaches back into the experience of Israel in addressing “What will become of us?”  Children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jews believed that their destiny rested in the hands of God who had appointed their ancient forbear Abraham to form a nation. The Jew traced the mighty hand of her God at work throughout her history, God insuring that his name would be perpetuated through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses Joshua, Elijah and on and on.

              A rich history behind her, the exodus from Egypt, the Passover, the giving of the law and the covenant through Moses; Israel, the chosen of God, and with Joshua in the lead, occupied the Promised Land, prevailing over all the nations that stood in her path. Things were not always rosy for the Jews, however.  Israel’s neighbors were not always cordial.  While Israel may have thought herself special, they didn’t.  Israel would have to fight to prove she was special.

              Israel fought many times and had her nose bloodied many times. She repeatedly got herself into jams, and God, determined that Israel would learn and grow from those experiences, could not be counted on to bail her out.

              Though the book of Isaiah was written by at least three different persons at three separate periods in her history, salvation is the unifying theme.  Isaiah is particularly keen to work out the details of Israel’s destiny under God, and so we hear the prophet constantly returning to Israel’s, “what will become of us?” and doing so amid events that cast great doubt on the nation’s future.

              In our lesson this morning Isaiah takes direct aim at the fears and uncertainty in which the future of Israel was shrouded.  And so he declares, “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse.”  Have you ever seen a shoot emerge from a tree or a plant?  Linda and I have a Japanese Red Maple tree we keep on our balcony. A casualty, or so we thought, of last summer’s blistering weather, we were delighted this fall to see shoots emerge on branches we thought were goners. 

              Isaiah directs his words to a shoot coming out of a stump, but not just any stump, the “stump of Jesse.”  Why Jesse?  Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s most honored and beloved king. The stump of Jesse, Isaiah declared, was not dead, but it would give birth to a shoot, a king, upon whom the spirit of the Lord would rest.

              Isaiah envisioned great things occurring with the king on the scene, justice and righteous being the twin objectives of his reign. How gloriously Isaiah depicts the king’s reign. He draws upon rich metaphors to translate his vision for what Israel might expect in the future.  “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.”       

              Call Isaiah’s a vision deferred.  The vision certainly hasn’t been duplicated in anything you and I have experienced.

              Vision deferred is one of Advent’s major themes. Isaiah depicts a world of great peace and orderliness, a world that the Second Letter of Peter refers to as a place “where righteousness is at home.”  Based on the Jew’s experience over several challenging centuries, based on our own experience today, “righteousness” is still homeless.  

              Isaiah never lived to see the day when righteousness found a home. Events in the world Isaiah inhabited were no less in turmoil on the day he left the scene then when he entered it.  His faith in God may have given him confidence that God’s will would ultimately be done; however, events on the ground could not be ignored. The shoot from the stump of Jesse might well come, but would it come soon enough?

              “What will become of us?” the children of Israel posed the question to a succession of prophets.  The prophets were God’s visionaries, however, the visions they reported seldom materialized in a timely way.     

              “What will become of us?” a question asked across the centuries is still being asked today.  We stand under the authority of God, united with the people of Israel in allegiance to the God who founded the nation under Abraham, rescued the nation under Moses, and constantly challenged the nation to righteousness under a succession of prophets.

              “What will become of us?”  We ask the question, this despite the fact that we believe the long awaited king to whom Isaiah pointed has come.  We believe that Jesus Christ has already established that place “where righteousness is at home,” however, we await the second coming of the Lord to secure that reality on the earth.

               “What will become of us?”  The question was raised in a story that National Public Radio did this week on meat processors in Iowa.  In the aftermath of the Immigration Service’s crackdown on illegal aliens, the meat processors in Iowa are having great difficultly finding people to fill those $10-$11 an hour jobs former held by illegal immigrant workers.  The labor force from which the processors once drew, white Iowans, are not willing to work for that wage.

               What happens when processors no longer can find workers to process their meat, when growers can no longer find workers to tend and harvest their crops, when management companies can no longer find workers to clean their buildings? What will become of us if the meat processor, the agriculturalist, and building managers can no longer provide their services?  

               What will become of us if we can’t find ways to end the war in Iraq, or if we get caught up in a war with Iran?

              What will become of us if wages continue to stagnate as the cost of living continues to rise?

              What will become of us if we can’t find ways to slow the effects of global warning?

              Each of our lives is impacted by the realities I have cited. Faith says that the future is in God’s hands, but where do we see things getting better. We are no closer to ending the war in Iraq than we were last year, no closer to solving the immigration problem, no closer to insuring the worker that his wages will be sufficient to meet his rising expenses, and no closer to stalling the effects of global warning.

              Isaiah said the future is in God’s hands, and it would be a glorious one at that.  Faith says the future is in God’s hands.   Advent finds us waiting and preparing for the future to declare itself. But what kind of future will it be?  Will it be the future to which Isaiah pointed, a future where wolf lies down with lamb, or will it be the future to which Jesus pointed us last week, where “two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.”

            Faith says the future is in God’s hands, and there are two options, joy or judgment, or perhaps, joy AND judgment. Faith says, prepare for each.

            Faith says that Isaiah did not begin to describe the wonders of God’s kingdom.  Faith also says that we can, mired in sin, deprive ourselves of the wonders God has prepared for us. Faith says enjoy the wonderful prospects which lie ahead, and don’t allow your attitudes or actions to compromise them.

             Faith has an answer for what will become of us.  That answer can come in the form of a blessing, or it can come in the form of a curse. The blessing is prominently displayed in three dominant objects in this sanctuary. 

               The baptismal font reminds us that in our baptism we became members of the body of Christ, that in the waters of baptism our sins were washed away. In our baptism we exchanged one life for another we, in effect, took on Christ. Baptism signifies that the old life and old habits no longer count for anything.

The cross reminds us that Christ willingly bore the sins of the world in his body and died for them.  The grave, however, could not hold him.  Defeating death, he rose from the grave, becoming, according to scripture, the “first born” of a new creation.

              The cup and the plate remind us that Christ is present with us when we partake of the bread and wine in his name. Indeed, the cup and the bread spiritually connect us with Jesus who surrendered his blood and body on the cross to secure our freedom.

               We are a blessed people; however, we live subject to a curse, a curse that is self-imposed.  We have the freedom to turn our backs on the future God has planned for us.  We can chart our course, heedless of what God wants for us. That, quite obviously, is not what a loving God wants for us.  That is not what Christ wants for us.   

                From the beginning of time people have been asking “what will become of us?”  Along the way many answers have been proposed.  The Christian faith has its answer to propose.  “What will become of us is in the hands of a loving God, who sent his own Son to the earth in the flesh to embody the righteousness that is our reward for a life well lived.”

                 Many pressing concerns face our generation with wars and rumors of war, a global economy that presses its demands upon us, and climate change that places life on this planet in jeopardy.

                 Addressing the pressing concerns of his day, Isaiah was given to proclaim a day “when the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  To the obstacles that stand in the way of realizing that vision, we declare, “move over,” that the Lord, the King, might pass.  We declare, “Move over, get out of the way all you obstacles, for a new world is ready to take shape before our eyes. It is nothing less that a new world, friends, we prepare for this Advent.  “The old has passed away, everything is fresh and new.”  Those are the words we are preparing ourselves to recite.  That is the reality to which life under God is pointing.

           PRAYER

            Lord, O Lord, help us to center ourselves in you. Even as we face constant temptation to establish other priorities, you insist on being our first priority. You continue to call out to us but we fail to hear, fail to heed. Lord, in your mercy, forgive our foolish ways. May we number this day as the first day of life lived on your terms rather than our own.

             Gracious Father, the world strains under the burden of injustice, inequity, dislocation and war. Women and men are deprived of the vote, elections are rigged, thugs intimidate, such is the reality many citizens of the world face.  The rich live off the backs of the poor.  The innocent suffer as mad men plot new ways to terrorize. It was as the Prince of Peace your Son, our Lord Jesus, came into the world, but his days on earth were cut short, his conspirators contrived to have him killed.  Help us solve the riddle, O God.  Why do the evil prosper while the righteous perish?

              O God, we are forced to acknowledge realities we would rather ignore as climate change, the world’s shrinking resource base, and population pressures call into question the sustainability of life on our planet.  Even as we commit ourselves to using our resources more wisely, and doing what we can to arrest the advance of climate change, we face the reality that we may no longer be able to repair damage already done. We have relied upon science and technology to deliver us in the past, O God, but upon what, or upon whom, can we rely but you?  Have mercy on your creation, O Lord, and grant us wisdom to do what can be done to avert catastrophe.

              Faith, O Christ, you declare that if we have faith no larger than a mustard seed anything is possible. Strengthen our faith that in this season of watching and waiting we may form habits of mind and heart that will draw us closer to thee, and where faith alludes us, O Christ, grant us perseverance in challenging our doubts.

               O Lord, be gloried in what we do today.  Prod us beyond the limits of our imaginations to find in worship new ways to express the devotion of our hearts. May your light inspire our light to show forth with new clarity and brilliance.

              Abide with those who are serving in our nation’s armed forces, and those persons posted around the world as our nation’s representatives.  May our countrymen serve with honor and integrity, their labors representing the best our nation has to offer.

            Abide with those of our church family who cannot be here today.  May your blessings be with all those who responsibilities take elsewhere.  Be with TJ Pierce, Sally Jansen, Claire Williams, Carol Riley, Richard and Evelyn Smid whose movement is restricted.

              Lord, we give thanks for the music which enriches our worship.  Even as we have been blessed through the efforts of Lantz, Caroline, and the choir may they know a special joy in presenting their gift before you and the people of this congregation.   

                Lord, who is ever near to hear our prayers, we bring special prayers and petitions on behalf of Mary Ann, Shane, Rudy, Pam, Joyce, and Wayne who continue their struggles with cancer.  We pray for the family and friends of Rich Cozzone, a member of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team serving in greater New Orleans who lost his life in a traffic accident…