Sprouting New Green

Devotional Reflection, Monday, December 23, 2024

The week of the fourth Sunday of Advent

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 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. 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; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth

You will find the full text of this reading at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 938)

AM  Psalm 61, 62; PM  Psalm 112, 115

Isa. 11:1-9; Rev. 20:1-10; John 5:30-47

David's Reflections

I once attended a choral evensong at Salisbury Cathedral in England.  This Old Testament lesson was read, and I felt a charge of spiritual energy washing over me from the image in verse 1.  The stump of a tree cut down puts out green sprouts.  Isaiah foresaw that the dynasty of David would be interrupted, like a tree cut down, but at a later time the dynasty would be renewed, like the green shoots emanating from a stump. You also could read this as a description of the dynasty in its reduced status after Solomon, a stump of what it was before.

What a powerful image of a political dynasty, a Christian community, or of a human soul.  God's presence has such generative power that new life sprouts out of the dead places.  No tree cut down will merely remain dead wood; it will generate new sprouts.

Isaiah's vision was that the new Davidic king, the shoot from Jesse's (David's father) stump, would have a reign extending beyond Israel.  He would be the means by which God extended divine rule beyond Palestine and ushered in the golden age of salvation.  Even nature would be affected, as animals abandoned their predatory ways for peaceful shared existence.  Even poisonous snakes would no longer be a threat to children.

Isaiah's vision did not find its ultimate fulfillment in the political dynasty of David's descendants. He may have been anticipating the birth of Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, who proved a righteous leader. If so, he would be that new green that would renew and expand the davidic dynasty. The Babylonian Captivity permanently interrupted the Davidic dynasty in 587 BCE.

Isaiah’s vision did find fulfillment in the new green of Hezekiah’s reign. But it found its ultimate fulfillment in the coming of Jesus, a descendant of David, who brought the fulfillment of the hope of the prophets into Israel's experience.  We still anticipate the final dimensions of that salvation, the resurrection and the new creation purged of the effects of evil.

It is Jesus who judges the poor with equity.  It is Jesus who has extended God's rule beyond the borders of Palestine.  It is Jesus whose victory over evil and over death will pull the creation into that new paradise of the future where evil and destructiveness end.  A day will come because of him when we will not hurt or destroy in all God’s holy mountain.  In that day, the knowledge (personal, relational experience) of God will fill the earth as waters cover the sea.

We pray for that day in the Lord's Prayer.  "Hallowed be your name."  "Your kingdom come.”  For God's name to be hallowed, revered as holy, will mean that God's true nature becomes known and revered.  Jesus revealed God's nature in his work and words.  That revelation will find its complete fulfillment when Jesus' return ushers in the new creation.

On the personal level, where are the stumps?  What dead zones exist in our lives?  Are there dead relationships?  Are there dead inner spaces caught in addiction, fear, failure, shame, emptiness?  Wherever we know deadness, wherever a living zone has become a dead zone, wherever life has been interrupted and caught in deadness and lack of freedom--in those very spots the life of God can generate new green.

Theodore Roethke’ poem “Cuttings” images the mystery of new life sprouting.

Cuttings

(later)

This urge, wrestle, resurrection of dry sticks,

Cut stems struggling to put down feet,

What saint strained so much,

Rose on such lopped limbs to a new life?

I can hear, underground, that sucking and sobbing,

In my veins, in my bones I feel it,--

The small waters seeping upward,

The tight grains parting at last.

When sprouts break out,

Slippery as fish,

I quail, lean to beginnings, sheath-wet.*

*The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke (Garden City, NY:  Doubleday, 1966), p. 37.

Collect of the Day, The fourth Sunday of Advent

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  (BCP, 212)

A Collect for the Renewal of Life

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 99)

Of the Holy Spirit

Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 251)

A Prayer for Light

Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)

Daily Office Old Testament Reading    Isaiah 11:1-9

11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 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. 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; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek 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. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 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. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder1s den. 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.

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer