"Loving Joy"
“Loving Joy”
Isaiah 11:1-10 and Matt. 3:1-15
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
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.
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,
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed 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.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed 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.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
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.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. Isaiah 11:1-10
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. Matt. 3:1-15
At our sister congregation, Pine Valley Christian Church, the baptistery is positioned in the foyer of the church building. It is placed there for a theological reason: to remind everyone as they enter for worship that they enter through the waters of their baptism. When a person at Pine Valley is baptized, the children are invited to come forward and kneel around the baptistery, then the adults gather around. Everyone has a birds’ eye view. When the newly baptized rises from the water, everyone in the congregation sings, “Ha, ha, ha, la, lu, ua! He, he, he, saved, me! I’ve got the joy of the Lord!” And the person is wrapped in a warm towel by their mentor or family member as they come out of the baptistery. It is a truly joyous celebration.
The poetry from the Isaiah reading and the cries of John the Baptist lend themselves well to a focus on the power of music and singing. Something powerful happens when we raise our voices together, even for those who participate by listening. Song is created by breath and by vibrating sounds waves; the music literally passes from one body to another, resonating within each person. I love congregational singing. I grew up in a small congregation – but we could sing and harmonize!
What a delightful way to celebrate and remember loving joy, to feel it run through our very being. Part of what makes music effective is the way it uses repetition and surprise. Perhaps you can think of ways the season of Advent and even the whole Christian story also uses elements of repetition and surprise? And music often relies on a refrain— a memorable phrase and melody that occurs over and over again, usually at the end of a verse.
In Isaiah, we read about a shoot coming from a stump. Life popping up in or perhaps clinging to something perceived as dead. At the beginning of his book, “The Hidden Life of Trees”, forester and author Peter Wohlleben describes coming across a group of mossy stones in the forest. Intrigued by their unusual shape, he bent down to take a closer look. Upon inspection he realized these “stones” were alive and rooted in the ground; they were green and could not be moved. He stepped back and noticed the “stones” laid in a pattern and he realized, “What I had stumbled upon were the gnarled remains of an enormous ancient tree stump.” Nature has a way of showing us what it looks like to hold fast to life. I’m sure many of you have seen something similar in a National Park or forest. Eric and I were in the Amazon Rain Forest in Ecuador in early November this year. In the Amazon, everything is alive! We took night walks in the forest, because there are things alive in the night that you do not notice during the day. Creepy crawlies come out at night. Our naturalist guide did not wear bug spray so that she could pick up some of the creepy crawlies to show us without harming them! By the way, the trees in the rainforest do not have rings for the years like ours do – because there are no seasons in the rainforest – the trees continuing growing throughout the year!
When Isaiah writes about a shoot coming from a stump, he is writing of God’s plan for the continuation of life. When we see things as dead – God sees possibility. That is one of the truths of Advent in the cold winter of our lives: when we see cold, darkness, and feel like we are at the end of our days – God sees the possibility of new life; and gives us reason for loving joy! God brings a shoot out of a stump. We see living stones or shoots coming from a stump and something about it resonates in our soul. God is at work here. New life is emerging here.
In Matthew, we read about John the Baptist. In his own peculiar way, this character sings of the radical love of God in Jesus. He calls out in the wilderness saying, “God is at work here. New life is emerging here.” And again this week, we are reminded of our baptism, the waters by which we have life. John’s message may be hard for some to hear and may seem to contradict this week’s emphasis on loving joy. But, if we imagine the delivery and the medium—this man in the wilderness is crying out for the people and standing with them in the waters of baptism, for the sake of their salvation—we might sense a deep, loving joy this disciple had for the people of God. In baptism, in song, and in nature, we grow in love and grow toward love.
As I indicated last week, at the end of each sermon during Advent, I want to close with a practice of joy from the “Book of Joy” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. This week’s practice works best at the end of the day, but we will do it this morning. You may wish to close your eyes and position your body comfortably:
- First, take a moment of silence to reflect on your day so far. Consider conversations, experiences, emotions, and thoughts you’ve had.
- Pay attention to your emotions and accept your experience of whatever happened during the day. If you are disappointed in something, just accept it. If something happened that you were not pleased about, acknowledge it, and accept it. Note the things that you can grow and learn from.
- Feel gratitude for what you have experienced, even for what was hard and what has allowed you to grow.
- Rejoice in your day. Pick something you did during the day that you feel good about. If you can’t think of anything, give thanks that you are doing this joyful exercise.
- Look to tomorrow. Set your intention for how you want to face the challenges that may come. Release your concerns for the next day as you continue on with loving joy.
Sometimes in the cold and dark of winter, we may feel like that dead stump in the forest. Isaiah and John the Baptist remind us that for the Christian, God continues to works even when our lives seem dormant. From the stump comes a shoot! From the water comes the newly baptized and we sing aloud a joyous refrain with others whose lives have been changed.
What will be your refrain this Advent season? What is the melody you want to sing out to the world over and over again? The scriptures remind of us the radical and unexpected ways God’s loving joy shows up over and over again in our lives!
Resources Used:
“The Book of Joy” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and Douglas Abrams.
www.worshipdesignstudio.com resources from “Heaven and Nature Sing; 300 Years of Joy to the Worl
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