church

INI
Second Sunday in Advent
December 6, 2009
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

The Name Which is Above Every Name:
"THE ROOT OF JESSE "
Isaiah 11:1-10

Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus, Amen. On this second Sunday in
Advent, we turn our attention to the Word of God as spoken through the
prophet Isaiah, chapter 11, beginning with the first verse (KJV):

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall
grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit
of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of
his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and
he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his
lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and
the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear
shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw
like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of
Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek:
and his rest shall be glorious. Here ends our text.

In Christ Jesus, the Branch of the stem of Jesse, and the Offspring of David,
Dear Fellow Redeemed,

Did you know that there's a wild plant in America whose root can perform
miracles? -- That's what some people believe, anyway! The plant is called
ginseng, and it grows wild in the wooded areas of several of our states. The
ginseng plant must grow for five years under just the right conditions before it
reaches maturity. When full-grown, the plant develops a tap root like a small,
pale turnip. Wild ginseng is very rare, but if you can find a patch of them with
fully-developed roots, they will bring you nearly $900/lb at today's prices!

Why are these roots so valuable? Most of them are exported to the Orient; the
Chinese insist that the root has medicinal value. According to them, ginseng can
cure anything from warts to high blood pressure. Despite all the scientific data
to the contrary, they really believe this root can perform miracles.

Today's text describes another kind of Root -- a Root that really does perform
miracles! It's called, "The Root of Jesse." This Root is spoken of throughout the
Old Testament; but especially familiar is the description of it that we find in
today's text in the Book of Isaiah. Our season theme this Advent is, "The Name
Which is Above Every Name," and today we consider a name for the coming
Savior that is nothing short of miraculous:

"THE ROOT OF JESSE"
I. It brings the miracle of Justice
II. It brings the miracle of Peace

As you've no doubt guessed by now, the "Root of Jesse" isn't something you're
going to find in a bottle on the shelves of a health food store. It has to do with
the family tree of a man named Jesse. Jesse's son was King David; David's son
was King Solomon; and so forth. In the Old Testament, the descendants of
Jesse formed the royal line of the kings of Judah for many generations. For
hundreds of years, this was the royal family tree of Israel. Isaiah knew that
disaster would strike this tree. On account of their sin, the nation and its rulers
would one day be crushed by the power of Babylonia and carried away into
captivity. The political dynasty would end right there. There would be nothing
left of Jesse's family tree but a stump. Can any life come from a dead stump?

On the north side of the parsonage stands the stump of a large apple tree that
was cut down several years ago. That stump looked dead and lifeless when the
tree was cut, but to our surprise new branches keep growing out of that stump -
so much so that there is now a lush thicket of shoots growing up out of the old
stump. Isaiah predicted that a living shoot would spring forth from the old
stump of Jesse. That shoot would be the Savior, Jesus Christ, the descendant of
Jesse and David. He's called, "the Rod of Jesse," and "the Branch of Jesse's
Line." But several times in Scripture He's referred to as "the Root of Jesse."
How important is it? The Root of Jesse is the reason we built this church. It's
why we're all here today. Because this is one Root that really does work
miracles!

What are some of the miracles that our Savior brings to us this Advent season?
First of all, the Root of Jesse works the miracle of justice. Justice was something
that was in notoriously short supply in Isaiah's time. Judges could be bribed,
witnesses could be bought, criminals often went free; the rich people won and
the poor people lost. Does that sound familiar? Similar accusations have often
been leveled at our justice system here in America.

Sometimes justice seems far away, especially for a Christian. We look around
our society -- who are the people getting rich, leading comfortable lives, getting
ahead in life? The unbelievers! People who laugh in God's face and scoff at the
Bible as a pack of fairy tales. While all the time, faithful Christians are
struggling to make ends meet, often enduring hardship, sometimes barely
keeping their heads above water. We end up feeling the same kind of frustration
the Psalmist did, when he wrote, "Behold...the ungodly, who are always at ease;
they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my
hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every
morning." Ps 73:13-14.

But don't be deceived - God is not mocked! The Root of Jesse comes to bring
us the miracle of justice. Our Savior's justice is a sword that cuts both ways.
For those who turn away from God, who deny the Lord Jesus and go their own
sinful way, our text says that He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Don't let appearances
fool you - they certainly don't fool the Lord. The Lord's perfect justice will be
done, if not in this life, then in the next. You and I will witness the final, terrible
sentence being passed on those who have hated God and despised His servants:
"Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil
and his angels."

Like I said, though, it's a sword that cuts both ways. What about the Christians
- those poor believers who are humbled by their sins and looking to Jesus as
their only hope for salvation? They will not be disappointed. With righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.
Here's a miraculous thing. We're poor in spirit, because we realize we've broken
God's commandments. We can't feel anything but humble and meek when we
see how far we've fallen short of God's demand of perfect righteousness. And
yet, our Savior comes to us, as the prophet puts it, "with healing in His wings."
He takes our sinfulness away, and replaces it with His perfect righteousness!
This Root of Jesse -- is a root that really does work miracles!

One other gift our Savior brings us is the miracle of peace -- another
commodity that there doesn't seem to be too much of in our world of today.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the West Bank, the Sudan - and right in our own
community, gang-related violence and even the killing of four police officers a
week ago. Look where you will, violence and bloodshed seem to be everywhere.
That's not likely to change, as long as the Prince of this world, Satan, continues
to control the lives of the godless. But in our text, Isaiah says that the Root of
Jesse will bring peace -- Well what happened? Where's the peace? Did Isaiah
just get this part of his prediction wrong?

The description in our text of the peace that the Messiah would bring is a
beautiful one. We need to understand, though, that it describes the peace that is
connected with Christ's kingdom. As you know, that's not something we can
look at with our eyes. Pilate asked Jesus where His kingdom was, and He said,
"My kingdom is not of this world." Jn 18:36. The Pharisees tried to find out
where Jesus' kingdom was , and Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not
come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed,
the kingdom of God is within you." Lk 17:20-21. The kingdom of God is Jesus'
gracious ruling in the hearts of believers by faith. It's a kingdom that you and I
are already members of, by virtue of our faith in Christ. And in that kingdom
there is peace. In that kingdom, the peace of God reigns!

Our text says, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid. What could be more miraculous than these natural enemies
living side by side in peace? How about the Jews and the Gentiles?! From the
time of Abraham, the Jews were taught to despise all non-Jewish people, and
keep as far away from them as they could. But when the Root of Jesse came to
earth and established His kingdom, that enmity was over. In Christ, Paul says,
"...There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.'" Rom 10:13. He said that to the Christians in Rome. They were
among the many congregations at the time who were witnessing something
never before seen: Jews and non-Jews worshipping together. Now we've come
down to a day in which people of every ethnic background can and do worship
the Lord Jesus together in unity - Europeans and Africans, Asians and
Americans. It doesn't matter; Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.

And throughout the Savior's kingdom, peace and security reigns. You know, I
hope you don't take that peace for granted - it's something that nine-tenths of
the people in this world will never know. It's the peace of knowing that your
Savior and His angels are watching over you vigilantly and protecting you at all
times. That peace comes in handy when you are facing a serious crisis in your
life – the loss of a job, a serious illness, the death of a loved one. You are part
of God's great, invisible Church of all believers. Here, in the security of this
kingdom, your Savior provides for all your wants and needs. Including the most
important of your needs: free forgiveness for your sins; the right to speak to the
Almighty God in prayer just as dear children would speak to their dear father;
and the promise, in Christ, of an everlasting home at His side. That humble
Christ-child, the Root of Jesse, says to you again this Advent season, "Put all
your trust in Me. This peace will be yours!"

I don't believe any of us here are old enough to recall the age of the "patent
medicines." Hucksters would travel around the country hawking those black
bottles with fancy labels, supposedly containing the "miracle tonic" that would
cure every sickness. They were fakers, of course. We Christians, however, do
have a miracle cure for every ill. It's the life-giving tonic of salvation, and it's
distilled from a very potent root: the promised Root of Jesse, Jesus Christ. This
is one Root that really does work miracles! AMEN.