How Romantic Is a Jesse Stump?

2 Advent         December 4, 2016
Is. 11:1-10         Ps.72        
Rom. 15:4-13    Matt. 3:1-12

Lectionary Link

            The Study of trees is called dendrology.  The biblical writers loved trees; they loved them so much that they used them as metaphors.  In the Garden of Eden story, there are two trees, the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  After the resurrection, the cross is perhaps poetically referred to by some New Testament writers as a tree.  And in the futuristic vision of John the Divine in the book of Revelation, there is a tree of life which bear twelve fruits and is on the river of the water of life in Jerusalem.

             In today's reading, we have some different reflections upon trees.  In Christian tradition Advent is the season of the Jesse tree.  The Jesse tree traces the genealogy of the events in the history of salvation.  Jesse was the father of King David and his tree become famous because of King David who according to prophets established the messianic lineage.

           The Jesse tree derives from the prophet Isaiah but in fact it would be more correct from Isaiah's perspective to call the Jesse tree, the Jesse stump.  That is quite a switch in images.

          A stump is quite different than a tree.  If we make a tree into a stump, it means that we want it to go away, unless we are in the orchard business.  In the orchard business, trees are made stumps for the purpose of grafting new branches into them.  The life in the roots can bring about new life to the branches which are grafted in.  For those of us who have tried to remove trees where we don't want them, we also find that branches can grow out of the stump of the tree and those branches can become a new tree.

        The tree/stump analogy is important in the reflections of Isaiah and the words of John the Baptist regarding the phases of life of a community.  The tree and stump comparison represents different states in community and institutional life.  When the community is flourishing like a tree it manifests all the full beauty that we associate with a tree.  The stump is quite a different phase of the tree.  A tree may become a stump because someone needs lumber for building or firewood.  A tree may become a stump because the tree has become diseased and so the tree is cut down.

            When Isaiah wrote about the stump of Jesse; he was referring to the state of his country during his lifetime.  Israel had been split into two kingdoms and the both kingdoms had suffered from incompetent monarchs even those who were supposed to be in the blessed Davidic lineage.  Both kingdoms were about to come to an end.  The once glorious Israel had gone from being a glorious tree to but a stump.  A stump represents some rather severe pruning.  "The variety of this tree is no longer wanted or sustainable."  The prophet Isaiah recognized the demise of his country and he was aware that all of God's promises to  David, the messiah and his offspring seem to be unfulfilled.  If the lineage of David were failing what did this mean for Israel?  The line of David was seen to be but a stump.

           But Isaiah said, "Wait just a minute now.  A stump is not dead because of the deep root life of the stump.  At any time, a new branch could appear."  So, even though Isaiah observed that the Davidic line seemed to be a completely pruned stump, he still believed in a future for what could come out of the stump of Jesse.  He believed the roots were still full of life which could engender new growth and could produce a new hero even greater than David.  And so the Jesse stump is the Jesse tree of Advent.

           John the Baptist came with a message about some major pruning.   He is quoted as saying, "Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  John the Baptist came during a time when he believed that the religious institutions of Jerusalem had arrived at the level of their incompetence and they were no longer doing what they were supposed to do.  They were maintaining institutional life for its sake alone and had become divorced from the needs of actual people.  John the Baptist might even be called the axe of the tree himself because his voice and message involved some serious pruning in the religious scene of his time.  John knew that he could be a serious pruner with an axe but he promised that Jesus would be different than he was.  Jesus would be one who would graft new branches of life into the old tradition; Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the deep life of God in the very invisible root of life itself.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to help reconnect people with the deep root, the Holy Spirit at the heart of life itself.

          Not surprisingly, the church has used the words of the prophet Isaiah to illuminate the gifts of baptism.  Isaiah wrote about what would happen when the Spirit of the Lord rested upon a promised one from God.  The Spirit of the Lord would bring wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and a deep sense of awe about God.  These are the traditional sevenfold gifts of the Spirit which we pray to descend upon every newly baptized person.

            You and I know that the stump phase of life may not be a very attractive or comfortable phase of personal life, family life, parish life, church life and our country life.  It not fun to be "pruned" or prevented from flourishing like a beautiful tree.  There is something ugly about the pruned phase of a tree because one compares this phase with the season of flourishing.

           In many ways, we may be experiencing stump phases today.  In our country, our elected leaders often forget about the meaning of governance which involves vigorous debate and compromising and voting for the common good.   Our country is in a stump phase when more than 90 million eligible voters did not vote.  This indicates that people are out of touch with the meaning of our roots as American citizens.  We, as a society, are not firing on all cylinders.

             The Episcopal Church and our parish are showing the gradual decline in growth and participation.  We can seem to be in stump phase of our institutional and community existence.  We seem to be increasingly irrelevant to the lives of more people even to the point of having to shut down because of lack of participation.  It could be that past success has led to stagnation; our traditions have allowed us to be successful enough to exist as individual independent financial islands and we can conduct our lives in such a way that we don't need each other and we don't want the responsibility of others needing us.  We forget that communal participation is when the strong participate in order to help those who are not yet as strong.  Just as parents are stronger and more competent to give more to the family than children; the strong in the church and society are called to bring up the quality of life for those who are not as strong and who are not as able to give as much.  We can arrive at the stump phase of church and national life because those who have benefited from American, Christian and Episcopal values have birthed generations who are on the "proverbial" third base and they think they have hit a triple.  Too many people are the heirs of values which they no longer see need to practice.  Through non-participation and apathy, the institutions of those values have come to be in their pruning phase, the stump phase.

            We may need the jolt of serious consequences of our lack of participation in our institutions to shock us to seek out the roots of American democratic life.  We may need the decline of our church and parish to realize how important it is to keep faith and reason in rigorous and active dialogue.  It is very easy to under-appreciate the graceful form of Catholicism that the Episcopal Church is, because in a profound way, we honor the freedom of people to choose without guilt or coercion.  We honor the freedom of people to make us irrelevant.

           I would leave us with this message during Advent.  Let us keep the stump alive, because there will come a time when a new generation of lost people will need what we have to offer them in continuity with the values of our wonderful tradition.

   Isaiah and John the Baptist came into orchards full of stumps.  And they were hopeful about the future.  God's Spirit is the invisible root of life and who can be accessed by those who are made aware of the divine presence.  John the Baptist contrasted his baptism with the Baptism of Jesus.  He baptized with water; Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit.

 The Holy Spirit lives in the roots of the institutions and the communities even if members are out of touch with the Spirit of God.  During this Advent season, we mourn our appearance in the stump phases of our lives, but we keep ourselves hopeful as we remind ourselves of the Holy Spirit as the root of the life of the stump and who can bring forth new growth, new life and new ministry and new fruitful living.

  Let us be vigilant, even now, to maintain and water the stumps that have had their flourishing past appearances severed.  In the Epistle of Romans, St. Paul wrote that the entire Gentile Christian church was a branch which was grafted into the stump of Jesse, and Gentile Christianity has shape the world probably more than any movement in the history of humanity.  Let us have hope that out of the stump phase of life new life will grow because at the root of all life is the life of God's Holy Spirit who is the Renewal Source of all.  Amen.

Sunday School, December 4, 2016 2 Advent, Year A

Sunday School, December 4, 2016     2 Advent, Year A

Sunday School Theme

A shoot shall come out of the Stump of Jesse

Is a stump dead or alive?

If it is alive why is it still alive?

Answer:  Because of the hidden and underground root system.

Imagine God as the underground and hidden root system of life.  You can’t see God but you know God gives life to everything.

Roots grow plants and trees.  Plants and trees have life cycles.  People are like trees that have grown from God’s creation.  We have life cycles too.  Sometimes what we do is big and beautiful like a marvelous oak tree but fall comes and the leaves change.  People and what we do often change.  God inspired people to do some wonderful things.  Patriarchs like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Leaders and Law Givers like Moses, Joshua, Deborah and Samuel.  Kings like David and Solomon.  Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah and Elisha.  As God’s people faced new things in their lives, their lives changed.  Sometimes their lives changed so much they seemed to be just like a stump leftover after a tree was cut down because of being used for lumber or because of drought or plant disease.  But new life could always come out of the stump again because of the roots.  God is the hidden roots of life; the appearance of the tree can change and the tree can even be chopped down but a branch or shoot can still grow from the stump because of the roots.  Many bad things happened to the people of Israel.  They were conquered by foreign armies.  They were made slaves and taken to another country.  Jerusalem was destroyed and so was the Temple in Jerusalem.  So, at times it seemed as though the tree of Israel was cut down and it seemed as though only a stump remained.  But the prophets knew that the hidden roots of God’s presence remained even if there seem to be only a stump left.

Out of the Stump of Jesse, Zachariah and Elizabeth came, Mary and Joseph came, and they gave birth to two special sons, John the Baptist and Jesus.  There two special sons gave new life to the “stump of Jesse.”  From Jesus, the church became a new tree out of the stump of Jesse. 

We need to remember today that no matter how much things change on the outside, even when things look like a dead stump, the Invisible Root of God in life can make new things to happen in our human lives, in our personal lives, in our families, in our parish, in our city, in our country and in our world.

A Stump and the Tree are the same because the hidden roots are the source for both.

Let us have faith to remember that God is the hidden root of our lives.  Let us remember that Jesus made the cross a tree of life for us to learn how we can allow God’s life within us to grow and make us a beautiful tree for God.

Sermon on the Jesse Tree

Do you know what a family tree is?  Have you ever made a family tree for a school assignment?  What do you try to do with a family tree?  You try to list everyone who has been in your family in the past.  So, a family looks like an upside down pyramid.  First there is you, your mom and dad, then your grand parents, and your great grand parents, and your great great grand parents, and then you just have to keep adding the greats….and on the side branches of your family tree you have brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins.  Why do we make a family tree?  We want to know something about the people who came before us in our family because we think that we can understand ourselves better if we understand our past family.  We want to be able to tell our story better so we learn about our family of the past.  During the season of Advent, we study our Christian family tree.  Only we call it a Jesse Tree.  Jesse was the father of King David.  And the writer of the book of Isaiah said a famous person would come from the Stump of Jesse or the Tree of Jesse.  And who was that famous person?  It was Jesus Christ.

  So you can make a Jesse tree.  And what do you put on a Jesse Tree?  You put pictures of famous events and people that were written about in the Bible.  So  you might want to makes some stars and put on your tree to remember that God created the heavens and the earth.  You might want to put an apple on your tree, to remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  You might want to make a picture of a famous boat?  What is the famous boat called?  Noah’s ark.  And there was also a famous ladder in the Bible.  There was a famous man who had a dream about a ladder between heaven and earth.  Who was this famous dreamer?   And there was a man who ran away from Egypt but God called him back to Egypt and God used a burning bush to talk to this man.  Who was this man?   And in our Jesse Tree, we would want to include the most famous laws that were given to Moses.  What are those laws?  The Ten Commandments.  And you might want to put a crown on your tree to remember the most famous King in the Bible.  King David.  And you might want to put a picture of Stable.  Why?  Who was born in a stable.  And you might want to put a picture of Mary and the baby Jesus on your Jesse tree.

  So you can make a Jesse tree with symbols and pictures of all of stories in the Bible.  And why do we want to know the stories about people in the Bible?  Because we want to know where we came from.  And we want to be able to tell our story about how God loves us.  And we want to be able to tell others about God’s love too.  If you want to do a project at home.  Make a Jesse tree.  And ask your parents to read you some Bible stories.  And you will learn to tell the story of Christ. 

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 4, 2016: The Second Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: We Light the Advent Candles, I’ve Got Peace Like a River, Jesus, Name Above All Names, Awesome God

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song:  We Light the Advent Candles (While lighting the first two purple candles)

We light the Advent candles against the winter night, to welcome our Lord Jesus who is the world’s True Light, to welcome our Lord Jesus who is the World’s True Light.

We light the Second candle, and hear God’s holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Prophet Isaiah

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.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 72

Give the King your justice, O God, * and your righteousness to the King's Son;

That he may rule your people righteously * and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, * and the little hills bring righteousness.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

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 then 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 the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 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; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; 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."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

1-I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river.  I’ve got peace like a river in my soul..

2-I’ve got love….  3-I’ve got joy……

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat the bread and drink the wine, we can know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia.

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Jesus Name above all Names (Renew! # 26)

Jesus, name above all names, beautiful Savior, glorious Lord.  Emmanuel, God is with us, blessed Redeemer, Living Word.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Awesome God (Renew!, # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love, our God is an awesome God.  (Sing three times)

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! 

Apocalyptic, Utopian Unreality or Realized, Mandela-like Messianism

2 Advent    A     December 8, 2013

Is. 11:1-10         Ps.72        

Rom. 15:4-13    Matt. 3:1-12

Lectionary Link

  This week the world lost a great man and not because he thought so, in fact, Nelson Mandela was one to point out his own imperfection and he was one quick to credit lots of other people who suffered and sacrifice to end apartheid in South Africa.  One can hardly imagine the strength of spirit to endure twenty seven years in prison and to use that time for discipline and study.  He became famous when his captors tried to make people forget him. Upon his release from prison he was elected to be president of South Africa, and he governed through forgiveness and reconciliation.  His life represents the achievement of what was thought to be impossible.

  I sometimes wonder if we read and perhaps misuse the utopian visions of the Isaian prophet?  Sometimes life seems so cruel and unjust; it is a life of the predator and strong exploiting the weak.  We often use the Genesis account of a causatively absolute fall of humanity into such depravity that rather than being realistic about the true freedom that is in our world, we are ready to throw in the towel and say this creation is just a failed experiment of the Creator and so we challenge the Creator to intervene and remake creation to be a totally innocent universe where there is no longer freedom and the consequences of freedom.  Wouldn’t it be nice if wolves and lambs played together? Wouldn’t it be nice if babies would play with vipers?  Wouldn’t it be nice if this knowledge of the Lord were some robotic orientation towards goodness and harmony such that we could not be anything other than innocent?  Is this utopian world, a world without genuine freedom, one that we really want?   It sounds nice but such views also can encourage a passivism.  If Nelson Mandela was sitting in prison wishing for the end of the world or a magical re-making of human nature to be receptive to a multi-racial society, one could understand such a vision for temporary comfort but it would be unrealistic to the actual conditions of the world.

  So we need to be careful not to read utopian worlds or an apocalyptic interventionist end of the world as presenting  literal futures; such a literalism is a giving up on this world and it also is an offense to freedom.  Even if we want God to come and end the world right away how can anyone  be so sure that we are worthy for God to intervene for us and our view of life?  Does suffering and oppression automatically make people holy or better than others or are they people who don’t abuse power because they don’t have power to abuse?  We really need to be aware of the logical consequences of the apocalyptic views if we hold them in literal ways.

  The Isaian prophet also longed for one who was from the line of Jesse.  David as the youngest son of Jesse was the improbable king of Israel.  His greatness could not be predicted but it happened and David gave Israel its only golden period, even though it got idealized as much better than it was because the literature about it was written in the periods of later suffering.

  The Isaian prophet wished for greatness in a similar way that we wish for a Nelson Mandela kind of greatness to happen again.  In the Hebrew religion, the notion of greatness was found in messianism.  This was a belief that God energized, divinized, anointed human beings to accomplish great things.  Many kings of Israel were anointed with oil but most were not great in the way that they actually performed.

  As Christians we are similar to the Isaian prophet who hoped for greatness to be the evidence of God’s Spirit anointing human beings.  This is not a violation of freedom; this is not wanting God to be a powerful judge at the end of human history; this is not wanting us magically to become a world full of automatic innocence; this is looking for God to help us human beings toward excellence in incremental steps of improvement through education, or the religious term for education, repentance.

  In the Christian liturgy of baptism we pray for the seven fold gifts of the Spirit.  The seven-fold gifts were inspired by this Isaian passage.  We anoint with Chrism, the oil of baptism, because we hope that God’s Spirit will anoint us with a Spirit of excellence to do what is right for ourselves and for our world.  In the baptismal liturgy, we pray that each one of us can partake of the Spirit of greatness of the Messiah.  Baptism is a practice of group messianism; we pray to be a collective messiah in the world because God’s Spirit is invoked upon our lives.

  Biblical literature of apocalyptic intervention or magical realism is wonderful literature of comfort for people who need visualizations in their pain management, but to honor the actual conditions of freedom in our world, we need to promote the value of education.

  The word which John the Baptist used for education is the word repentance.  Repentance means a renewal of our minds.  It means taking on transforming information which helps us to act better today than we did yesterday.  We know that institutions can take good knowledge and make it so rote and routine that it becomes unable to inspire actual change.  This is the argument which John the Baptist had with the religious establishment of his time; the way in which the religion was practice did not educate people to change their lives towards understanding what obvious creative love and justice meant.  The great Law of Moses was about love and justice; how come so many people in Palestine missed out upon law and justice under the regime of the religious authorities.  John and Jesus were educational reformers; there were too many people left behind by the prevailing religious establishment.

  I think the season of Advent is a messianic season; not because we hope that the world will end soon, but because we hope that the messianic grace which we all prayed for in our baptism would rise to greater effect in our lives and in our world.  Our religious view is not functional, if we simply want to wish away the actual world of freedom and feed our minds upon utopian visions and apocalyptic endings of the world.

    We need greatness in our world; we have greatness in our world but it is most often wrongly directed.  We have highly paid geniuses to develop financial schemes of hedge funds, Ponzi schemes, bundling of bad loans and sold fraudulently, future and derivatives schemes for increasing the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few.  What would happen if the total human genius of the world was directed toward solving hunger, social, political and economic injustice?  It is easy to wish away the world in utopian vision, to wish for a great Messiah to zap us to be angelic people; but how about the messiah of our baptismal anointing?  How about messianic greatness as the direction of human genius towards the approximation of love and justice?  We need messianic greatness as something like a portion of the Spirit of Mandela to work creatively with free conditions of our world to persuade us towards more hope, love and justice for more people in our world.

  The harshness of the message of John the Baptist is needed in our world today, not because greatness does not exist but because greatness and creativity is directed toward greedy goals.

  Let us be messianic people today.  Let us heed the message of John the Baptist to repent?  Let us baptize any human greatness toward the direction of love and justice for all.  And let persuade others to do the same.

   John the Baptist was telling people that their creativity was being used for the wrong end.  Repent, renew the mind, and let us be creative, great and excellent as we have the vision of what is loving and just in our world.  Let us wish for the greatness of Mandela to be present in our world; let us wish for the repentance of John the Baptist to be our education and let the Spirit of the Messiah give us proper direction for the great energy of freedom in our lives.  Amen.