"Dead Roots" December 8, 2013

Isaiah 11: 1-10 Matthew 3: 1-12 Many weeks ago, a Session meeting began with one Elder asking the body: “Are we Biblical enough?” Immediately a hush fell over the table as the leadership of the Church shifted from business management and administration, to a measurable challenge to our faith. Another member had only just before the meeting received an email from someone dissatisfied by many things in their life, lashing out that the church did not have the evangelical faith they wanted, so responded “No, we are not Biblical enough!” When a third spoke saying that what we have and what we do, is what had attracted their family to this church. I logged all this away for future thought, when this week, someone sincerely asked “So why were Moses and Israel in Egypt in the first place?” and someone else asked “Jesus was a nice guy, he did not seem to have done anything wrong, why was it necessary for this man to be crucified to death?” Having read through significant portions of the Old and New Testaments, our Bible Study is going back to the beginning to read Genesis and share together. These are the same underlying questions Isaiah, and John the Baptist were struggling with in their communities. People are at many different places in their journeys of faith. While we do not ever want to water down the faith, if persons do not understand the building blocks, they can never attempt the meaningful questions of their lives. All the stories of faith, all the separate parables we recall, are like so many dead stumps. Roots of an old forest, grown and cut down long since, whose trees no longer bear fruit or provide shade, or wood for construction. Recall Isaiah was High Priest at the Temple in Jerusalem after the time of King David and Solomon. Recall this was before the exile to Babylon, eight Centuries, 700 years before Jesus of Nazareth or Julius Caesar. Recall that what God had promised to David was a monarchy, a lineage, that all future Kings of Israel would be descendants of David, and that in that lineage, at the beginning of the time of Isaiah, there was King Ahab married to Jezebel who tried to destroy faith in God, bringing Idols and statues of Baal into the Temple. In the 6th Chapter, Isaiah had a Vision, during the funeral of the King, in which Isaiah saw the greater power and majesty of the kingdom of God. In the Throne room of God, there are Angels and Seraphim flying overhead singing “Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty.” And Isaiah receives a Calling from God, to Preach to a people whose Ears are Fat and Deaf, whose Eyes are Heavy and Blind. As grand of visions as he may share, as eloquent of sermons he might preach, the world is not ready to listen, to hear, to see, and to act in faith. Isaiah describes that the nation of Israel is like a stump, the Monarchy of David will be cut off, dead, decaying and forgot. But Nothing is impossible with God. Although the tree has been dead for centuries, the trunk and branches cut off, still a new shaft, a fresh shoot is always possible. Even 700 years later, Jesus may come from the root of Jesse, a descendant of the tribe, a child of God. What a symbol of hope and new life, to witness something growing out of what had been dead. And yet, like the question of whether a tree falling in the forest makes sound, if a shoot sprouts from a dead root does anyone notice, does anyone care? Even 2000 years after Jesus, we can believe and choose to live life differently. What John the Baptist called for in preaching “REPENTANCE” was not the atonement of Lent. But honestly, carefully and thoroughly examining our lives. How can we get from where we are, to where we want our world to be? His listeners went down into the cold water of the Jordan and washed away everything that reminded them of what they had been, in order to embrace life anew. Isaiah responded with another vision from God, vision of Lamb and Lion laying down together. There is one school of thought that believes all these creatures, are symbolic of the gifts of the first vision. The Lamb is of Peace, the Lion or Righteousness, the Calf of Sacrifice, the Bear of Courage, ALL living together. But Calf and wolf, toddler and snake, all coexisting is also a Garden of Eden, as in the way God designed the world to be. What if, the Garden of Eden was not Paradise Lost, was not only the way God created the world which humanity corrupted, but what life is supposed to become, to regain? How do go from where we are, in this day and age, Cut off Dead Roots even with a sprout or sprig of hope, to become the GARDEN OF EDEN'S PEACE? Is that not what we all desire? We may dream of making our fortune, of changing the world, of finding that one true love, but ultimately in quiet moments, what we each desire is peace. Peace of mind, peace in our relationships, peace in our family, peace in our Nation, peace in the world. A reality without fear, where there are no school shootings. Where there are no terrorists, and no hatred. Where the nightly news is not sensational devastation, but human interest, stories of joy. I have an assignment for us this morning. Take your bulletin or a plain sheet of paper and make a list of all the things you need and want to do before Christmas. What has to be done in the next two and a half weeks? Shopping for presents? Baking cookies? Sending Cards and Family Christmas letters? Singing Carols? Going to a Party? Decorating and watering the tree? Now, in a different column, on a fresh sheet of paper describe your dream, what PEACE would be? What are your hopes and dreams? These are dreams, not practical purchases, so maybe it is lions and lambs laying together, maybe like Nelson Mandela 49 years ago under Apartheid it was belief that black and white could co-exist without dominating one another. That was a dream that he spent 27 years in Prison for. A dream that made then made him the President of South Africa. So what are we willing to do to make dreams a reality? We can water trees without roots, but ultimately they will die. We can bake cookies, but ultimately we are going to have to accept a diet. There is a story from our relationship with the people in South Sudan, that I have never yet told. Nine years ago, when I went to South Sudan to re-unite families separated by war, shortly after the plane landed, I was assigned a translator, who tried to say everything that was said in Dinka to me in English, and to translate everything I said into Dinka. There was a presentation of dreams in which I described my purpose nine years ago, was as a pastor to those of my congregation, this church, where I was trying to re-unite those separated by brokenness. I named the possibility that some wanted to create a clinic to provide health care where none existed. One of the leaders described the depth of their reality, that 8 out 10 babies died before age five years. And in affirmation, I recognized I am a parent with children. That half of the women die in Labor and delivery, and under my breath I named my mother died in my birth. Before I realized it, this too was translated and a quiet fell over the 500 or more that were gathered. DREAMS are personal. Dreams are important. What are you willing to do to make your dreams real? The Bible is not simply a collection of old Dead Stumps, but the Roots onto which we are engrafted. Are we parasites that feed off the decay of dead roots? Are we like Orchids, having a symbiotic relationship to our root? Or are we nurturing dreams that seemed an impossibility?