“THE GREEN SHOOT OF FORGIVENESS”

ISAIAH 11:1-10

[11:1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

                                    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

                   [2] 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 the fear of the LORD.

                   [3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

                                    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

                                    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

                   [4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

                                    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

                                    and 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 of his waist,

                                    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

                  [6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

                                    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

                                    and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf 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 cobra,

                                    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.                  den.

                   [9] They shall not hurt or destroy

                                    in all my holy mountain;

                  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

                                    as the waters cover the sea.

                   [10] In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of                                                       him shall the nations inquire, and his                   resting place shall be glorious.

Have you ever been jolted awake from the middle of a deep sleep; so startled that you sit straight up in bed to the sound of your heart pounding in your chest. Then as you shake the grogginess of sleep from you head you suddenly hear a voice crying out to you in the dark, “Wake up, Wake up”

One night, when I was ten-years-old, I was awakened by my older sister shaking me as she yelled, “The barn’s on fire! We have to get out of the house! Wake up the barn’s on fire." Running out the door to the front of the house, my sister and I joined the rest of my family as we stood in our pajamas in shock.  Huddling together we watched flames and sparks shoot from the roof of our neighbor’s old wooden carriage barn located next to our home. Fire trucks from every station in the City came to help put out the blaze.

It could have easily spread considering the gusting winds and proximity of the homes in the neighborhood. Thankfully it did not spread but it did totally destroy the old wooden building. Yet, the barn was not the only causality of the fire. Directly next to the burned down barn, was a magnificent and ancient copper leaf beach tree. The blaze had badly scorched one side leaving it with a gaping wound covered with smoldering red cinders. The tree doctor came and treated the wound with a sealant saying that, hopefully over time, the tree would eventually heal.

Years went by and periodically the tree doctor would come and put another coat of sealer over the old wound. Then one night we were awakened to our beds shaking after hearing a loud thunderous thump. We ran to the window to find the largest branch of the old tree smashed into the neighbor’s yard. Within a week the 160 year old tree was cut to the ground leaving a huge round stump.

The stump remained in the yard for years eventually being covered with weeds as it slowly decayed. Then one day while mowing the grass I noticed what appeared to be a slender green shoot growing up from the roots of the tree. There in the middle of the stump was a sprig of life. This new life growing from the roots of an old tree is what brings me to today's reading from Isaiah.

The passage begins with a vision of God's future and God's wrath for the present, where Jerusalem has been leveled to the ground in judgment. Trees have been axed down and stumps dot the landscape in ruin. Then the tiniest hint of new life emerges, a small shoot from a stump, reaching out of the destruction towards the sun. With a tender sprig the Prophet proclaims that God will bring a new future of hope. God will rise up a king from the Davidic line of Jesse and God’s spirit of righteousness will rest on him and he will establish justice for all. God's spirit will bring wisdom and people will be able to discern good from evil.

Then suddenly we are jolted awake by Isaiah's abrupt transition to a Vision of Peace that is remarkably different from the world as it is.  In this new vision the strong will no longer devour the weak. Instead predators will coexist peacefully with their prey; wolves will frolic with lambs, spotted leopards will stretch out and sleep with baby goats; bears, bulls, lions, oxen and young calves will all graze together in fields, filling their bellies while enjoying each others company. And right in the middle of this menagerie of beasts is the vulnerable and innocent leader of this new world, the Christ child.

Isaiah's description may remind us of the quaint 18th century American folk painting of the Peaceable Kingdom depicting a child with his arms wrapped in a lion's mane surrounded by animals.  Today we can buy reproductions depicting the famous scene. We can go to The Christmas Tree Shops or TJ Max and purchase a framed copy to hang on our walls. There in the comfort of our homes we can dream of God’s promise of a peace that could be. Yet, we are reminded daily by the media and our own experiences that the Prophet's vision is yet to be realized.

Still, Isaiah's description touches a place deep in our hearts. It touches our hope for peace to be made real in our world now; the hope that our doors will be safe from the wolves of foreclosure and job loss. The hope that the bulls and the bears of Wall Street and Financial Institution will trade with honesty and integrity helping to create an economy where everyone will prosper and be able to save for their retirement years; and the hope that the lions of all Governments will end wars, eradicate violence and seek ways to bring out the potential of all their citizens including the weakest and the most vulnerable. Our hope is in God’s promise of peace.

 How do we get to the Peaceable Kingdom, to Peace on Earth and good will to all?  As we prepare for the coming of Christ the Good News is that Jesus’ birth, life and resurrections leads us to the feast at the table of forgiveness. As Christians we are invited to be followers of Christ, to reach out to “others” as a green shoot of forgiveness, to bring new life, to be co-creators in God’s vision of peace on earth.

But, who are these "others"?  Often it seems the "others" include people in our own lives? Family members and friends we’ve excluded from our tables, our family gatherings because of long held grudges, anger, resentment, and old wounds that never seem to heal. Maybe it is a brother-in-law or an older sister or your mother, or a former friend who said or did something 20 years ago and you still carry around anger. This reminds of a story I read recently entitled, The Heart that can’t Forgive by Teresa Altman

The story begins with the author explaining how she prayed for six years that she would learn to forgive her friend Diane. At the time she was a career professional and a divorced mother of two young daughters. Diane was the wife of her ex-husbands best friend, and worked in a different department of the same office. During her marriage, they were close friends sharing secrets, recipes and evenings together as couples.

After the divorce the friendship with Diane dissolved into strained exchanges in office hallways.  Rumors began to spread about the reason for her divorce and male co-workers assigned with her to projects became victims of hurtful gossip. After trying not to let the rumors bother her she finally left her position.

Then one night as she was getting her girls ready for bed, she heard a knock at the door. Standing there were her parents with her ex-husband. Diane had called her ex-husband and told him about the office rumors as if they were true. Threats of custody hearings, parenting suitability, and spiritual disgrace grew during the conversation that evening.

It took weeks for Theresa to convince her family the rumors were all lies. Although the truth prevailed, the hurt remained. Her hatred and anger toward Diane grew. Years went by and still she prayed asking God to help her to forgive and to take away the bitterness she felt.

Then one day while grocery shopping with her daughter, she sent the girl to pick out cereal in the next aisle. The daughter returned with a friend and said, "Mama, this is Jenny, my new friend at school." Jenny then said, "Hi. My Mom says she use to work with you. Her name is Diane and she's in the next aisle".

Just then Diane came around the corner pushing a cart and stopped. Seeing Diane standing there Theresa knew something was different because she didn’t see the same woman who had shattered her life. Instead, Diane appeared a lost and lonely child, afraid of what was before her. Theresa writes, “A surprising compassion overcame me… God allowed me to see Diane through His own eyes. At that moment, everything happened with such speed that I can't remember closing the distance between Diane and myself. My next memory was just holding her in my arms and saying, "I love you, Diane."  And I meant it.”  The seed of forgiveness had taken root, and old wounds began to heal.

“To forgive another person from the heart, Henri Nouwen writes, is an act of liberation. We set that person free from negative bonds that exist between us. We say, “I

no longer hold your offenses against you.” But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the ‘offended one.” As long was we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them.” Forgiveness liberates not only the “other” but also us. It is the way to freedom. It breaks open our hearts to compassion enabling us to share God’s vision of peace in the world.

Sisters and brothers the peace we wish to see happen in the world must begin with us. Like the resurrected copper beech tree in my back yard that now stands three stories tall, may our paths continue to grow on our journey toward the Prince of Peace. This advent as we anticipate with excitement  the coming of the Christ child may we be jolted awake, to find ways in our lives to be the green shoot of forgiveness, to co-create God’s vision of the Peaceable Kingdom by reaching out in forgiveness, inviting the “others” in our lives to the feast at our table.           AMEN

Kate Pinkham, Student Minister

December 5, 2010