Greetings. I am busy today trying to get everything done so I can go on vacation the rest of the week. I am flying down to Arizona to see Erin!!!!! However, this is quickly teaching me why pastors do not take vacation. Trying to make sure you have everything done before you leave is very stressful, especially during Advent Season. It will be good to get away and I am excited to see my lady again. I will have time over the next couple days while she is at work to put up more about everything I have been doing lately. I will also try to include a few psalm devotions. For now though here is my sermon from yesterday.
Our Text for today is from the Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 11 specifically looking at verse 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.”
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Francis Scott Key wrote a poem titled, “Defense of Fort McHenry” in 1814. The poem was four verses long, creatively retelling the account of the British Navy bombardment on Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. The singing of the first verse of this poem to the tune of a British song of a men’s social club in London, became known as the “Star Spangled Banner” and on March 3rd, 1931 it was sworn in as the national anthem of the United States of America. We all know the story it tells of how during the night of constant bombing from the British ships, the fort never fell. The proof that the fort still stood strong and that the Americans were still holding on was that everyone could see the flag flying high above the fort. That red, white, and blue flag with stars and stripes continued to fly in the evening air, “the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”. That flag was a signal of hope for Francis Scott Key and all other Americans as they watched that battle. Ever since then, that same flag has continued to be a signal of hope for us. It is a symbol of pride for us, which is why we remove our hats at the singing of the national anthem. We are proud of our flag as Americans because it is our signal of hope.
Johnny Cash sings about this pride we have in our flag in his song “Ragged Old Flag”. If you have never heard this song before, I highly recommend you go home this afternoon and listen to it online. In the song he describes a man who doesn’t like to brag about a ragged old flag flying high on a small town court house. He goes through every battle it has been through from George Washington crossing the Delaware to Vietnam since the song was released in 1974. He includes that it has been shot, cut, and burned, but he states that “she’s in pretty good shape for the shape she is in.” He ends the song by saying “I do like to brag cause I’m mighty proud of that ragged old flag.”
As American’s our pride in our flag stems from our national pride. We have been victorious in pretty much every war; we have made ourselves a powerhouse nation, being such a stable and strong country ourselves we attempt to bring justice and democracy to other parts of the world. We are the best country in the whole world and we are proud of that status. We all have a sense of national pride.
We may not always be thrilled to death with the direction our country seems to be going, or the choices the government makes; however, no American wants to see our country fail. We never get upset enough with the government or its policies to want the destruction of our nation. Our national pride holds us together through even the most controversial debates and our flag still flying high is our hope that our nation can make it through even these trying times. So with this national pride, we look to our flag for hope. We look to our American freedoms for our comfort that we are safe and sound. Our national pride becomes our refuge and strength because as long as we are Americans, life is going to be alright. Yes, as long as our country still stands strong, and our flag still flies high, we know life is going to be OK. Our American identity, our citizenship of the US of A, and our standard of living as the best country is what gives us our hope to continue on each day. If that were ever lost, we would be sunk for sure and not know where life would lead us. If that flag ever falls, were all doom and all hope is lost.
In our text for today we see this phrase “the root of Jesse”. This phrase is a reference back to verse 1 where we see a “shoot coming from the stump of Jesse.” What is Isaiah writing about here? Well, what Isaiah is referencing here is the great nation of Israel of Jesse’s times. Jesse was never a leader of Israel, but he was the father of the greatest king of Israel. Jesse was the father of David. David is the greatest king of Israel, not because he was perfect or never did anything wrong, but because he is the one king who never for a second led the people away from following the one true God. David, as king, built up Israel into a major nation controlling huge amounts of land and peoples. Israel was one of the biggest and most prosperous nations in the entire world. However, Isaiah calls this the stump of Jesse. If Israel is such a powerful nation during Jesse’s son’s reign, why does he call it a stump? Isaiah being a prophet has been given the ability to prophesy about the future. Isaiah knows the great nation of Israel is not always going to be as major as it was during David’s rule. The nation will eventually split into two nations, Israel and Judah. Then both of these nations will be sent into exile. The great nation will eventually be nothing more than a group of people separated into foreign lands under foreign rulers.
Have any of you ever been to Sequoia National Park? I have never been but hope to see it someday. I did some research on Sequoia National park because they are famous for their giant sequoia trees. Did you know that there are giant sequoia trees in the park that reach over 250 feet tall? That’s taller than a 23 story building. These same trees that reach so high into the sky have a base with over a 100 foot circumference. A third of a football field could wrap around the outside of the trunk. These are massive, majestic trees. So now imagine, you travel to see these trees in this park. You take pictures of yourself standing next to them to show how little you look compared to them. You are thoroughly amazed by their size. Then sixty years later you go back to the same spot where you once took you picture standing next to the biggest one in the park, but now there is only a stump left there. It has been cut down! That massive, majestic tree that once towered so high, looming so far above you couldn’t even see its top, is now less than four feet tall. There is enough of the stump left to know that this giant tree once stood here, but it is now only a remnant of once was here.
This is what Isaiah is saying about Israel. The once huge, powerful nation will eventually be nothing more than a remnant of once was. This prosperous nation of God’s people will become an exiled group of foreigners. And don’t you imagine their national pride during their peak years led them to believe that if their country ever fell, it would be hell on earth? Their country did fall, and their citizenship of the nation of Israel was lost, life was now a whole lot more difficult. They had lost their hope and comfort because their country that they were so proud to be a part of came to utter destruction and was nothing more than a stump of what was once a huge tree.
However, the good news of this message is the fact that this stump will sprout new life. A shoot will come from this stump. This is what Isaiah is saying in verses one through nine. Then in verse ten we see that this shoot will be a signal for the people. This shoot of new life will be a signal of hope for all these people who once belonged to the nation of Israel. As they are living in exile under foreign rule, making up merely a remnant of once was their great nation, they have this signal of hope. This shoot, this signal of hope is Christ. When Christ is born into the world as a baby, this is the future time Isaiah is referring to that the nation of Jesse will be merely a stump. This is the time when God’s people will be only a remnant of the prosperous group they once were. The nation of Israel is a dead stump, but life will sprout. Christ, being born of the line of King David, David’s Son and David’s Lord, is this sprout that will bring life back to the now seemingly dead nation. He will be born in the city of David in Bethlehem. He will reestablish His kingdom throughout all of Judea and Galilee and eventually in Jerusalem. He was promised to continue on the throne of David forever.
Although, just as Israel would become nothing more than a dead stump, Christ too will die. He will be hung on a cross and the “sprout” that came from the stump of Jesse would be as dead as the stump it sprouted from. The stump is dead, and now the sprout is dead too. But then, Christ came back to life. Christ arose from the dead bringing life to the nation of Israel and every other nation as well. Through His death and resurrection, Christ did establish the throne of David forever. Through this sprout, life is offered to all of God’s creation, including all His people. This sprout is the signal of hope because in this sprout we know we have life. We know our “national of Israel” the new nation of all believers will never die again. Christ is their signal of hope because He is the life that sprouted to be the life for all.
The same is true for us too. Through this same Lord we too have the signal of hope, we belong to the new “nation of Israel”, the nation of God’s people who have their hope in Christ our Savior. So it is OK to have a little American pride and to respect our flag and remove your hats at the singing of the national anthem. However, remember this… you are Christians first and Americans second. Even if America were to fall under attack tomorrow and be overtaken, even if America ceased to exist as a nation, even if through the rocket’s red glare and the bombs bursting in air we see that our flag is no longer there, our hope is not lost. Francis Scott Key and the other Americans watched as their flag survived the night of terror. The flag was shot, covered in gun powered and smoke, and maybe even burned a little, but because it was still there at the end of the night, it was their signal of hope. We have a signal that is much greater than those stars and stripes. Christ, our signal of hope went through His own night of terror. He was beaten, spit on, and mocked as he hung nailed to a cross, blood dripping down from His head, His back, His hands, and His feet. The disciples and other followers watched as the night went on, and in the morning their signal of hope was not there. He had not survived the night and it seemed as though all hope was lost. However, He was not gone and hope was not lost. He walked out of the grave alive. He appeared to the disciples and showed them the holes in His hands and the spear mark in His side. Johnny Cash would have called Him a “ragged old flag” for the shape He was in. But we are proud of that ragged old signal of hope because our true hope is in the resurrected flesh and blood of our savior Christ Jesus which is so much greater than red, white and blue materials sown together. He is our signal of hope because He is our strength and refuge. He is our signal of hope, the sprout from the stump of Jesse, the king who arose from a fallen nation, a savior who died and rose three days later to never die again, is our signal of hope. He is our signal of hope in this sinful fallen world, today and tomorrow, no matter what happens to our country. Nations will come and go, they will rise and fall, but Christ has established His throne forever that will never fail. He is alive and present as our one true signal of hope for the rest of eternity, because our hope is in the life we have through Him.
In the name of the sprout of the stump of Jesse, who is our signal of hope, Christ Jesus. Amen.
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