The Spirit of the Lord
God will make a new beginning with the people in Jesus the Messiah. He is the young shoot sprouting from the roots of the stump from the line of David. God’s Spirit rests on him. He will bring peace – not the peace of resignation and the preservation of status quo. It is the peace and harmony that comes even to the poorest, springing from justice, loyalty and integrity. By his example, he will show us what we are meant to be and what we can do with our human potentials if we let God work in us, if God’s spirit is present in us, if we learn to think with God’s wisdom and insight, if we act with his power, and if we respect God’s order. It is those who realize their own indigence, says Jesus, who are receptive to God’s gifts. With such people, Jesus can make his new beginning in this Advent.
Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump,
from his roots a budding Branch.
The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him,
the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength,
the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-God.
Fear-of-God
will be all his joy and delight.
He won’t judge by appearances,
won’t decide on the basis of hearsay.
He’ll judge the needy by what is right,
render decisions on earth’s poor with justice.
His words will bring everyone to awed attention.
A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked.
Each morning he’ll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots,
and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.
The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.
On that day, Jesse’s Root will be raised high, posted as a rallying banner for the peoples. The nations will all come to him. His headquarters will be glorious.
Gospel: Luke 10:21-24
At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. “I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
“I’ve been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone he wants to.”
He then turned in a private aside to his disciples. “Fortunate the eyes that see what you’re seeing! There are plenty of prophets and kings who would have given their right arm to see what you are seeing but never got so much as a glimpse, to hear what you are hearing but never got so much as a whisper.”
Prayer
Lord, our God,
you never give up on people.
Again and again, you want to make
a new beginning with us.
You showed us in Jesus, your Son,
the kind of people you want us to be.
As your Spirit rested on him,
pour out on us the same Spirit,
that we may see our mission in life
with your wisdom and insight
and that we may have the strength
to live as we believe and hope.
Grant this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
