Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 11:1-10

Hope is the theme for the first week of advent that ends today. Peace is the theme that starts tomorrow. It is hard for people to look around the world today and see any hope or peace. Both Hope and Peace, though, can be found in one sentence from our reading today….

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse…

Picture if you will, a stump that is dead and decaying with no hope of life, and from within that stump is growing a glimmer of hope, a shoot, that will grow and bring new life. That is the picture that the prophet Isaiah wants us to see today. The shoot the prophet is speaking of is a Son that is coming to bring comfort in times of trouble, and someone you can put your hope in. A Son who has all the characteristics of a leader who will someday lead his people to victory over death, and into new life. Characteristics like…

Being filled with the full measure of the Holy Spirit
Speaking with Authority
Having wisdom and understanding that comes from a proper fear of the Lord
Having courage and strength
One who has the right to judge, but does it based on what is in our hearts, and does it in fairness and truth
Fights for the poor
Slays the wicked

Most importantly though, he would lead with humility, so much humility that ”although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)

He will be also be known as the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and will one day bring unity and peace to all those that follow Him. For just as he can make the lion lay with the lamb, he can change the heart of the most evil man and cause him to love his neighbor as himself.

This leader (as you have probably figured out) is Jesus Christ the Son of God, and he is not only our leader, he is our Lord and Savior.

So take care beloved, because this “already but not yet” (speaking of the kingdom of God) time that we currently live in has hope and glimpses of peace because Jesus did come, and one day hope and peace will be fully realized because Jesus is coming back. We know he is because that little shoot that sprouted out of the stump of Jesse also broke through the stone and it was rolled away.

Until he returns we as Christians are called to be peacemakers and representatives of the Kingdom of God. That means during this Uncommon advent we should be….

Praying for peace between and among people (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
Striving in all things to be peace makers as we aggressively follow the teachings of our Lord (Ephesians 4:1-3, 2 Corinthians 13:11)
Performing acts of Justice and Loving Mercy (Micah 6:8, Matt 5:16)

Weekly Memory Verse: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? Psalm 27.1