One of my favorite Lectionary scriptures
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might . . .
The promise of Christ’s coming!
The people of God waited a long time for the promise. At the end of writing of the Old Testament (after the book of Malachi, around 440 B.C.), the Israelites had finally returned to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity. But instead of enjoying their former way of life, they faced great persecution. These were years of turmoil. God, who had spoken so faithfully through the prophets, went quiet.
Over time, things worsened. By 50 B.C. Herod the Great was ruling with an iron fist. Where was God? His silence was deafening—400 years of quiet is a long time.
Sometimes God is silent.
Sometimes I am silent.
Sometimes God and I are silent at the same time.
There are some things I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been longing,praying, watching, listening, and trying to hope. Some days I hit a brick wall. Some days it feels like four hundred years.
And yet . . . the promise.
I love what Barbara Brown Taylor says: “When we run out of words, we are very near the God whose name is unsayable.”
Sometimes God is silent. Sometimes I am silent. Sometimes God and I are silent at the same time.
But hope does not disappoint.
At the end of my 400 years, there shines a pinprick of light in a dark night sky over a makeshift shelter on the outskirts of town. There grows a tiny green shoot from an old dead stump. There comes to me the faintest whisper hinting of a thunder that splits rocks and empties tombs.
For unto us, a child is born.
Merry Christmas from The Foundry Community.
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