Hilda's journey

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; 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 around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling 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 asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  (Isaiah 11:1-10 NRSV)

What a wonderful world this describes. When we reflect on this reading, we realize that what Isaiah is describing is the kind of Jamaica we all want. One where appearances don’t matter. A Jamaica where the poor and destitute are treated fairly. A Jamaica where justice is the same for all whether you are big or small, rich, or poor. The case of the X6 driver is spoken about in hushed tones, and we are hard pressed to convince the average Jamaican that justice was served. The whole nation was outraged by the death of Nicholas, the young Jamaica College student. His potential contribution to society lost. The three-card con man has graduated to cybercrime and scamming. We now have a new controversy brewing about a dance hall scene on the cover of the Yellow Pages. Dance Hall which is so much of Jamaica’s reality that we want to keep it hidden. The sad part about all of this except for the growing crime, is that they are all ‘nine day wonders’. We talk but we do nothing. WE get in a huff, but our heart quietens and that’s the end of it. I know we feel sorry for ourselves. We are sliding down a slippery moral slope, from which many think we are at the point of no return. We are at the point where to climb back up will be a tall order and we bemoan our situation. But what to do?

For Isaiah, his beloved Israel was in the similar situation. The once holy nation of Israel was no longer holy. They had strayed so far that even the ground died. They worshipped other Gods, like our ‘god of prosperity’. Bad choice of word when our government has promised us prosperity, but that was Israel reality as it is ours, they yearned like us for silver and gold. If we read the earlier chapters Isaiah describes the situation well of a nation in crisis. A nation where taxes are more than the people can bear and their sovereignty is threatened. Neighbour against neighbour, young against old, the nobodies against the well-respected. The social fabric of the society was changing faster than they can adjust. The society was given over to parties, feasting and drunkenness, corruption and injustice, the situation with the poor he described as grapes in a wine press. Doesn’t this sound like our society where it seems we are powerless against crime, and so hostile to others. But again, what to do?

Our reading today gives us hope, because we can dream with Isaiah of a time to come when God will rule. John Lennon an atheist has a song called ‘Imagine’. In it he wants the same thing that Isaiah foretells and that we want and hope for. A time when there’s “Nothing to kill or die for, a time when all the people live life in peace No need for greed or hunger. A brotherhood of man.” He imagines “all the people sharing all the world”. Yes, he had a dream like so many other persons – Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro, and we each have our Jamaican heroes. Then there is the teacher who stayed in touch or the mentor who help us make big decisions. We too have the same dream for our Jamaica, only trouble is, what are we doing about it. Are we like Isaiah waiting for this shoot to come to make things right? The Gardeners among us know that when we have a wispy or weak plant we cut it back to encourage the growth of strong stems. The rose it is the branches that come from the base that the gardener encourages. It gives the plant longevity as the old ones die and harden.

Where will this young shoot come from? Who among us will be the young shoot, the strong rose cane that will make our country better again? My friends it is all of us. Each and every one of us is that shoot rising from the stump of decay in Jamaica.
As we await the arrival of King Jesus what are we to do? How is the shoot within us to be cultivated and nurtured? Just pray and all will be changed? Do you think it is a lack of faith and prayer why Jamaica is the way it is? No! It is because we have failed to walk in the way of Jesus. We have failed to do as he suggested in Matthew 25. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and visit those in prison – physical or emotional prison. We have failed to actively transform this society to a better place.
Most if not all of us say the Lord’s prayer every day. It has a line in it that says ‘thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’. In Matthew 25 Jesus said the King will not acknowledge us, if we don’t do the things mentioned. As the shoot, we must be deliberate and act with urgency in bringing about the kingdom here on earth.

We are the hands and feet of God. Each of us called to do his work, not only the spiritual work of praying and feasting at his table but the physical work as Isaiah suggests. The work where each morning we pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build communities of righteousness (right living) and faithfulness, by changing people’s lives physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, helping them to live right. I am sometimes ashamed at how satisfied we are as Church members with the little we do. I know there are challenges and frustrations, we have jobs and families. There so many things we can do and yet we do none of them. Many of us prefer to participate from a distance. Giving money and cheering on those in trenches instead of getting involved physically and emotionally. We all have reasons, I too have had them, but if you are faithful to the workings of the Holy Spirit within, we will see the difference that working at changing people’s lives make. Giving money is good and helping with a book or booklist every year is commendable, but the real transformation takes place by journeying with people. Sharing their joys and sorrows, caring so that they can see a different way of behaving. Matthew 25 does not say anything about our friends. It speaks to strangers. I challenge each of us to take on one personal project where we can make a difference to the life of at least one person. It doesn’t have to cost us anything. We just have to be there for that person.

We are the young shoot that makes a difference in how people work. We as Christians ought to work with integrity and cause others to do the same. In Jamaica, everybody knows somebody to beat the system, to get things done quicker. We take pride in it. It is situations like these that lead to corruption and lack of accountability. It was one of the things Jesus spoke out about Luke 3:13- 14 where he says we shouldn’t give in to extortion, and be satisfied with your wages.” Integrity is essential in the church, in the workplace, marketplace, and especially in the home.

Yes, from the dying stump of our society, along with the shoot of journeying with others and the shoot of integrity the third shoot which must break forth is the shoot of breaking the silences. Breaking the silence of being afraid of speaking up and speaking truth when things go wrong, the silence of child abuse in our homes and our neighbour’s homes, the silence of violence against women again in our homes and our neighbour’s homes, the silence of watch and wait, while the society suffers. In our Church, we know what is to observe silence. While it may be good for reflection silence in the real world may not be such a good thing. There is an adage that says evil prospers when good men do nothing, when they are silent. We fear for our lives but I tell you we are losing it by our silence. Not losing it for Christ either for we live in gated communities and homes with burglar bars and electronic guards. We cannot drive with our windows down. We are afraid to exercise the freedom of walking anywhere at any time. We all know this is not good. We know that this not how the society should be. We can no longer afford to keep the silence.

So friends in order to achieve what Isaiah prophesied we need to act. It is our Bishop Nuttall that built schools all over Jamaica for poor people’s education. It is our time now to build back the social fabric of our society, to make a difference. Our time to not just dream and look forward to the kingdom coming.

This Adventide let us reflect on how best to let the shoot of journeying with others, the shoot of integrity and the shoot of breaking the silences emanate from us, as we deliberately and purposefully work at realizing the kingdom here on earth, by pulling on our work clothes with the wisdom and understanding, the direction, strength, knowledge, and the Fear of life-giving Spirit of God to build righteousness and faithfulness in the land. Amen.