Lectio Divina
A shoot shall come from the stump of Jesse
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him…
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
Isaiah 11
Sermon
Some things must be cut down
before new life can emerge.
Not despite the stump,
but from it.
When what was once paramount
comes to an end,
there is grief, and yet
a new beginning.
The Bible is a story of God
arriving again and again
in the ruins,
bringing shalom, beauty, justice.
May you have courage
to wait for the shoot
quietly growing from the roots.
Prayer
LORD of stumps and shoots
You are the gardener of impossible places
tending what has been written off
bringing life through what once was broken open
In the cold hush of Advent
teach me to welcome
the slow, strange growth of your Spirit.
If I must be cut back,
cut me kindly.
But breathe on what remains.
I don’t want to be louder.
I don’t want to be the center.
But I so want to be rooted.
Grow your Kingdom
from the naked ground
of my very life.
Blessing
Dear Friend
What God does in you as you wait
is as beautiful
as what you are waiting for.
May your waiting
be the space
where God is found.
In the Name of the One
Who Entered Our Darkness
Amen