When do your Christmas decorations go up? I feel as though people decorate earlier and earlier. In the past, it seemed as though decorations started to appear the weekend after Thanksgiving, beginning with outdoor decorations. A tree might go up somewhere around the middle of December, especially if you use a live tree with a short shelf life. There is nothing worse than having your tree die before Christmas!

But lately it seems that Christmas immediately follows Halloween. Take a look around your neighborhoods and see if that is true where you live. Perhaps it is an economy of effort, as you might as well take advantage of ladders and steps tools already being out for the removal of Halloween decor. And nothing ages faster than Halloween decor in November.

Advent will begin on the Sunday after Thanksgiving this year, in November. It seems as though even the lectionary calendar is rushing us toward Christmas.

But while we are still in October, let us dwell in the moment of realization that a messiah was needed before we get to the manger. Isaiah is probably my favorite book in the Old Testament, and this passage resonates with the hope and heartache of a nation in diaspora who longed for a messiah to come in order to be delivered:

Isaiah 11 (Common English Bible)

A shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse;
    a branch will sprout from his roots.
² The Lord’s spirit will rest upon him,
    a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    a spirit of planning and strength,
    a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
³ He will delight in fearing the Lord.
He won’t judge by appearances,
    nor decide by hearsay.
⁴ He will judge the needy with righteousness,
    and decide with equity for those who suffer in the land.
He will strike the violent with the rod of his mouth;
    by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness will be the belt around his hips,
    and faithfulness the belt around his waist.

The humble nature of this messiah is proclaimed right off the bat. By stating that this “shoot” will spring from Jesse and not David reminds us of the humility of the messiah yet to come. David was a king, and Jesse was a plain farmer and shepherd. While both are part of the messiah’s lineage, to name Jesse as the stump is to indicate that this savior would not appear as royalty. Amazing!

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
    and the leopard will lie down with the young goat;
    the calf and the young lion will feed^[c] together,
    and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow and the bear will graze.
    Their young will lie down together,
    and a lion will eat straw like an ox.
⁸ A nursing child will play over the snake’s hole;
    toddlers will reach right over the serpent’s den.
⁹ They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain.
    The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord,
    just as the water covers the sea.

Good news for the vegans! This seems to indicate a return to the beginning of creation, when all creatures lived in harmony and there were no carnivores on the earth. It wasn’t until Genesis 9: 2-3 that humans were given dominion over the earth’s creatures and meat was added to their diet. When the messiah comes to reign, even the lion will eat straw and the children will be safe around snakes.

¹⁰ On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.

“On that day.” We already know the end of this story as it bore fruition with the birth of Christ. We now anticipate Christ’s second coming, which will fulfill all the promises of peace and harmony that the world today so desperately needs. Let’s not jump ahead too quickly but allow the seasons to unfold slowly as we wait. Jesus is coming! Let us take time to get ready.

Harvest Moon at Sunrise by Stacy Murphy