Wingham United Church

December 7, 2025

2nd Sunday of Advent

Prepare the Way!

Isaiah 11:1-10

Matthew 3:1-12

 

When my family moved to Bluevale back in 2015, we had six trees on our little lot. A huge old maple tree still guards the property line on the north side of our back yard. On the opposite side stands a tall spruce tree that always seems to be full of birds and squirrels. This year, like last year, it is very heavily loaded with cones.

          The old white birch in the front yard had to be cut down a few years ago as it began to threaten our neighbour’s car as well as the community’s hydro service every time the wind blew, and since then, we have had to remove three ash trees because of the emerald ash borer.

          When the first two of the ash trees were taken down, I had the tree service grind up the stumps as well. Nothing much remains of either of them, except an annual crop of mushrooms growing up from the decaying roots. When I had the last ash tree taken down the following year, I chose to leave the stump. Partly because it would have been nearly impossible to get the big stump grinder into our back yard, but also because I had dreams of doing something creative with the stump, so I had them leave it fairly high.

          My creativity has yet to be explored beyond carving out a hollow in the top of the stump where I have tried unsuccessfully for the past two years to grow flowers. The bark has all fallen off and there it stands, bare, unattractive, forlorn, and in the way. It appears to be quite lifeless, except for one thing.

          From the side of the stump, at ground level, a new tree has begun to grow. It now stands about 12 feet high. Where one tree was dying and had to be removed, a new one is growing to replace it. Whether it will ever grow large enough to provide a significant amount of shade will probably depend on the same bugs that killed its parent, but for now, it stands as a symbol of hope. As one of our hymns says, from death, a resurrection.

          That’s the imagery prevalent in our First Testament reading this morning. Isaiah prophecies a new shoot growing from the roots of King David’s family tree. When David ruled Israel and Judah, peace and prosperity were experienced by everyone in what we now refer to as the Middle East. David’s wisdom, understanding, and faithfulness provided a good life for all the sheep of his pasture, and those good times continued through the reign of his son, Solomon. Sadly, greed, selfishness, and temptation caused disruptions in the relationships and character of that once royal family and by the time Isaiah comes along, the leaders of God’s people have failed. Injustice and exploitation now rule the hearts of those nations and, if something doesn’t change soon, disaster will come to the people.

          But there is hope. From that seemingly dead stump, a new shoot will appear and, like King David,

“the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him –

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
   the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
   He will not judge by appearance
   nor make a decision based on hearsay.
4 He will give justice to the poor
   and make fair decisions for the exploited.

It didn’t happen until hundreds of years later, but eventually, when the time was right, that new shoot appeared. He was everything Isaiah had promised, but not exactly what the people were expecting. Before his appearance, however, someone was sent to announce that the time long foretold was about to arrive – “a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!’”

While the people were hoping for someone who would come in and change the world around them, the one who was coming intended to change them. For centuries, God had intervened on behalf of the people, restoring them over and over again, only to have them revert back to their old behaviours. A warrior who could drive out the Romans and establish a new kingdom for the people would only be another short-term fix to an age-old problem.

          Before this new King could save the people, they needed to change from the inside out. They needed to become the change the world needed. So, John appeared in the wilderness calling on the people to repent, a word that means more than making an apology and a promise. True repentance is a radical transformation of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit. Only such a complete transformation within the people could create lasting change to the world around them.

          As the people heard John’s message and came forward to denounce their former ways, John baptized them in a symbolic washing away of the old self to make room for a new self to grow, like a fresh new shoot growing from the death of the old, diseased stump. He baptized them in the same waters their ancestors had crossed on their way to freedom centuries before, and as they came up out of those waters, they, too, were freed from the things that bound them.

          The commitment they made as they came for baptism had to come from the heart. It had to be genuine. So, when John saw people coming forward whom he knew were not genuine in their confession and repentance, he turned them away. If they wanted to be part of this new movement, they needed to prove they were willing to change.

          And for those unwilling to make the transformation, there were consequences. The One who was coming, the One for whom John was preparing the way, would not be so lenient. Those who genuinely repented would be baptized with the Spirit, ushered into the new Kingdom that was coming to be, and those who would not, those who refused to produce the good fruit of a life devoted to the ways and will of God, would be cast out like the chaff at the wheat harvest.

          Today we lit a candle for Peace. It seems like an impossible dream. As in Jesus’ day, the forces of empire threaten anyone who refuses to conform. The most powerful political leaders of our time are just modern-day Caesar’s, bent on control, exploitation, and the desire to be worshipped, using violence and exile to impose their will. Innocent people are being victimized, and those who carry out these atrocities live above the law.

          We sit and watch the evening news, and shake our heads in disbelief, then shrug our shoulders in despair. What can we do? It’s beyond our control.

          Well, yes and no. There is little you or I can do to change world politics. We are little more than leaves being blown along on the wind.

          I imagine that is how people felt when they heard about this strange man in his strange wardrobe and his odd diet. Yet, they were drawn to the message of hope he shared. He reminded them that their people had been here before. He reminded them of prophecies of One sent by God to save the people from their despair. Someone who would show them how to rise above the circumstances and conditions of the world around them. Someone who, unlike the leaders they were familiar with, would be guided by justice, wisdom, and compassion.

          Before they could change the world around them, they must first change the world within them. The powers that governed their world could only do so with the power given them. To defeat them, the people needed to take that power back by devoting themselves to a greater power. The leader they were promised would not simply be a replacement for the powers then faced. He would rule the world by ruling their hearts and minds. He would not demand their loyalty. He would invite them to join Him in a movement that brought peace from within. Peace that only comes to people who know the Lord.

          John’s call from the wilderness rings out today. Prepare the way for the Lord, not to come riding into town on a great steed to defeat violence with greater violence, but to come into the heart and mindset of all those who want peace, justice, and compassion. If that is what we want in our world, then we must start by welcoming it into our own being. We must allow the Christ Child to transform our hearts, then transform our lives. We change the world by allowing ourselves to be changed. We must prepare the way for the Lord to save us.

          Jesus offers us this gift. Are we prepared to open it to see what’s inside?

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv