December 15: Come, O Root of Jesse
♫ Music:
Tuesday, December 15
Scripture: Isaiah 11:1 & 11:10
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit... In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Poem: O Radix
Author: Malcolm Guite
O Radix
All of us sprung from one deep-hidden seed
Rose from a root invisible to all.
We knew the virtues once of every weed,
But, severed from the roots of ritual,
We surf the surface of a wide-screen world
And find no virtue in the virtual.
We shrivel on the edges of a wood
Whose heart we once inhabited in love,
Now we have need of you, forgotten Root
The stock and stem of every living thing
Whom once we worshiped in the sacred grove,
For now is winter, now is withering
Unless we let you root us deep within,
Under the ground of being, graft us in.
Prayer:
O Christ, Root of Jesse:
Standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Amen.
COME, O ROOT OF JESSE
Creation creaked and groaned, compacted and contorted under the inexorable pressures of the sin that bound it. Unable to summon any life or growth from its infertile soil and entangled roots, deeply buried seeds pined for the surface and the sun – drawn by the innate, transcendent beckoning from above.
It was from these subterranean depths of history that Isaiah foretold a mysterious hope: a Shoot from the stump of Jesse that would rise above to bear fruit and draw in people from all nations. A verdant Branch stemming from ancient roots long-thought conquered, this Shoot would pulse with wisdom, justice, and peace. In its time this Shoot would erupt from among the locked undergrowth of frozen winter.
Finally, in a shaded and forsaken corner of the earth and by means unexpected, the prophecy was enacted. The Root of Jesse burst forth from desperate soil with all the divine inertia and invincible power of a mustard seed? This was no sequoia. This Shoot did not look capable of consummating hope, and was therefore despised and mocked. Rejected by the very bramble it was birthed to enliven, the Root of Jesse was taken for an aberrant weed and terminated. But only for a moment.
Rising again, the messianic Shoot proved its imperishable vitality, and drawing up our death in His roots, which extend so deeply and intimately into our infertile muck and mire, He now stands to transform our fallen mess into life-giving breath and fruit that truly nourishes. This fruit He offers to harvest in us, as we participate in cultivating the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control that inevitably grow from His Spirit’s work in our lives. Despite hostility, the Shoot from the stump of Jesse has taken root in the drama of history; let us willingly invite Him to take root in our own souls and bear much-needed fruit.
This fruit is not just for ourselves, but for the nations. Though the root of Jesse began humble and small, it is growing into a large tree, inviting the birds to rest in its branches. The need of all the people of this earth for a refuge is apparent. Our roots are still twisted with pride and greed, hatred and violence. And the soil in many places is frozen with fear, selfishness, and complacency. But we know the power of the Root of Jesse to transform just such places. His redemptive presence may begin as small as a mustard seed in our present age, but we await hopefully His powerful and towering manifestation in the kingdom to come.
PRAYER
O Christ, Root of Jesse: Standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Amen.
Paul Rheingans, Graduate Student, Institute of Spiritual Formation
About the Artist and Art
Corpus
Tony Caltabiano
Acrylic and Pigment Ink on Panel
St Andrew’s Orthodox Church, Riverside, CA
Tony Caltabiano is a graduate of the Biola University Art Department and an active teacher, photographer, and mosaic artist. His large work Corpus, is a multi-paneled painted photograph of an old sycamore tree growing in the hills near Riverside, CA. The Word “corpus” translates into English as “body.” One may see this image as a metaphor for Jesse’s lineage and Christ’s family tree. Another reading suggests the far-flung root system of the Christian Church over the centuries. The tree is also a reminder of the wood that bore the suffering Savior. However, the artist’s favorite association, is the humble sycamore tree mentioned in Luke 19:1-10 that held Zacchaeus the tax collector, as he strained to see Christ pass by.
Website: www.tonycaltabiano.com
About the Poet
Malcolm Guite (b. 1957) is a poet, author, Anglican priest, teacher and singer/songwriter based in Cambridge, England. He has published four collections of poetry: Saying the Names, The Magic Apple Tree, Sounding the Seasons: Poetry for the Christian Year, and The Singing Bowl. His writing has been acclaimed by Rowan Williams and Luci Shaw, and his Antiphons appeared in Penguin’s Best Spiritual Writing 2013, edited by Philip Zaleski. Guite’s theological works include What Do Christians Believe? and Faith, Hope, and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination. He is a scholar of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the British poets and serves as Bye-Fellow and chaplain at Girton College at the University Cambridge, supervising students in English and theology and lecturing widely in England and America. Guite plays in the Cambridge rock band Mystery Train, whose albums include The Green Man and Dancing through the Fire.
Website: www.malcolmguite.wordpress.com
About the Music
“Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming”
Lyrics
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung!
From Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind
With Mary we behold it,
The Virgin mother kind
To show God's love alright,
She bore to us a Savior
When half spent was the night
About the Hymn
“Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming” is a Christmas carol of German origin. The text is was penned by an anonymous author, and the piece first appeared in print in the late 16th century. The tune we know today appears in the Speyer Hymnal (printed in Cologne in 1599), and the familiar harmonization was written by German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609. The English translation was written by Theodore Baker in 1894. The hymn has been widely used by carolers throughout Christendom.
About the Performers
Cynthia Clawson (b. 1948) referred to as the “singer’s singer” and was called "the most awesome voice in gospel music" by Billboard Magazine. She has received a Grammy and five Dove awards for her work as a songwriter, vocal artist, and musician. Her career has spanned over four decades with 22 albums released since 1974. Clawson has performed in many prestigious venues and with preeminent groups, and her work has been featured in a number of films including A Trip To Bountiful. Clawson currently resides in Houston, TX and is married to lyricist, poet, and playwright, Ragan Courtney.
Website: www.cynthiaclawson.com
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (b. 1951), known professionally by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor, and philanthropist. In 2009, Sting released If On A Winter’s Night, a collection of seasonal favorites. In the album notes Sting states, “I appreciate the beauty of these stories and how they have inspired musicians and poets for many centuries. It was my desire to treat these themes with reverence and respect, and despite my personal agnosticism, the sacred symbolism of the church's art still exerts a powerful influence over me. In the medieval lexicon the rose was a symbol of flawless perfection and became associated with both Christ and his mother Mary. Two songs in this collection have this as a central metaphor, both based on a verse from Isaiah ("And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots"): 'Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming', a 15th century German carol, harmonized by Praetorius a century later, and 'There Is No Rose of Such Virtue', an English carol from the same period. While the metaphor of the rose is clearly medieval, it appears to carry a faint echo of the nature spirits of the pre-Christian era. While this would undoubtedly have been an unconscious link, the syncretic nature of symbolism is both subtle and persistent. In selecting the songs here, I was drawn to many of the beautiful lullabies from both secular and religious traditions—indeed, all of the songs on the album are lullabies of a kind—and I became intrigued by their dual nature, for lullabies seem to be designed not only to soothe but also to unsettle the listener.”
Website: www.sting.com