Today's O'Antiphon speaks of the root of Jesse, and it echoes several snippets of scripture from Isaiah and Habakkuk:

O Radix Jesse - O Root of Jesse, you stand for the ensign of all humankind (Isa 11: 10); before you kings shall keep silence and to you all nations shall have recourse (Isa 52: 15). Come, save us, and do not delay (Hab 2: 3).

Come save us, and do not delay. Depending on one's understanding of salvation, this may well be THE most prayed prayer of all time. Come and save us…..now. But the image of the root, the shoot of Jesse, pushing life out of the ruins and the rubble of destruction reminds us that there may be a disconnect between our expectation of some immediate salvation….at some particular time, and the creative process that requires time and growth. Life does not pop onto the scene as a rabbit pops out of a magician's hat. Life comes from a tiny seed, a tiny shoot of green hope that sticks up out of a desert.

This is our lineage, as Christians. The promise of a shoot of Jesse poking its hopeful head out of the hopelessness of our despair. The promise of a new round of new life, brought to us with love from our God of second chances. For as this morning's psalm declares:

The world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.

Today I invite us to reflect upon the shoots of Jesse that stand as signs for us. And the margins in our lives through which God's new life is emerging and growing. Where are the buds of hope in your life, in our community, and in God's good world?

Psalm 50

א  מִזְמוֹר, לְאָסָף: אֵל, אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה--    דִּבֶּר וַיִּקְרָא-אָרֶץ; מִמִּזְרַח-שֶׁמֶשׁ,    עַד-מְבֹאוֹ.	1 A Psalm of Asaph. God, God, the LORD, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its going down.
ב  מִצִּיּוֹן מִכְלַל-יֹפִי--    אֱלֹהִים הוֹפִיעַ.	2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth.
ג  יָבֹא אֱלֹהֵינוּ,    וְאַל-יֶחֱרַשׁ: אֵשׁ-לְפָנָיו תֹּאכֵל;    וּסְבִיבָיו, נִשְׂעֲרָה מְאֹד.	3 Our God comes, and does not keep silence; a fire devoured before Him, and round about Him it storms mightily.
ד  יִקְרָא אֶל-הַשָּׁמַיִם מֵעָל;    וְאֶל-הָאָרֶץ, לָדִין עַמּוֹ.	4 Yahweh calls to the heavens above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people:
ה  אִסְפוּ-לִי חֲסִידָי--    כֹּרְתֵי בְרִיתִי עֲלֵי-זָבַח.	5 'Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.'
ו  וַיַּגִּידוּ שָׁמַיִם צִדְקוֹ:    כִּי-אֱלֹהִים, שֹׁפֵט הוּא סֶלָה.	6 And the heavens declare God's righteousness; for God is judge. S
ז  שִׁמְעָה עַמִּי, וַאֲדַבֵּרָה--    יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָעִידָה בָּךְ: אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֶיךָ    אָנֹכִי.	7 'Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you: God, my God, am I.
ח  לֹא עַל-זְבָחֶיךָ, אוֹכִיחֶךָ;    וְעוֹלֹתֶיךָ לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד.	8 I will not scold you for your sacrifices; and your burnt-offerings are continually before Me.
ט  לֹא-אֶקַּח מִבֵּיתְךָ פָר;    מִמִּכְלְאֹתֶיךָ, עַתּוּדִים.	9 I will take no bull out of your house, nor he-goats out of your folds.
י  כִּי-לִי כָל-חַיְתוֹ-יָעַר;    בְּהֵמוֹת, בְּהַרְרֵי-אָלֶף.	10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
יא  יָדַעְתִּי, כָּל-עוֹף הָרִים;    וְזִיז שָׂדַי, עִמָּדִי.	11 I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
יב  אִם-אֶרְעַב, לֹא-אֹמַר לָךְ:    כִּי-לִי תֵבֵל, וּמְלֹאָהּ.	12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof.
יג  הַאוֹכַל, בְּשַׂר אַבִּירִים;    וְדַם עַתּוּדִים אֶשְׁתֶּה.	13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
יד  זְבַח לֵאלֹהִים תּוֹדָה;    וְשַׁלֵּם לְעֶלְיוֹן נְדָרֶיךָ.	14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving; and pay your  vows unto the Most High;
טו  וּקְרָאֵנִי, בְּיוֹם צָרָה;    אֲחַלֶּצְךָ, וּתְכַבְּדֵנִי.	15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honour Me.'
טז  וְלָרָשָׁע, אָמַר אֱלֹהִים, מַה-לְּךָ, לְסַפֵּר חֻקָּי;    וַתִּשָּׂא בְרִיתִי עֲלֵי-פִיךָ.	16 But unto the wicked God says: 'What have you to do to declare My statutes, and that you have taken My covenant in your mouth?
יז  וְאַתָּה, שָׂנֵאתָ מוּסָר;    וַתַּשְׁלֵךְ דְּבָרַי אַחֲרֶיךָ.	17 Seeing you hate instruction, and cast My words behind you.
יח  אִם-רָאִיתָ גַנָּב, וַתִּרֶץ עִמּוֹ;    וְעִם מְנָאֲפִים חֶלְקֶךָ.	18 When you saw a thief, you had company with him, and with adulterers was your portion.
יט  פִּיךָ, שָׁלַחְתָּ בְרָעָה;    וּלְשׁוֹנְךָ, תַּצְמִיד מִרְמָה.	19 You have let loose your mouth for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
כ  תֵּשֵׁב, בְּאָחִיךָ תְדַבֵּר;    בְּבֶן-אִמְּךָ, תִּתֶּן-דֹּפִי.	20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.
כא  אֵלֶּה עָשִׂיתָ, וְהֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי--    דִּמִּיתָ, הֱיוֹת-אֶהְיֶה כָמוֹךָ; אוֹכִיחֲךָ וְאֶעֶרְכָה    לְעֵינֶיךָ.	21 These things have you done, and should I have kept silence? You had thought that I was altogether such a one as yourself;  but I will reprove you, and set the cause before your eyes.
כב  בִּינוּ-נָא זֹאת, שֹׁכְחֵי אֱלוֹהַּ:    פֶּן-אֶטְרֹף, וְאֵין מַצִּיל.	22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
כג  זֹבֵחַ תּוֹדָה, יְכַבְּדָנְנִי:    וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ--אַרְאֶנּוּ, בְּיֵשַׁע אֱלֹהִים.	23 Who offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors  Me; and to you who order your way rightly will I show the salvation of God.'