There is not a better visual than a tree stump to symbolize total hopelessness. After all, when we look to a tree or other plant we don't look at its base, we look to its branches as the place where the fruit is born. A bare stump only reminds of what is missing. It merely hints at the fullness that once was and of its ability to bear fruit.
In like manner, the climactic vineyard scene from the 1995 romantic movie A Walk in the Clouds also has a sense of hopelessness to it. Set during the period of World War II, the movie tells the story of two young people caught up in the intersection of cultures, traditions, and generational values. The movie climaxes with an argument between Paul and Alberto. Paul is a GI returning from the war who is in love with Victoria, a young woman of Mexican descent, who is pregnant by her college professor. Her father is Alberto, who holds to the traditional ways. The argument between these two men results in a vineyard firepot being tipped over which sets the entire vineyard ablaze. The family, including Paul and Alberto, work feverishly to stop the destruction, but it is no use; all that remains are ashes and charred trellises. Searching for hope amid the destruction, Paul goes to the ancestral vine of the entire vineyard and discovers that this one plant was not lost; life remained in the root. And so, from the charred remains of the vineyard there is hope; life would again come forth.
In Isaiah, the prophet gives a picture of a future hope to those who think all is hopeless. God's Messiah would still come from the line of Jesse as promised. From the dead stump of destruction, from utter despondency, hope would rise and come forth. It is God who brings forth the shoot of hope from the stump of hopelessness. Jesus Christ is the hope that springs forth in Advent-the very hope that as God's people we hold in faith.
THE PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You are the one who gives hope to the hopeless, to this end we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus." Amen.
By Pastor Rory Karg
Immanuel Lutheran Church
Olivette, Missouri
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