From the Stump Comes Life: God With Us, Not Far Off

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Mary was a virgin, and the angel Gabriel came to her and said, “You are going to have a son—but not just any son, a special son.” Mary asked, “How could this be?” And the angel answered that the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon her, and the Christ Child would be conceived in her.

Joseph did not quite believe what Mary told him, but the angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph as well and said, “What she told you is the truth.” And so, at the appointed time—when Jesus was eight days old—they took Him to the temple to do what the Law of Moses, or the Law of the Lord, required. He was circumcised. He was named.

As they went to the temple, they encountered Simeon, an old man who had been promised that he would see the deliverance of Israel before he died. He took the baby Jesus into his arms and sang what we call the Song of Simeon—what we know as the Nunc Dimittis, because we give everything in the liturgy a Latin or Greek title.

No sooner were Mary and Joseph marveling at these words than Simeon said to Mary that this child was destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and that a sword would pierce her own soul also. Then Anna the prophetess appeared, and she began to speak of the deliverance and redemption of all those in Jerusalem.

Mary and Joseph’s minds must have been whirling. Not only had the past nine months been a whirlwind of unexpected events, but they had arrived at Joseph’s family home and had to stay in the barn because there was no room. And now this. It was a lot to take in—especially with the unexpected news of a child, a child who would be God, a child who would be the Christ, the Anointed Savior chosen by God.

Go back to the Old Testament. There was a woman named Hannah. Hannah was approaching old age, and she had not been blessed with a child. In those days, that was often seen as a sign that God was displeased with you for some reason. Hannah begged God for a child and said, “God, if you give me a child, I will give this child to You.” Imagine wanting something so desperately that you are willing to give it up, if only you might have it.

Hannah became pregnant with Samuel, the last judge of Israel. After Samuel was weaned—somewhere between four and six years old—he was taken to the tabernacle and given over to serve. Samuel was raised there by Eli the high priest. Hannah saw her son only a few times a year because she did not live near the tabernacle.

Samuel would become the last judge of Israel because the people demanded a king so that they might be like the nations around them. Samuel wondered why they had rejected God’s chosen way for them. And God told Samuel, “They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king.” So God gave them a king.

God sent Samuel to anoint Saul—Saul, who looked the perfect part of a king. He was tall, strong, impressive. But Saul was not faithful, and the kingship was taken from him. Samuel was then sent to anoint a shepherd boy named David.

There are many parallels between Samuel and Christ, and between Hannah and Mary. Jesus would be the Son of David, the Son of Jesse, who reigns on the throne forever—the shoot from the stump of Jesse.

Now, there are fruit-bearing plants that you cut back. My wife and I were recently in Hawaii and toured a coffee farm. They cut back coffee trees because otherwise they grow too tall to harvest, and after a certain age they produce less fruit. So the trees are cut down, and from the stumps come shoots, and those shoots bear coffee—and it is delicious. If you have never had coffee, I highly recommend it—preferably if you are over eighteen. But it is wonderful.

You do not usually do this with lemon trees or fig trees or many fruit-bearing trees in the ancient Near East.

So what does this all mean?

God is not a God who is far off. God is a God who completes what He sets out to do. Even when it seems impossible—even when the tree is cut off—it still branches.

Christ came to save us.

All of humanity is divided on that question: Who is Jesus the Christ? Is He the Messiah or not? Is He your Savior or not? Do you reject Him, or do you believe in Him? That is the one question you must get right on this side of eternity.

And that can be either a wonderful thing or a terrible thing. I do not know about you, but I am a sinner, and I get a lot of things wrong. I am not a perfect dad. I am not a perfect husband. I am not a perfect pastor. I am not a perfect citizen.

There is a lot that I do wrong, and it is called sin. I am a sinner. And if you are honest with yourself, you will admit the same—that there is a lot you do not get right, a lot you do wrong. Everyone is a sinner.

If it were up to us to save ourselves, we would be dead trees—cut off, unable to grow, unable to bear good fruit. But thanks be to God that He sent Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God that Christ sent the Holy Spirit, and that you have been made into good trees that bear good fruit. And chief among those fruits is believing in Jesus Christ, holding Him as Savior—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who has taken away your sin and removed it as far as the east is from the west.

We were once slaves to sin, but now we are children of God. And because we are children of God, we may call Him Abba, Father. Abba is Aramaic—not just for “father,” but for “daddy.” What a little child calls their father. What a beloved child calls a beloved father.

That is what you get to call the Creator of the universe. That is what you get to call the mighty Lord of hosts. You call Him “Daddy.”

This great and terrible, mighty, wrathful, and vengeful God looks at you through eyes of love, and you look at Him through eyes of love. And so you come into His presence with joy and thanksgiving.

He is Daddy because He is not far off. He is Daddy because He does not only walk with you through the good times, but also through the bad times—through the lowest lows. Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, though you will die, and though your loved ones will die, He is there, giving eternal life. He is there so that you have hope even in the midst of grief, joy even in the midst of pain, and confidence in a better world to come.

This Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is not only for us, but for the whole world. As Lutherans, we believe in what is called universal atonement—that Christ did not die only for the elect, but for everyone. The tragedy is that some reject this gift.

Our calling as Christians is to live holy lives, to point people to Christ with our words and our actions, and to proclaim the salvation of all mankind in Him. God is not a God who is far off. He took our flesh upon Himself. He even became a little baby, so that He would know exactly what it is like to be human.

The God of the universe knows exactly what it is like to be you and to be me—to be a teenager, to be a baby who soils diapers and needs to be fed, who cannot speak but can only cry. To love people and lose them. To celebrate marriages and birthdays, and to sit beside a grave.

He knows what it means to be human—except without sin.

He does this so that we know who God is, and so that God knows you—on a level deeper than you know yourself—and forgives you with a forgiveness that surpasses all understanding. The more we examine the Ten Commandments, the more we realize how deeply we sin and how great God’s salvation truly is.

This is not a God who is distant. This is not a God who demands that you meet the bare minimum before He will meet you. This is the God who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one, who rejoices over the lost coin, who runs to embrace His son because he was dead and is alive again.

This is Christ the Lord, who gives us everlasting life and desires all people to be saved. And He has given you vocations in response—to live as baptized children of God, to tell others about the peace that surpasses all understanding, to be reminded daily of your baptismal identity, to come to His table to taste and see that He is good, receiving the medicine of immortality.

You are called to walk with one another in burdens, to cover a multitude of sins with love, and to believe that He is the Christ, here for you.

I could preach longer on all of this. I could do Bible studies on all of this. I do not think you want to be here for three hours.

I mean, I would like to be here for three hours. I just do not think you want to be here for three hours.

It is the fourth day of Christmas—the fourth day of celebrating Emmanuel, God with us. But for the Christian, every day is Christmas and every day is Easter, because God is with you. God forgives you your sins. God gives you everlasting life with Him.

Praise be to God. May we go out and continue to live and proclaim this, in Christ’s name. Amen.