New Year's Eve
December 31, 2012
Dear friends in Christ.
If there is one thing that we can count on in this
life, its change. For the truth is,
change is all around us. We see it
outside as we watch spring changing into summer, summer to fall, and fall to
winter, winter back into spring once again.
We see it in the weather as sunny days change to cloudy days, warm days
turn cold, and rain changes into snow.
We see it in our living rooms as we flip through the channels of our
TV’s looking for something to watch. We
see it in our children and grandchildren as we watch them grow from infant to
toddler, toddler to child, child to teenager, and teenager to adult. And we see it in ourselves. For each time we look in the mirror we see a
reflection that has changed in some way since the last time we looked at
it. Even though the change may be so
small that we don’t see it right away, given a few days, weeks, or even years,
we can see just how our faces, our hair, and even our eyes have changed. But even though change is something that we
deal with in every aspect of our earthly lives, when it comes to our religious
lives we know that Jesus is our unchanging Savior. So tonight, as we celebrate the changing of
the years, we will place our trust and confidence in Jesus our unchanging
Savior.
What a comfort it is for us to know that Jesus is
our unchanging Savior! What a comfort it
is to know that no matter what changes in this life, Jesus will never change,
for as the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).
This truth, that Jesus is our unchanging Savior has been our comfort and
assurance throughout our lives. He was
our comfort twelve years ago as we faced the prospect of stepping from 1999
into the year 2000. He was our comfort a
little more than twelve days ago when people wondered if the Mayan Calendar
would be right and we would see the end of the world in December. He has been our comfort every time people
have predicted the end of the world. He
has been our comfort through the past years as we’ve faced layoffs, closures,
and even the searching for a new job.
He’s been our comfort as we’ve enjoyed health and prosperity, as we’ve
endured sickness and injury, and even as we’ve faced fear and death. But most incredibly, he has stood buy us even
through our sins. For even though we have
been unfaithful to him on many occasions, even though we have turned our backs
on him and run away, even though we have thrown ourselves head first into our
sins, our Savior never left our side. He
stood by us even when we wanted nothing to do with him, and he led us from our
sins so that we might fall at his feet in repentance. Then, as we’ve laid at his feet with tears
running down our cheeks, he extends his hand, lifts us up, and assures us of
his forgiveness. He reminds us that he
used his own blood to wash way every scarlet stain of those sins, cleansing our
hearts until they were whiter than the freshly fallen snow we normally see in
the winter.
Now, tonight, as we sit here in worship, Jesus is
the one who is building us up. He is the
one assuring us that our sins have been forgiven. He is reminding us that he is our
unchangeable Savior who will never leave us nor forsake us. Though the world might change around us,
Jesus will never change. Though our
father and mother forsake us, though friends should turn their backs on us and
hate us, Jesus will never leave us. No
matter what changes the New Year might hold for us, no matter what unforeseen
triumphs or tragedies we might face, Jesus will be there with us. So now, as we look forward to the beginning
of a New Year we look forward with confidence.
We look forward with confidence because we know that our Savior goes
with us, just as he has in the past. For
Jesus Christ is our unchanging Savior.
He is the same today as he was yesterday, and he will be the same
tomorrow and forever!
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
