We Thank Jesus for Redeeming Us!

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace 
Second Sunday of Easter  
April 7, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

What would you do if you were suddenly jolted awake by the screaming of the smoke alarms ringing all through the house?  What would you do if you found yourself coughing from the acrid smoke pouring in through the door?  The billowing black clouds growing thicker and thicker forcing you to the floor to find clear air to breath!  Trying to find your way to the door, you find yourself lost in your own bedroom, your house suddenly becoming a traitor to your safety as you are unable to make the simple 10 foot trip to your children’s bedrooms!  You grow weaker and weaker as you worry about your family, you begin to lose consciousness and realize that death is only moments away for you and your children.  A tear carves a trail through the soot that has accumulated on your face as you come face to face with your own inability to do anything to save yourself or your children.  But then, just as all hope is lost you hear the sound of breaking glass.  You feel someone lift you off the floor and carry you outside into the cool, crisp, clean, breathable air.  Later, as you begin to recover, you move your head from side to side and see your entire family is there!  They are safe and sound, recovering just as you are.  How would you feel?  What thoughts would be on your mind?  How would you react when you met the person who risked his life to save your family from perishing in that terrible fire?

In so many ways, this is exactly what Jesus, our Savior, did for us!  At the beginning of Lent, way back on Ash Wednesday, we heard the screaming of the smoke alarms waking us up from our slumber.  We saw the billowing clouds of our own sins surrounding us, and very quickly it became very clear that there was nothing we could ever do to make ourselves right before our God.  We knew that eternal death was the only thing in our future, until Jesus ran to the cross and gave his life in our place; until Jesus suffered the punishment that we deserved and died the death that should have been ours.  Though we knew that eternal death was in our future, when Jesus died on that cross and rose again on the third day, he rescued us!  He ransomed us from the Devil!  He redeemed us!  He paid the price of our sins with his own blood so that we could be his own and live to serve him!  This is why we have gathered in worship today!  We have come to give thanks to the Lord Jesus who redeemed us!

On this Second Sunday of Easter, we have gathered, just as we did last week, to give thanks to the Lord Jesus who redeemed us by making us his own through the blood he shed for us!  This, in fact, is the very thing of which the Apostle Paul reminds us when he writes in Colossians, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:13–15, NIV84)  And again in 1 Corinthians, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NIV84)

If you’ve ever owned a pet, then you know the bond of loyalty that forms between that animal and its master.  Regardless of what type of animal it is, dog, cat, bird, fish, etc, that animal belongs to you because you bought it.  You are the master and you are the provider.  Your pet relies on you to care for it and provide for it.  In many ways this is a picture of what Paul is telling us in the passages we just read.  We are no longer our own, we have been bought at a price.  Because Jesus redeemed us by his death and resurrection, we now belong to him, and we rely on him to provide for us, which is exactly what he does.  He provides for us by forgiving our sins, by standing by our sides and even carrying us through our troubles.  He blesses us with everything that we need for our bodies and our lives, and gives us even more than we could ever use or need.  Because Jesus redeemed us, we do belong to him in the same way that children belong to their parents.  In the same way that parents teach their children to honor their family through their words and actions, so also Paul calls on us to honor our God in all that we say and do.  Just as he writes in 2 Corinthians, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:14–15, NIV84)

How would you react if as you began to recover from that fire, you move your head from side to side and see your entire family is there!  They are safe and sound, recovering just as you are, even as the night is illuminated by the blaze that is consuming your house.  How would you feel?  What thoughts would be on your mind?  How would you react when you met the person who risked his life to save your family from perishing in that terrible fire?  What would be the first words out of your mouth?  Would you try to spring up from where you laid with tears streaming down your face profusely thanking the person who rescued you?  Wouldn’t you want to do something for that person?  Can’t you just see yourself grasping the person’s hand, not ever wanting to let go, as you hear yourself saying, “How can I ever repay you?”  Though so often rescuers humbly decline any type of compensation, how would you react if your rescuer suddenly said, “I just love strawberries, and if you every have any extra ones…”  Wouldn’t you immediately try to run off and collect every single strawberry you could to give to the person who saved your life?  Wouldn’t you take his name and address so that you could deliver strawberries to him to say thank you?  Might you even make sure to bless him with strawberries every year, on the anniversary of the fire, for the rest of your life?

As Christians, this is how we seek to live, since Jesus redeemed us through his death and resurrection.  We seek to live our lives for our Savior because we understand that our lives no longer belong to us!  They belong to the one who redeemed us and delivered us to be his children.  We seek to live our lives according to our God’s commands and our Savior’s will not because we have to, but out of love and thankfulness to the one who redeemed us, and made us his own by washing us clean with his blood.  Because Jesus has redeemed us we cry out with Isaiah, “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, " (Isaiah 61:10, NIV84)   Because our Savior has redeemed us and made us his own we praise him as the Psalmist did when he said, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:103–105, NIV84)

In recent years the “Above the Influence” campaign has challenged and encouraged young children, teens, and even adults to live above the influence of drugs.  Through a simple series of commercials of kids speaking about how they live above those influences, thousands if not millions have been inspired to do the same.  As Christians who have been redeemed by Jesus, our Savior, we seek to do the same.  We seek to live above the influence of sin by delighting in the Lord and his word.  We seek to live lives of thankfulness to the Lord by living lives that lovingly reveal the robes of righteous that the Lord has bestowed upon us.  We seek to indulge in the honey of God’s word so that we might gain wisdom and understanding from his precepts so that we, too, might turn away from every evil path.  This, in fact, is the very thing that Paul encourages us to do as he writes in his letter to the Ephesians, when he says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22–24, NIV84)

Since we have been redeemed by Jesus, who covered us with his blood and made us his own through his death and resurrection, we seek to do this very thing for him.  In the same way that we daily change from our work clothes and put on our night clothes, so also we seek to put off our old self as we turn to the Lord in repentance, and then put on the new self, the robes of righteousness as we seek to live for him.  This is what we do out of love and thankfulness for the one who redeemed us!  For in the same way that we would be eternally grateful and thankful to the one who saved our lives by pulling us out of our burning homes, so also we are eternally grateful and thankful to the Lord Jesus, who as redeemed us by his death and resurrection.

Though we did hear the screaming alarm of Lent seeking to wake us from our slumber as the billowing clouds of our own sins surrounded us and made it very clear that there was nothing we could ever do to make ourselves right before our God.  On Easter we heard the good news of salvation that is ours through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Though we knew that eternal death was the only thing in our future, we have seen the salvation that Jesus won for us when he went to the cross and gave his life in our place, paying the punishment that we deserved and died the death that should have been ours.  Though we knew that eternal death was in our future, we also know that when Jesus died on that cross and rose again on the third day, he rescued us!  He ransomed us from the Devil!  He redeemed us!  He paid the price of our sins with his own blood so that we could be his own and live to serve him!  This is why we have gathered in worship today!  We have gathered to give our thanks and our praise to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior; Jesus, our Savior, who has redeemed us!

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Jesus Is Our Light! (John 20:1,2,11-18)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

The Resurrection of our Lord Easter Day

March 31, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

While I was serving as a Pastor in South Dakota, I had the opportunity to ride on the George S. Mickelson trail.  Now, if you are not familiar with it, The George S. Mickelson Trail is a converted rail road route situated in the heart of the beautiful black hills.  It runs for 109 miles from Deadwood down to Edgemont and it contains more than 100 converted railroad bridges and 4 rock tunnels.  I can still remember what it was like to ride that day.  I can still remember the sound of the crushed limestone crackling under my tires as I rode.  I remember the smooth 4% grade that I climbed for a number of miles and then coasted for a number of other miles.  But the thing I remember the most was riding through the tunnel.  I remember the excitement as I approached the tunnel, a yawning black mouth in an otherwise impassible rock face.  I remember the way the darkness began to envelope me, as I moved deeper into the throat of the mountain.  The light from the outside quickly disappeared and my pace slowed as I removed my sunglasses so that I could better see in the new found darkness.  Though the darkness around me was never complete, it was very difficult to navigate until I reached the slight bend in the tunnel and could once again see the bright daylight pouring in, allowing me to navigate more confidently through the remainder of the tunnel.  Though the tunnel was only a few hundred feet long it wasn’t long until the darkness of the tunnel made it difficult to navigate.  However, when I made the bend and saw the light streaming in at the end of the tunnel I knew the darkness would soon come to an end and I would once again enjoy my journey riding in the full light of day.

Well, in many ways, the season of Lent is something like that tunnel experience.  The hours we’ve spent with Jesus in these past weeks have been rather somber, solemn, and serious.  Even as we’ve focused our attention on our Savior’s wondrous names of love, our attention has been on our sins and we’ve been reminded of God’s forceful anger over them.  We’ve traveled the path that Jesus took; the path that lead him to his death to pay for our sins; the path that made us deeply aware that of everything we deserved from a holy and righteous God, which is everything that Christ, our Savior, suffered in our place. 

However, as we worship this morning, everything is different. Our time spent traveling through the dark tunnel of Lent comes to an end as we emerge into the full and glorious light of another Easter.  We emerge into the joy and the comfort of our Savior’s resurrection from the dead, and we bask in the full light of our Savior’s love and forgiveness; our Savior who himself has assured us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”" (John 8:12, NIV84)

Though today is truly a day of joy as we bask in the Light of Jesus, our Savior, for most of Jesus followers, that First Easter did not start off with joy and celebration.  Rather, it started out in darkness and confusion.  In fact, John tells us, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”" (John 20:1–2, NIV84)

In so many ways these words not only describe the condition of the early morning when Mary set out for the tomb, but in reality they describe the condition of her sorrow-filled heart as well.  Her heart must have been overflowing with grief, sorrow, and perhaps even despair because the light of Jesus’ life had been snuffed out in death.  Her Lord and Savior who had cast seven demons out of her (Luke 8:2) was lying in the tomb where he had been hastily buried before the Sabbath began.  The one whom she had followed, serving him with the full devotion of a heart filled with faith, trusting that he was truly the promised Savior from sin; he was dead and she would not have the opportunity to see him again.  For May, not only had the sky over Calvary been pitch black as she stood beneath his cross, so was her heart.  Not only was the tomb, in which they had hurriedly placed his lifeless body devoid of light, so was her spirit.  How her heart must have broken when the laid him in the tomb.  How her faith must have been shaken as she returned home for the Sabbath on that Friday afternoon. But how her heart must have simply burst when she saw the open tomb and come running to Peter and John crying out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (John 20:2, NIV84)

It was as if Mary was in a tunnel without any light, without even an exit, as she stood beside the open tomb, weeping.  Not only did she think that her Savior was dead, but it also seemed that someone had gone to great lengths to steal his body, thus dishonoring him all the more by taking away his right as an Israelite to receive a proper and honorable burial.  Yet in the same way that light does eventually begin to shine into a tunnel as one comes to the end of it, so also the Light of Jesus resurrection began to shine in Mary’s heart.  For not long after Peter and John had returned from the tomb, we find Mary back where everything had started that morning, as John tells us, “but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her." (John 20:11–18, NIV84)

While it was still dark, Mary had seen the stone rolled away and run back to report her fears.  Later, in the daylight, she had returned to the tomb to weep and tell the angels the same story she told the disciples.  Then it happened!  As she wept, she turned and noticed a man standing behind her.  Through tear-dimmed eyes she didn’t recognize him. But when he said, “Mary,” her heart turned over.  “Master,” she cried out in amazement.  This was her lord.  She was not in error.  She had seen them lay his body in the grave, and she recognized him now.  With amazing suddenness her tears were dried for her and the weight was lifted from her heart.  All past sorrows were gone.  Darkness had vanished.  Now she knew that her Savior was living!  She had finally left the tunnel of sorrow and now stood in the bright light of Jesus Easter victory!

What a day that had to be for Mary and the others, and what a day it is for you and me!  For as we have gathered in worship this morning, we, too, have left the dark tunnel of Lent and are basking in the light of Jesus, our Savior.  We are basking in the joy of Jesus resurrection.  For we know that because Jesus was delivered over to death and raised to life once again, we have been justified before our God!  We have been acquitted of all our sins!  We have been declared not guilty and are once again at peace with the Lord our God!  No longer can the guilt of our sins prevail against us, because Jesus’ resurrection assures us that his death has completely washed away even the guilt of our sins.  No longer can satan bedevil us, because Christ’s victory on Calvary has crushed the serpent’s head.  Not even death can hold us any longer because we know that just as Christ, our Savior, passed through death only to take back his own life and rise again, so also, Christ our Savior will lead us through death to our life forever by his side in our heavenly kingdom.

This is Jesus, who is the light of our Salvation.  This is Jesus, who is the Light of the World.  He is the one who gave his life and took it back again so that we might live in his light forever.  Though there may be times in this world when we pass through dark tunnels of sorrow and uncertainty, our Savior is always there, lighting our path with his presence.  Our Savior is there assuring us that by his resurrection we are at peace with God.  Our Savior is there, assuring us that no matter what we face in this life, he is with us and leading us on to his heavenly kingdom.  Even when we enter the dark tunnel of death, we will have nothing to fear.  We will have nothing to fear because we know that Jesus himself will lead us through that tunnel to the wondrous light of eternal life by his side, forever in heaven.  What a day that will be when we can join with Mary and all the others singing the praises of our Savior’s wondrous love for us.   

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Why is it important to know that Jesus is both God and Man?

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

February 10, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Even though we are in the middle of winter right now, let’s fast forward in our thinking to the summer time and baseball season.  Imagine with me that today is the state championship game.  It is the bottom of the 9th inning, the bases are loaded, there are two outs.  Le Sueur is just one hit away from winning the title and the team’s weakest hitter is up.  The team’s best hitter is on the bench because he injured his ankle and can’t play shortstop as he usually does.  But he has his uniform on so he can pinch-hit if he is needed.  What would you do if this was your situation and you were the coach?  Without even having to think about it, you would have your best hitter pinch-hit so that the team would have a better chance at winning the title and going home victorious.  In a similar way, we have a “pinch hitter” who stepped in and won salvation for all of us.  We could never win salvation for ourselves, so Jesus became our substitute and did that for us.  In fact, as we study the lesson before us this morning, we will take a close look at what the Bible tells us about Jesus himself, how he was both God and man.  As we do this, we will seek to answer for ourselves the question, “Why is it important for us to know that Jesus is both God and Man?”

To answer this question, we want to take a look at the Scriptures and see why Jesus is God and man.  We look first at 1 John 5:20 where we read, “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20, NIV84) and next we read 1 Timothy 2:5 where Paul tells us, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5, NIV84).  Though there are many other passages that we could include here today, from these two passages alone it is clear to us why we know that Jesus is both God and man.  Simply put, we know that it is true because that is what the Bible teaches!  Here and in other passages we learn that Jesus is the Son of God who is both true God and true man! 

In our world we have special electronic devices that are programmable and that can store, retrieve, and process data.  We call these special devices computers.  We call them computers simply because this is the name that we have given to the devices that we use to store, retrieve, access and process data and information in our world today.  Likewise, when the Bible calls Jesus God, id does so because that is what Jesus is, and when the Bible calls Jesus man, it does so because that is what Jesus is.  As we confess in the creed, Jesus is both true God and true man, and we know this not only because the Bible calls Jesus both God and man, but because the Bible also reveals that Jesus has attributes and actions of both God and man. 

Take for example Matthew 8:23-27.  This is the account of Jesus stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee.  You remember how he was tired when he got into the boat with his disciples and how he fell asleep.  When the storm came up and the disciples were terrified that they would drown, they actually had to wake Jesus up.  But when they woke him up, he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and the storm completely calmed down.  Or again, John 11:38-44: you will undoubtedly remember how Jesus arrived at the home of Mary and Martha four days after Lazarus had died.  When he went out to the tomb, Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in his spirit, and even he broke down and wept at the place where Lazarus was buried.  Yet that wasn’t the end of it, because it was there that Jesus gave the order to open the tomb.  It was there that Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  It was there that Lazarus came forth from the tomb, because Jesus had raised him from the dead and given his life back to him.

These are but a couple examples of Jesus’ actions and attributes that show him to be both God and man, and there are so many more in the Scriptures that reveal the same thing.  These are but a few examples, yet these examples show that Jesus is, indeed both God and man in one person; for in the same way that we don’t call just any device a computer, we don’t call just any person both God and man. When it comes to computers, they must have the characteristics of a computer, such as a screen, a keyboard or keypad, some form of internal memory storage and so on. They must also perform the actions of a computer, such as being able to process the data entered into it, perform mathematical calculations, perform word processing tasks, and in this day and age, connect one to the internet.  Well, in the same way that all these actions and characteristics demonstrate what a computer is, so also Jesus actions and attributes reveal him to be both God and man, just as the Bible tells us.

But how did it happen that Jesus became true God and true man in one person?  For us, this is a very easy question to answer because we know the Scriptures so well and we hold their truth so closely in our hearts.  We know and believe what the angel revealed to Joseph in his dream when the angel said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”" (Matthew 1:20–23, NIV84)  We know the account of Luke 1 where Gabriel says to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:31,32,35, NIV84)

We know this and believe this and even cherish this in our hearts.  Though there are more and more people today, even Christians, who scoff at the idea that this miracle could even happen, we know that it did, because the Lord reveals it to us in his Word.  We know and believe and confess that it was through the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary so that he could be born as both true man and true God so that by his life, by his death, and by his resurrection he could free us from our sins, make us his own by faith, and deliver us finally to his heavenly kingdom forever.

This is why Jesus needed to be both God and man in one body.  It wasn’t that he was like an actor who was playing two different rolls in a movie, he was and is both God and man at the same time in one body.  He had to be both God and man at the same time so that he might be subject to God’s laws just as Paul tells us in Galatians 4: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (Galatians 4:4–5, NIV84)  As the God-man, Jesus was able to do what we could not, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15, NIV84)  Though Jesus is the Son of God who established the Law for his people, when he was born as a human being, he was subjected to God’s Law just like we have been all our lives, however, because Jesus was without sin, he was able to do what we could not do.  He was able to live a perfect, holy, sinless life in our place.  He was able to completely keep God’s law, which is something that we have always failed to do, and because he was able to keep God’s Law perfectly for us, he was also able to apply that perfection and righteousness to us as our substitute, as Paul assures us in Romans 5, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19, NIV84)

What a comfort it is to know that because Jesus was both God and man, he was able to keep perfectly all of God’s laws.  Because Jesus was both God and man he was able to be our substitute as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—" (Hebrews 2:14, NIV84).  Had Jesus not been human, he could not have died, because God is eternal and therefore does not die.  To us, becoming a man just so that he could die might not seem like the best reason, but Jesus knew what he was doing, and in his great love for us, he did what otherwise would have made no sense at all.  He became human so that he could die on the cross to pay the price of our sins, and he was God almighty so that by his perfect and innocent death he could bestow his righteousness upon us.  Just as john the Baptist reminded us when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29, NIV84)

Because Jesus is both God and man, he was able to step in and accomplish what we could not.  He was able to win the victory for us by his perfect life, his innocent sufferings and death, and by his resurrection from the dead.  If he had not been our substitute we would still be lost in our trespasses and sins.  But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in as our “pinch hitter” winning the victory for us, so that through faith in him we would have eternal life.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Jesus Is Our Unchanging Savior! (Hebrews 13:8)

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