New Year's Eve 2019

Our Old Testament reading point you back to see the markers, the examples, of God’s grace. It makes a strange statement. It says, “15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling....” ‘Rest’ isn’t normally associated with being saved. After being delivered you have rest, not before, not in order to be delivered. We can imagine a connection between quietness and strength. The loudest reactions are often a sign of weakness, not strength. Constantly getting into arguments, for example, isn’t a sign of strength of convictions, but weakness and immaturity. That part doesn’t strike us as being quite as strange, except that’s not quite what the prophet is talking about here.

'In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’

“15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling....”

But you were unwilling....”

The point is that they, as a nation, were living under a special promise from God. He would fight for them. He would give them peace, prosperity, and protection because He was their God and they were His people. When they were literally up against the Red Sea, with Pharaoh’s army coming against them, God told them, through Moses, “Just be still and I will fight for you. I will fight for you and you will never be troubled by this enemy ever again.” If they cared to look, they could still see the ruins of Jericho, for example, and the other places where God had defeated one of their enemies after another. The problem in Isaiah’s time was that they had turned from relying upon God and were trusting in their own skill, their own wisdom, their own strength. Isaiah is calling them back to see God’s amazing gifts in the victories and His active care and concern for them— even (especially) in the defeats— as He tried to lead them back to where they needed to be: closer and closer to Him.

You and I see a similar dynamic in our lives, don’t we? As you look back at 2019, what do you see? Great achievements and advancements? Huge setbacks and failures? Today is a chance to look back and see God’s amazing gifts, to see His active care and concern in each of those moments— all leading you closer to God and to all that He has promised you.

Looking back, you see the markers, the examples, of God’s grace. And tonight, looking forward, is placed before you the promise of God’s grace.

Looking forward— promise of God’s grace

I don’t often find myself agreeing with Pope Francis, but he made a good point earlier today. He made the following statement:

It is beautiful to stand before the nativity scene, and there to entrust our lives to the Lord, to speak to Him about the people and situations we care about, to take stock with Him of the year that is ending, to share our expectations and concerns. (Pope Francis, Twitter, 7:30 a.m. (EST), 12/31/19)

For many, 2020 carries a lot of uncertainty. In fact, for some, uncertainty would be preferable to the frightening circumstances that they are facing. It’s easier to look back and see the things you’ve been through as examples of God’s grace. What do you look to when those difficult experiences are still ahead of you? How do you trust God’s good purpose for you while you still have a stack of bills that can’t be paid? …while your son is lying in a hospital bed? …while you or someone you love gets weaker and weaker every day? …while you seem powerless to overcome that temptation to sin? The answer is right in front of you at this time of year in the nativity scenes that surround you. The virgin has conceived and given birth to a Son who is God with you. God has literally given you His Son. In fact, He hasn’t just given you His Son, He’s given His Son’s life for you. As our Epistle reading points out, “How will he not also with him graciously give you all things?” ().

Looking back, you see the markers, the examples, of God’s grace. And tonight, looking forward, is placed before you the promise of God’s grace so that you may entrust your lives to the Lord.

“When you brought your son to be baptized, just as I commanded you, My Son, Jesus Christ, was there. Your son was joined to Him in His death, he was buried with Christ so that he also shares in Christ’s resurrection. That water was not plain water, it was the washing of rebirth and renewal by my Holy Spirit, ‘so that being justified by his grace [you are] heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’

“When you brought your son to my altar to receive my holy meal, it was not simple bread and wine, it was the living bread that came down from heaven. It was the very body and blood of Jesus Christ and, ‘Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’

“No, you have nothing to give me. Isn’t it far more important, right now, to talk, instead, about what I have given you?”

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Grounded in what God has done in the past, firmly rooted in the assurance of what He has promised for your future, our Gospel reading lays out your job for you: Watch & Pray. “35 Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.”

35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Your Job: Watch & Pray

At the close of this year you and I are one year closer to the day when Christ will return. Today is also a reminder to be ready for that day— in fact not just a reminder, but a plea to be ready. “37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.” Think about that statement. When your King comes, it will be to serve you. Hard to believe? You’ll see it yourself this very afternoon. Here at this altar, Christ will come and be present among His people and will give Himself to you once again. He invites you to His table so that He can feed you with the medicine of immortality.

Watch & Pray

37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

“ 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”

In the meantime, until the day when He returns visibly, your job is to intercede for this world. You are a royal priesthood (). Like the Old Testament priests, it is your job to intercede for others with God.

One of my favorite hymns that we sang over the past couple of weeks was actually from our last midweek service. It’s one that we don’t often sing because it’s a hymn for the evening: “The Day Thou Gavest.” So it would seem strange to sing

1 The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended, The darkness falls at Thy behest; To Thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

1 The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended, The darkness falls at Thy behest; To Thee our morning hymns ascended, Thy praise shall sanctify our rest. (LSB #886)

in our Sunday morning worship. But the other verses are a beautiful reminder of part of your calling as God’s people.

2 We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping While earth rolls onward into light, Through all the world her watch is keeping, And never rests by day or night.

3 As o’er each continent and island The dawn leads on another day, The voice of prayer is never silent, Nor dies the strain of praise away.

4 The sun, that bids us rest, is waking Thy saints beneath the western skies, And hour by hour, as day is breaking, Fresh hymns of thankful praise arise. (LSB #886)

What a perfect picture. At any given moment, somewhere on earth, God’s Church is busy at prayer and praise, interceding for one another and for all people for the sake of Jesus Christ.

It is good that we are here tonight. It is good that we are here so that we can look back and so that we can look forward. So that we enter this new year confident in God’s grace in the past, His grace for the future, and His grace for all people.

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