New Year's Eve

Psalm 90

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have before us tonight in Psalm 90, a blessed close to the year, that reminds us of the one that has kept us safe throughout the year, and continues to watch over his creation. This Psalm praises God above and is appropriate as we bring this year to a close for what is mind that God is mindful of us, we are dust, and to dust we shall return, but God in His great mercy and kindness has offered to us great and wonderful treasures that make us more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For the one who brought all creation into existence is God himself who set the pattern of the sun, moon, and stars, and promised that they will continue this way until the end. He is the one who in the beginning started our idea of time, the day and night to mark the passage of time, and the seasons that are marked as we journey around the sun. We march through time from our beginning point to our end, but for God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a 1000 years are as nothing, for He exists from everlasting to everlasting, which is to say that He is eternal, He is without beginning or end. God exists, and all things depend upon Him.

This is why He can call us to the end of our life, as He has done to some of our family or friends this last year, and to others He sustains life in them for another year. We do not know the hour or the day that He has marked to call us to Himself. We exist in the world that He has created and of which he has made us stewards.

To some of us he gives, 70 or 80 years that are brought to an end like a sigh, but he is the one that our days pass away under, and He is the one that has all authority and power and might. We wish to approach the Lord in humility, for we cannot hide from him our sins, and our failings, those things that we keep secret from our fellow man. God is holy and righteous and His wrath is terrible against all wickedness and evil.

For the wages of sin is death, the scriptures proclaim this, and that is the reason that we pass away under God’s wrath, for it is the just punishment for the wrongs we poor miserable sinners have commited. It is what we deserve for sinning against the holy and righteous God, and yet, God still showed love to us this past year.

God’s love was made manifest especially His Son, who birth we celebrate this Christmastide. What Jesus has done for us in is taken our place before the father, and become sin for us that He might bear the wrath of God. He bowed his head and gave up His breath, His spirit, so that he might make the sacrifice that we could not. For God has pointed us to the places where we might find mercy and hope and love and the forgiveness that we need.

That is why we have flocked time and again to the altar to receive the gift of Christ’s sacrifice for us. For what Jesus gives to us in the Lord’s Supper is that sacrifice that was received by God for the forgiveness of our sins. For when we number our days, and gain a heart of wisdom, we realize that this is what we need. It’s in Christ that we will find our rest, we will find our hope, and our forgiveness for without him, our sins rest still upon our shoulders.

But whatever those sins are, they have been credited to Christ and rest upon His sacred head that was bowed down for your sake. He has borne the wrath meant for you, that you might have peace with the Father through Him. It is this that strengthens us through this world of toil and trouble for it reminds us that He has not abandoned us but continues to be with us as He promised He would be.

So we look ahead to a new year, 2024, and who knows what will happen in the world. There are many things we see on the news and internet that point to increasing disorder and chaos. Our sins will attack us anew day by day, and try to lead us away from the comfort that is found in Jesus, and hope that there is in him. These are not new battles, but old and familiar ones, but we know who our champion was, and who has sustained us through each year.

No matter how rough or awful the world looks, or life gets it doesn’t mean that God has forgotten us. Rather we cling to His son, who joined us in our afflictions, and trials that we might receive comfort, hope and encouragment. Let us go forth and encourage our neighbors, with the same hope and comfort that has been placed in our hearts. For Jesus came to comfort us in our afflictions, when we lay family or friends in the grave that died in the faith, we mourn but with hope. We look at our government and see just a mass of confusion, we know that God uses all leaders to accomplish his purpose.

For Christ shared in these afflictions and has partaken of them with us, and we can share with our neighbors the same words that Christ shared with Mary, that Lazarus will rise again. When we see the failings of government, we remember when Pilate washed his hands and let an innocent man be condemned. We are not alone, though Christ was forsaken because of our sins on Good Friday, on Easter Morning, He lives.

So my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, here we stand as the new year approaches. Let us take a few moments now to consider this past year, and how Christ has been with us in the good times, and joined us in our sorrows. Then we will look at this new year with hearts filled with the wisdom of God, that no matter what comes, Jesus Christ, our King and Lord is with us, and we will be alright. In Jesus name. Amen.