44. New Year’s Day. I.
In the name of Jesus.
Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion;
and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Amen.
Gospel Lesson, Luke 2, 21. And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
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Praise the Lord: the name Jesus is written in living characters on the gate through which we enter the new year. The name Jesus relieves us of all our sins in the past, so that we can look back with joy and thanks; and the name Jesus gives us courage to face the future with a heart full of hope. — If we believe, we all the time have trials and tribulations; and still we could not have a happier lot. We lived in the Lord during the year now closed; we enter into the name of Jesus, into his saving love, as we now begin the new year. Could anything better have met us at the dawn of our life than Jesus, the Savior, in our holy baptism? Could anything better meet us on the first morning of the year than the name of Jesus with its fullness of life and peace? Or could we wish for a more beautiful sunset, when our evening comes, than to die in the name of Jesus?
The merciful God has given us his Son for our Savior, and has let him take upon himself the curse of the law and all our sin. From the hour of my baptism I am in him, and out of the kingdom of Satan; in life, and out of death. Everything that Jesus became for all the world, by fulfilling all righteousness, is mine. In his name is included the whole grace of God unto salvation; he is the Savior, his name is Jesus; that is, he has atoned for sin, destroyed death, and bruised the devil. This he did by his death and resurrection. He has taken me out of the kingdom of Satan and made me his own by means of my baptism; he keeps me every hour, continually renews his grace to me and in me, lives alway at the right hand of the Father, and makes intercession for me, supports my soul by his gospel, and nourishes me with his body and blood. All this I have in the name Jesus. Himself, who was dead and yet lives for evermore, my King and my God, my Prince of Life and my Salvation, my Brother and my Bridegroom, is the first to meet me today; which means, that, with the beginning of the year, I come into closer communion with him, and that I shall live all the year in his saving, comforting, and blessed fellowship. Everything we have in Jesus; of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. Every concern of the year shall rest on him, my Savior, and all things shall work together for my salvation. I shall have the name of Jesus with me every day and every hour. In his strength I shall live through the year in holiness and patience, honor him and serve the brethren. O, my heart, you will not believe! Is it, then, not true, is it not right, that the name of Jesus is the entrance gate to the new year? Is it a false signboard? Or do you find yourself unable quite to believe it, because it seems too good to be true? Take a good look at the name Jesus, and what do you see? Do you not see, that the name is surrounded with a halo of grace, grace for needy sinners?
Glory be to thee, great God! I understand but little of the depth of grace in thy name. Give me thy Spirit and let him declare thee in my heart. Amen.*
Jesus! Name of wondrous love,
Name all other names above!
Unto which must every knee
Bow in deep humility.
Jesus! Name decreed of old,
To the maiden mother told,
Kneeling in her lowly cell,
By the angel Gabriel.
Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To the fallen sons of earth,
For the promise that it gave,
“Jesus shall his people save.”
[TLH 114, LSB 900, ELH 156; listen here]
45. New Year’s Day. II.
Thy name, O Jesus,
is as ointment poured forth!
Epistle Lesson, Galatians 3, 23-29. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
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“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” “These words of Paul,” says Luther,
we should keep steadily in view, in order that we may defend the proper meaning and use of our holy baptism against the sect of the Anabaptists, who destroy the majesty and glory of baptism and speak blasphemously of this holy sacrament. Beware of such infernal scoffers; this is my earnest advice; it is much better to hear the grand and comforting words of Saint Paul, who calls baptism “the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3, 5). And here he says, that all who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. It is as though he had said: You have not received baptism as a mere outward sign from which it may be seen that you are to be counted as Christians, — as the heretics have the habit of speaking in regard to this matter, when they make baptism out to be nothing but a livery, or simply a badge which does no good whatever; — for ye, as many of you as are baptized, he says, have put on Christ. That is, you have been released from the prison of the law, and have been born again in your baptism; you are, therefore, no more under the law, but have put on a new garment, which is the righteousness of Christ.
In very truth, then, the believing Christians are the children and heirs of God, as our epistle lesson says: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. “And now,” says Luther again,
let him that has the gift of finest speech and oratory elaborate in his very best manner on this passage concerning the unspeakable grace and glory which we have in Christ Jesus; and let him discuss this matter at length and as it deserves: this truth, namely, that we poor sinners, who by nature are the children of wrath, reach the high honor of becoming, through faith in Christ, the children and heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and lords of heaven and earth; — though, to be sure, no tongue of man or angel can do justice to this glorious truth. I therefore ask each and all to study this matter carefully; it is not in my power to voice it properly, or to understand its full meaning. Here we can only begin to spell our way through it, until we reach the home beyond the sky; then we shall see it, and have everlasting joy in it, and praise God for it, evermore. Grant us this, O God, of thy grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.*
Great God! we sing that mighty hand
By which supported still we stand;
The op’ning year thy mercy shows —
Let mercy crown it to its close.
By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still we are guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed,
By his unerring counsel led.
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.