Because A Baby Boy Bled

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Here we are again. New Year's Eve – the Seventh Day of Christmas. The presents have mostly all been given, received, unwrapped, unpacked, and put away. At the end of another year, we gather for a moment of reflection on the year past, and a time to pray for the Lord's blessings on the new year dawning. But there is one gift that keeps on giving – the blood of Jesus. For as we gather on the Eve of the New Year, the Eve of the Eighth Day, we gather because our heavenly Father gave to us the blood of Jesus, that we may be forgiven, the life of Jesus that we may live, and the Name of Jesus for us to bear and proclaim.

Today, we observe the Feast of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus. This is an occasion to remember that our Lord Christ fulfilled the Law for you in every way. He shed a bit of blood on His eighth day, so that He might fulfill the Law given to Abraham and Moses. Jesus fulfilled all the Law for you. Not just the big stuff. Not just the easy stuff. All of the Law. The uncomfortable, the strange, the unpleasant, the unmentionable. The painful parts, literally. He did everything that the Father commands, everything that you could not do for yourself.

"Let the Favor of the Lord our God Be Upon Us"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the Psalm we just sang, Moses leads us to pray, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love.” Indeed, you should pray this each night, but it is especially fitting as we gather to usher in the new year by receiving the Lord's gifts. For tonight we sit in darkness and wait.

Just as the sun has set on this day, and a new day will rise with the dawn tomorrow, so also the time is far spent on this year, and tomorrow will bring the rising of a new year, with all that brings. But tonight, we wait – whether eagerly or apprehensively – for the coming of the new day and the mercies of the Lord to be poured out anew.

Tonight the old year passes, and tomorrow the new begins. As scores around the world keep vigil, you will leave the past behind like a shadow fading in the dawn. The thrills and triumphs of this year will stand in your memories, but their bloom will fade and their brilliance dim. The monuments of your achievements will crumble even as they are newly set. The mind's eye will try to focus upon the good and leave out the bad, sometimes with more success than others. The grass withers and the flower fades.