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.

This New Year's Eve, no doubt you have painful memories from this passing year. You failed to keep the Law in a variety of ways. You had conflicts with family and friends. You ignored your neighbor in his time of need. You let your eye stray or your temper escape you, or your tongue wag too freely. You have not kept the Law – not even the “easy parts”.

And so, you come here to face the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel. And how did the service begin? First, with the Invocation: “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Name of God is invoked upon our assembly, because it is not we ourselves who gather, but we confess that the Holy Spirit has called us and gathered us together. And we invoke the Name of God, because it is with His Name that we know not only who He is, but who we are as a people.

Second, the service began with the Rite of Preparation. In order for you to face the Holy One of Israel, you were forced to prostrate yourself before His Holy Law and confess your sins, begging for His forgiveness. You confessed to God that “we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.”

But then what? Was your confession “We are by nature sinful and unclean. But please just give us another chance to get it right. Please clear away the failures of 2013 and help us do better in 2014, because we think we can make it this year”? Does the strength of your New Year's resolutions merit anything. How many years gone by have you made the same resolutions, only to fail at them a week or two down the road?

You cannot satisfy the Law simply with a wish and a prayer, or even with the confession that you messed up and a promise to do better next time. The arrow has missed its mark, but the hammer of God will not. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

And so, we rejoice this day to celebrate the shedding of Jesus' blood, even the small amount shed at His circumcision, because this is only the beginning of His fulfilling the Law for you and for your salvation. This small bloodshed is but a foretaste of what is to come.

Our Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood in the Temple so that He might fulfill the Law for you because you could not. And, fulfilling the Law, He shows Himself worthy to bear the cross so that He can die for the sins of the world. His blood is shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

So, because a baby boy bled, you live in the Name of Jesus. This baby boy bled, because on this day He also received the name Jesus – The LORD Saves – because He will shed His blood to save His people. At the Name of Jesus, the devil falls defeated, death renders up its captives, and the grave is emptied of its fear and menacing. And in the Name of Jesus you live and move and have your being.

It is this name which was put upon you in your Baptism. The hand of God reached down from heaven and plunged you into the watery grave, and the mouth of God spoke with the voice of a man: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You have received a Name which is above all other names. You were brought here at the Lord's command and bidding, not for circumcision, but for a washing of regeneration and rebirth by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

Just as with Abraham and Moses, God took the initiative in your Baptism when He engraved His Name upon you and marked you with the sign of the Holy Cross to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified. As that water flowed over your head, you were imprinted with the Name of God given to you, that whoever calls upon Him may be saved.

You may begin the new year joyfully, not with resolutions and plans for a better you, not with intentions to do better, but with the Name of Jesus upon your heart and upon your lips. For it is your name, and it is the Name by which you have been saved. In spite of frighteningly unknown and uncertain circumstances, in spite of painfully known regrets, You have been marked with the Name of God, of the LORD who saves, even Jesus Christ.

Now, having received the Name above all names engraved upon your forehead and upon your heart, you are made worthy to receive the blessing of the almighty God of Israel. Because the blood of Jesus has been shed, you are clothed with His righteousness and filled with His holiness. Because the Word of God has washed you clean and made you pure, the Lord-Who-Saves shall bless and keep you. Because you are clothed with Christ, no longer does the Lord God shun you or turn His face away from you. Because the record of your debt has been expunged and your guilt has been expiated, the Prince of Peace lifts up His countenance upon you and puts peace upon you.

And because you have received the Name of Jesus placed upon you, you can proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You can proclaim to the world that the Word was made flesh and dwells among us. You can shout it from the rooftops that in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

His life under the Law, in our stead, began at His conception wherein He had no original sin. His life under the Law, wherein He fulfilled the demands of the Law in our place, began in infancy. For on His eighth day of breathing the air of this world, the incarnate Christ was named Jesus, which means Savior. On that day He suffered circumcision and shed the first drop of His precious, innocent Blood on our behalf.

And though one drop of His Divine Blood could atone for all sins of all people of all times, this was but the beginning, for along the way

He shed His Blood unto death that you would be forgiven without measure

He defeated the Devil in the wilderness that you be granted Paradise

He was wearied at the well in order to give you rest

He confronted the false teachers that you would listen to true pastors

He suffered the whipping that by His stripes you would be healed

He thirsted on the cross that you would be quenched by living waters

He petitioned from the cross for forgiveness while we were yet sinners

He lay in a tomb to sanctify the graves of those whom He calls His own

He rose from the dead to defeat death for you and to bestow life unto you

He has given you His Word, sent the Holy Spirit, and placed His Name on you

St. Joseph, the Guardian of our Lord, gave to his foster-Son the name Jesus – the LORD saves – according to the command of the angel. And this name has been put upon you – you belong to the Lord who saves you. Now, having the Name of God upon you, the Lord will bless you. The Lord puts His Name upon you by putting Jesus upon you, to bless you and keep you and to put peace upon you.

So start this new year in peace and joy, not because you feel cheerful or because you have fortified yourself with new resolution and new resolve to do them, but because the face of God shines upon you, the blessing of God rests upon you, and the peace of God in the person of Jesus Christ is established in your heart and mind, now and forever. This blessing of the almighty God and Father of us all will indeed make this a Happy New Year.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.